Paid Time Off MattersA (slow) progress report

Soon a new team promoting paid leave in the private sector?

Read the ad recently posted by Panorama Global (headed by Gabrielle Fitzgerald) about its new project: Panorama has received funding from a prominent U.S. philanthropist to better understand the private sector and how they make decisions regarding paid leave. Based on our findings, we will test different approaches to influencing those companies and see if we can find the right mix of strategy and tactics to move the needle on paid leave programs in the U.S. Our goal by the end of this project is to have a much deeper understanding of the landscape, and determine a recommended path forward to drive adoption of paid leave programs in the private sector. A concern shared by the recent research published by the Center for American Progress. Who is the mysterious and still anonymous 'prominent US philanthropist" supporting this initiative? Could she be Melinda Gates? She expressed several times her concern about paid family leave.

Ikea and Trump on paid leave

Here is an interesting post from the pro-employer blog The Employerologist by Janette Levey Frisch . Here is how she explains the core of the matter:

Currently, IKEA employees receive up to 5 days’ paid parental leave, and up to 8 weeks’ paid disability leave to new mothers. Effective January 1, 2016, under IKEA’s new policy, new parents who have worked at IKEA for at least one year can receive up to four months’ paid leave. This new policy applies to both mothers and fathers, whether they are birth, adoptive or foster parents. For the first six weeks they will receive their full base pay, and half their base pay for the next six weeks. Workers with 3 or more years of service will be eligible for 8 weeks of full pay and 8 weeks of half pay. By U.S. standards this is a very generous policy. Compared to IKEA’s home country however, this is quite stingy. In Sweden, workers can receive up to 68 weeks off and the government subsidizes it. Other countries also provide more generous, paid time off. Is that why IKEA made this move? Not really.

IKEA says it expects that this expansion of paid leave will improve productivity and reduce turnover. IKEA is not alone. Other US companies, such as Netflix, Adobe and Etsy have also rolled out comparatively generous paid leave, though their programs tend to apply only to either top-tiered or salaried employees, whereas IKEA’s benefits apply to both hourly and salaried workers.

Let me repeat our mantra: when is Microsoft going to emulate IKEA and improve upon its minimal paid leave standards for all its suppliers employees? When googling about this info, I find references to articles in USA Today, The Atlantic, Forbes, but no Washington State publication. if I did not subscribe to this specialized blog I would not know about this. My mistake as there was a reprint of an AP wire in the Seattle Times. 

Zero weeks. Zero request

Yesterday was Microsoft's annual meeting. No question was asked about the implementation of the 'at least 15 days of paid time off' requirement nor about the lack of specific paid maternity/paternity leave or the lack of paid company holidays (like Thanksgiving we just celebrated). We were unable to find Microsoft's shareholders willing to even ask such questions. Zero weeks is a documentary film about this issue. Here is the trailer. While it's important to push for legislation and a funding system that would cover every employee, it should be clear that many very wealthy corporations (like Microsoft) could easily afford to pay right away for paid family leaves. Why don't they? Because nobody asks them to! How long will it take for someone to speak up?

Multinationals and the lack of paid leave in the US

An interesting brief from Judith Warner and Danielle Corley of the Center for American Progress looks at how multinational operating in the US deal with the lack of mandatory paid leave by making their own policies. 

Chuck Collins about "Rule changes that raise the floor". Where does Microsoft stand?

In his book 99 to 1 Chuck Collins writes (page 98): "Policies that raise the floor reduce poverty and establish a fundamental minimum standard of decency that no one will fall below...One third of people in the United States have no paid sick days and one half have no paid vacation days. Everyone deserve the right to take (paid) time off when sick and have a few weeks of (paid) vacation each year. In the rest of the developed world, these are considered basic human rights."

As we have seen those paid leaves are incorporated in various UN human rights documents that Microsoft claimed it is committed to implement.

 

Girl Scouts USA expands its paid parental leave

Read the press release announcing up to 12 weeks of paid parental leave.

