Paid Time Off MattersA (slow) progress report

A Ted talk about the lack of family leave in the US

By Jessica Shortall: The US needs paid family leave - for the sake of its future.

 

Dads write to the Labor Secretary...should they write to Satya Nadella or Brad Smith?

On the blog of the Department of Labor, dads write about their need for paid parental leave. How many new dads employed by Microsoft's suppliers have zero paid parental leave? How many moms? One year after the 'at least 15 days of PTO' decision, it's time for Microsoft to provide precise data about paid parental leave for it's suppliers employees.

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.

April 16, 1963, 53 years ago: Martin Luther King's "Letter from Birmingham Jail"

The letter written in the Birmingham jail was in response to a public statement of concern and caution issued by eight white religious leaders of the South. It is one of the classic document of the civil-rights movement. Still an inspiration, 53 years later. Take sometime to read or reread it.

 

 

When paid parental leave improvements are limited to high wage workers the inequality gap (and injustice) only get wider

Wen Emily Peck writes The end of maternity leave as we know it in The Huffington Post she focuses on the rise of paid parental leave, that is paid leave for both parents. She does notice that this trend is limited now to "a certain group of elite employers desperately fighting to attract talent". Meanwhile, new parents who happen to be low wage workers get nothing and the gap between the have and the have nots only gets deeper. How long will this injustice and inequality persist and grow?

 

This is what parental leave looks like it the USA: it aint pretty.

Article by Sarah Grossman  in The Huffington Post. That's why all Microsoft's suppliers should provide paid parental leave instead of nothing. Microsoft now offers up to 12 weeks of paid parental leave to its 'direct' employees but keeps ignoring the abysmal situation for its suppliers employees.

Martin Luther King Was Assassinated On This Day, April 4, in 1968—While Fighting For Unions

See this article in In These Times.

A look at paid parental leave

The site Early Childhood Education Degrees asked us to share this info-graphics about paid parental leave with our readers. It enumerates the many reasons why paid parental leave is so important. That's why we are determined to have shareholders mobilized to require companies (like Microsoft and all its suppliers) provide paid parental leave to all their employees. Contact us  at temporaryworkersofamerica at gmail.com if you are a Microsoft shareholder and you want to support our initiative.

Unfair implementation of the at least 15 days of PTO requirement? Reaching out to Microsoft's Integrity Hotline

Colleagues working along us via a different supplier told us they would only be able to accrue PTO six months from now, that is  in October. We think this is a violation of the requirement and an attempt to deny those employees PTO that should start accruing right now. It's already shocking that all those suppliers waited until the very last moment to implement this requirement, they should not add insult to the injury by trying to abusively postpone even more this implementation. We have sent a complaint (see below) to Microsoft's Business Conduct and Compliance Team but 5 days later we have not received their answer yet (if ever). We have kept mentioning (for now) the name of this supplier. We'll keep you posted. The link to Microsoft's Integrity Hotline:   https://www.tnwgrc.com