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For Berke-Weiss Law’s insights and resources about current events and their effects on employment law, see below.
Women's rights collage.

Employees in New York State Given Leave for Vaccination

April 1, 2021
All public and private employees in New York may use paid time off to receive Covid-19 vaccinations. According to the language of the bill, employees are eligible for up to four hours of excused leave for each injection they receive. This excused leave does not affect any other accrued leave an employee might have already.

Cuomo’s Textbook Violations of His Own Sexual Harassment Law

March 29, 2021
Governor Cuomo, who boasted that “we are sending a strong message that time is up on sexual harassment in the workplace” doesn’t appear to have thought his own message applied to him. Read all about it in Senior Associate Alex Berke’s piece “Cuomo’s Textbook Violations of His Own Sexual Harassment Law” in the Daily Beast.

Berke-Weiss Law PLLC Releases Training Video Focused on Family and Medical Leave

March 22, 2021
If you need to brush up on FMLA and other questions pertaining to leave, including how FMLA works with New York State Paid Family Leave, we have a new training video from an event with Park Slope Parents that provides answers to many issues about family and medical leave and what you need to know.

Is the Third Stimulus the Beginning of a Guaranteed Family Income?

March 11, 2021
Tucked into 2021’s $1.9 trillion stimulus package is a provision that could have life-changing effects for families with children: an expansion and reworking of the child tax credit. Championed solo for nearly two decades by Representative Rosa DeLauro of Connecticut, the idea to expand the child tax credit has gained a new lease on life and more admirers as the pandemic and lockdowns have had a deleterious impact on families and children.

“She-cession” Global, Not Local

March 10, 2021
Whether it is increasing the number of hours spent working, picking up the slack in domestic life, being forced to quit to take care of children or other family, or leaving the job market entirely, women in the US have taken the brunt of the pandemic’s resulting economic crisis, so much so that it has been dubbed the first “she-cession.” The Financial Times has released a survey demonstrating that this is an issue for women internationally, not just in the United States.

Alex Berke Quoted in New York Times Article on the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act

March 5, 2021
The pandemic may be creating a path for the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act, which was first introduced in 2012 to become law. This law will help clarify and define the rights of women to receive accommodations in the workplace.

Laurie Berke-Weiss Quoted in NY Law Journal Article about Investigation into Sexual Harassment Claims Against Governor Cuomo

March 3, 2021
As New Yorkers follow the sexual harassment allegations against Governor Cuomo with interest, the New York Law Journal explores “What’s Next for the Investigation Into Sexual Harassment Claims Against Cuomo.”

Profile of Silvia Federici Highlights What She’s Been Saying for Decades, Capitalism Exploits Women. The Pandemic Just Made it Impossible to Ignore.

March 2, 2021
As the pandemic has thrown millions into unemployment, has affected women disproportionately, and laid bare just how much working people rely on myriad forms domestic care, others are, as this wide-ranging profile in the New York Times magazine suggests, rediscovering the socialist feminism of Federici and her contemporaries, such as Selma James, Angela Davis, and the Combahee River Collective.

Fed Chair Makes a Case for Affordable Childcare

February 25, 2021
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In a two-day testimony before the House Financial Services Committee, Fed Chair Jerome Powell let it be known that improved federal child care programs would have a positive impact on women remaining in the workforce.

As Vaccine Rollout Continues, So Do Legal Questions about Requiring Worker Vaccination

February 24, 2021
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As the vaccine rollout is speeding up, questions about employers’ legal rights to require the vaccine are becoming more frequent.

Workplace Rights Knowledge is Power for Frazzled Parents

February 17, 2021
The members of the Center for WorkLife Law have been working 24/7 since the pandemic began trying to provide advice to parents on how to manage with this brave new world of remote learning, shuttered schools, and social distancing which means restricted access to child care assistance.

After 28 Years, Pandemic Makes Federal Paid Family Leave a Possibility

February 12, 2021
The last time family leave provisions were expanded in the US was mere weeks after Bill Clinton was inaugurated in 1993. The Family and Medical Leave Act provided unpaid leave for certain employees for family and medical reasons. And then, nothing. For 28 years. Now the FAMILY Act is pending in Congress.

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