Must Read: The Shareholder Action Guide, by Andrew Behar

Available on Amazon. Andrew Behar is CEO of As You Sow. 

"Founded in 1992, As You Sow promotes environmental and social corporate responsibility through shareholder advocacy, coalition building, and innovative legal strategies. Our efforts create large-scale systemic change by establishing sustainable and equitable corporate practices.

As You Sow was founded on the belief that many environmental and human rights issues can be resolved by increased corporate responsibility. As investor representatives, we communicate directly with corporate executives to collaboratively develop and implement business models that reduce risk, benefit brand reputation, and protect long term shareholder value while simultaneously bringing about positive change for the environment and human rights."

Microsoft's Corporate Social Responsibility Report for 2016: What's to be done?

On October 18, 2016, Microsoft published it's 2016 Corporate Social Responsibility Report. We did not see any public article or comment about it. We think it is an important document as it reiterates Microsoft stated commitment to respect human rights as they are detailed in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the covenants listed below. As you can see this commitment  also clearly includes Microsoft's suppliers employees. Unfortunately, as we had noticed one year ago, Microsoft remains in breach of several clauses of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights adopted 50 years ago.

What's to be done to incite Microsoft to implement it's commitment so that it's suppliers employees get paid public holidays on top of the present minimal standard of 15 days of 'paid time off' and specific paid parental leave? We think shareholder activism is presently the best way to raise the issue with Microsoft's leadership.

The road to shareholder activism

While we are contemplating again how to activate a shareholder activism campaign toward Microsoft it's worth looking at a few documents that should inspire us. Below is the text sent by Josh Zinner, CEO of the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility, right after Donald Trump's victory. 

On NPR: On Your Mark Give Birth Go Back To Work

In the NPR program All Things Considered, this all too frequent story about the lack of paid parental leave in the US . Who is going to speak up for Microsoft's supplier's employees so that they get the same paid parental benefits as Microsoft's direct employees? What about progressive shareholders? Are there any? They could influence policy changes in many companies (including Microsoft and tis suppliers) while impatiently waiting for the legislative changes that would emulate laws that exist in all other countries.

Melinda in support of paid family leave

At the very end of this interview published on backchannel, on September 28,  Melinda Gates expresses again her concern and support for paid family leave (you can also read this part below). What about convincing Microsoft to do the decent thing by requiring its suppliers to provide paid parental leave (and paid holidays) for all their employees?

US: the no mandated paid parental leave country

Article from Pew research published in September 2016 (updated from December 2013)

Enjoy your day off for Labor Day (unless you are a low wage worker)

It is rare that journalists point out the paid holiday leave gap/discrimination. Dave Jamieson, labor reporter for the Huffington Post did it this Labor Day. What is the situation for all the people working for Microsoft via suppliers? We know that Manpower cancelled the paid holidays when Microsoft required at least 15 days of paid time off. Microsoft should publish an evaluation of the implementation of its new minimal standard, asking suppliers employees if they get paid holidays and paid parental leave. The same questions should be asked to other high tech firms, like Facebook.

An interesting Op-Ed in the Boston Globe

By Dante Ramos: Grad students should organize, but unions aren't a panacea. Especially true is the last sentence: One way or another, somebody needs to do what stronger unions once did, establish what it means to treat people decently.

On Geekwire

Article by Nat Levy: Temp workers at Microsoft supplier sign first contract amid layoffs.

In the Seattle Times: Microsoft temps gain first contract

In the Sunday August 20 edition of the Seattle Times, this article by Matt Day: Microsoft temps gain first contract.

The Other Microsoft, Second Edition, now available

The Other Microsoft, Second Edition, tells the story of Temporary Workers of America, the baby union that was officially born on September 11, 2014 to represent the employees of a lab certifying apps for the Windows Store. The second edition updates the content with what happened since the creation until the end of July 2016, including the charge filed against Microsoft for joint employment, recently withdrawn in the context of layoffs at the lab and the ratification of the first collective bargaining agreement. What's next? Shareholder activism. If you are interested, if you own shares of Microsoft, contact temporaryworkersofamerica at gmail.com.

