The Center for WorkLife Law is celebrating the appointment of Leah Kennedy as Staff Attorney. Leah will manage and provide services on our free legal helpline; serve workers who need assistance with employment issues related to pregnancy, abortion and pregnancy loss, lactation, and family caregiving; as well as develop know-your-rights resources and practical tools for workers and their allies.

Today, during his State of the State Address, New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy announced an impactful proposal to provide all state workers with 12 weeks of parental leave with full pay. “The adoption of paid family leave for state workers would help address the maternal health crisis, protect the health and wellbeing of babies, and have positive ripple effects across the state. In addition to the health benefits, when employees have access to paid family leave they are more likely to return to work and to be more productive when they do,” said Liz Morris, Co-Director of the Center for WorkLife Law.

Today WorkLife Law submitted comments to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration on the agency’s proposed rule, “Heat Injury and Illness Prevention in Outdoor and Indoor Work Settings.” Our comments were informed by our legal helpline which has provided direct assistance to scores of employees requesting accommodation and challenging denials, including those related to heat exposure in the workplace. 

WorkLife Law has compiled know-your-rights information and resources for workers impacted by the wildfires in the Los Angeles area who are pregnant, parenting, or providing care to a loved one. Information available in English and Spanish. 

On January 9, a federal district judge in Kentucky vacated the 2024 Title IX Rule for the entire country. “This shameful decision puts pregnant and postpartum students, and millions of others, in harm’s way,” said Jessica Lee, Co-Director of the Center for WorkLife Law and co-founder of the Center’s Pregnant Scholar Initiative. “Without the protections offered by the 2024 Title IX regulations, pregnant students will struggle to get the accommodations and leave they need to stay healthy and continue their education.”

If you’re like us, last night’s election results have you reeling–and perhaps plotting how you’ll navigate the challenges the new administration will bring. You may be feeling angry, sad, or even hopeless. We’re with you. But we are not giving up on our fight for equity and justice.

The Center for WorkLife Law firmly stands behind dockworkers fighting discriminatory policies in the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach. WorkLife Law has joined Legal Aid at Work, A Better Balance, and Equal Rights Advocates in filing an amicus brief supporting dockworkers’s demand for their right to pregnancy and lactation accommodations. 

The Center for WorkLife Law is honored to have our free legal helpline, and Co-Director Jessica Lee, spotlighted in a new book by Brigid Schulte, award-winning journalist and New York Times bestselling author. “Over Work: Transforming the Daily Grind in the Quest for a Better Life,” explores why America’s way of work isn’t working and offers solutions to make it better. We’re thrilled that Co-Director Lee is featured so prominently as a changemaker in shifting the American workplace to be more humane.

The Center for WorkLife Law is pleased to welcome Jessica Dimas as our new Reproductive Justice for Farmworkers Legal Fellow. Jessica is joining our team to advance the rights of pregnant and lactating farmworkers in California thanks to our newly awarded Agricultural Community-Based Projects grant from the Pesticide Educational Resources Collaborative (PERC).

For the first time in nearly 40 years, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has used its emergency suspension authority to stop the use of the pesticide Dacthal – a toxin that has been endangering pregnant farmworkers and their babies. This is one of many important steps needed for the law to finally acknowledge the dire risks farmworkers unnecessarily face, especially when they are pregnant.