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A Joint Project of the Maine
Association of Interdependent Neighborhoods |
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Volume 9 No. 1 |
February 2005 |
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MAIN
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A Joint Project of the Maine
Association of Interdependent Neighborhoods |
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Volume 9 No. 1 |
February 2005 |
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Balancing Work and Family:
Legislation that May Help!Unemployment Benefits for Part-Time Workers-
Legislative Action Needed to Continue this Critical BenefitMAIN members and their allies have worked hard for several years to win unemployment benefits for part-time workers. Now we must work hard again to prevent the benefit from being “sunsetted.”
Beginning January 2004 workers who could work part time, but not full time because of the need to care for an ill or disabled family member, were finally able to qualify for unemployment benefits when they lost their job. Workers with a prior history of part-time work, or those who had to limit their work to part time for the safety or protection of a family member (like those in a domestic violence situation), also became eligible. Just a year later, more than 2,000 unemployed Maine workers, many of them struggling with very difficult family situations, have been able to collect these badly needed benefits.
This law, passed two years ago, giving unemployment benefits to these workers includes a so-called “sunset” provision. This means that the coverage will automatically end on September 30, 2005 unless the legislature votes to continue it. Thankfully Governor Baldacci has submitted legislation to continue these benefits beyond September of this year. This bill, L.D. 309, is sponsored by the House Chair of the Labor Committee, Representative Bill Smith of Van Buren, and co-sponsored by the Senate Chair, Senator Ethan Strimling of Portland.
Failure to give this group of workers unemployment benefits in the past was one of the biggest reasons that low-income single parents did not qualify for help from this program. These parents have the difficult task of both being the sole breadwinner and the sole parent in the family. If a family member needs care, they often have no choice but to limit their work hours to provide that care.
When this bill was considered by the legislature in 2003, the Labor Committee heard testimony from one MAIN member who lost her job when her husband had a severe heart attack. When she was able to begin looking for work again she was limited to part-time work so that she could continue to provide care for him. She couldn't qualify for unemployment benefits, her family had no other income and they lost their home and land. Thankfully families like hers now have access to unemployment benefits. But, unless the legislature passes LD 309, that coverage will end on September 30th of this year.
When my husband suddenly became disabled in 1997, I had to leave my job. I was unable to go back to work full time due to his high level of need. Even though my employer paid into the unemployment system, I was not eligible to collect benefits. With zero income, we lost our house and land. Crystal from Levant
If you, or someone you know received unemployment benefits as a part-time worker, or think you might need it in the future,
please call Crystal Bond toll-free at Maine Equal Justice:
1-866-626-7059.
The Family Care Act
Many Maine workers who have paid sick leave often take it for granted. After all, most would agree that workers should be able to stay home without losing pay when they are sick, or have a sick child. No one should have to choose between their family and their paycheck-yet too many do, particularly those working in low-wage jobs. In a recent study, half of all working mothers report that they don't get paid when they have to stay home with a sick child. That percentage is no doubt much larger for low-wage working mothers.
For these workers there is some hope in this legislative session. At the request of the Maine Women's Lobby, Senate President Beth Edmonds has introduced a bill that would allow workers to use sick leave that they have already earned to care for a sick child, aging parent, or other family member. Many Maine employers already allow their employees to use their sick time in this way.
Senator Edmonds' bill, the Family Care Act, would ensure that all Maine workers could use their sick time in this way. This bill is co-sponsored by Speaker of the House, John Richardson.
“When workers can take time off when family members are sick everyone benefits. Families benefit when they can provide adequate care to their children or aging parents. Workers value this kind of family friendly policy. Workplaces that offer this kind of benefit to their workers find that they have greater productivity, higher morale and lower employee turnover,”
said Lauralee Raymond, Maine Women's Lobby
Every parent knows that children get sick. Children age 5 through 17 miss an average of more than three days of school each year. Parents who cannot use sick leave to care for these children are given the impossible choice of leaving a sick child at home or missing a pay check that they badly need. And, increasingly, workers have responsibility for more than children. According to another recent study, more than one third of Americans had the responsibility to care for an older family member in the past year.
Several MAIN members have spoken about this issue at the legislature in the last few years. One parent with a special needs child described her experience when she needed to take time off to deal with her son's mental health crisis. She could not take sick time to care for him and had to go without income. She couldn't pay her bills, which made things even worse.
Another member talked about having to lie in bed in severe pain for several days without being able to get up, or feed or care for herself. Her husband couldn't use his sick leave to care for her and they couldn't afford to go without his paycheck. She suffered at home alone without the care she needed while he went to work and worried that he couldn't be there to help her.
The Family Care Act has not yet been printed and therefore does not have an LD number or hearing date as this issue of MAIN Update goes to press. We want to be prepared with stories that may help policy makers understand the need for this important legislation.If you think that this legislation would help you or someone that you know,
please call Crystal Bond toll-free at Maine Equal Justice:
1-866-626-7059.