The second edition is now available via Blurb for print on demand versions as well as e-book and pdf formats.  It is also available on Amazon as an e-book.

80 years ago: legally mandated 2 weeks of paid vacation in France

The story in French on this blog. Meanwhile the US is still waiting for such a law. How long do you think it will take, if ever...

 

Frustrating4th of July: Paid holiday discrimination thanks to Microsoft and Lionbridge Technologies

I have been working full time for Microsoft via their supplier Lionbridge Technologies for 4.5 years, since December 5 2011 when I was part of the first team in their app certification lab. I am still misclassified by Lionbridge as a 'temporary worker' because we had the audacity to vote for a union in September 2014.
In January 2015, Lionbridge decided that after 9 months of full time employment, its temporary workers will be laid off or be 'converted' to 'regular' status with the corresponding benefits that include paid holidays. So what am I complaining about?
There is an exception to this conversion scheme: if you happen to be represented by a union in the process of a collective bargaining negotiation, this conversion does not apply to you. We discovered this very recently as Lionbridge had chosen not to share with us this policy change except when they started telling co-workers they could not get any pay raise nor paid holidays because of the union. The implicit/explicit message was clear: get rid of the union and get pay raises and paid holidays. The NLRB is presently investigatng a union's charge in this matter against Lionbridge for bad faith bargaining and meanwhile it will be one more 4th of July without pay.
As Lionbridge is very aware this creates a hardship for the employees who really need a full week pay, they 'generously' accept that people work 10 hours per day during the rest of the week, to compensate for the 8 hours they have not been paid on July 4th. Of course this is not considered overtime. As for Microsoft, they keep looking the other way, even more so now that the union claimed they should be considered a joint employer.

In March 2015, Microsoft required that its suppliers provide at least 15 days of paid time off to their employees. As I have accumulated enough paid time off I am able this year to use it to get paid on July 4.  Does that represent a huge improvement?

The reality is that in 1998, that's 18 years ago, Microsoft had required that its suppliers provide 13 days of paid time off to their employees: apparently this policy had been abandoned sometimes during those 18 years since it was never mentioned or implemented until our union started to protest about the lack of any benefits. 18 years later the difference is only 2 extra days.
Microsoft's requirement is still lacking as it  does not not respect the terms of article 7 (d) of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights  that affirms the rights of workers to  'Rest, leisure and reasonable limitation of working hours and periodic holidays with pay, as well as remuneration for public holidays': a clear requirement that public holidays be paid on top of usual paid time off. Although this Convention was never ratified by the US Senate, Microsoft voluntarily committed itself to implement all its content when they joined the UN Global Compact in 2006. That's ten years ago, ten years with thousands of workers deprived of their rights and the thousands/millions of dollars involved. 

That's why celebrating July 4th is still for me quite a stretch and a frustrating reminder of the paid holiday discrimination for thousands of misclassified temporary workers employed by Microsoft and its suppliers.

Philippe Boucher
President, Temporary Workers of America
Author of The Other Microsoft.

The President of Smith College supports paid parental leave.

The President of Smith College supports paid parental leave: for the college's employees  in this 2016 column in Smith Alumnae Magazine and for Mother's Day 2015 in the Boston Globe, for everybody else. Meanwhile Boston based Lionbridge Technologies, whose main shareholder is Fidelity Investments, and whose main customer is Microsoft, continues to refuse to provide any paid parental leave. Fidelity and Microsoft support paid parental leave for their own employees but ignore the fate of the people working for them via Lionbridge Technologies.

Asking for a 9 months waiting period before starting accruing Paid Time Off violates the terms of the International Convention concerning Annual Holidays with Pay

The Convention concerning Annual Holidays with Pay (C132 adopted in 1970) states in its Article 5:

1. A minimum period of service may be required for entitlement to any annual holiday with pay.
2. The length of any such qualifying period shall be detertmined by the competent authority or through the appropriate machinery in the country concerned but shall not exceed six months.