COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Some Ohio policy experts, business leaders and parents are calling on Congress to create permanent paid-leave policies that will support working families through the pandemic and beyond.

During a virtual roundtable discussion about paid leave this week, U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, said the COVID-19 crisis is called the "Great Revealer" because it is telling the world so much about our nation.

"About this country's racial disparities, about wealth inequality, about the holes in our safety net, about the challenges we face because we're fundamentally the only rich country in the world that provides the kinds of family benefits that our country should," Brown said.

The Families First Coronavirus Response Act created the first national paid-leave laws, but it expires on Dec. 31.

Elizabeth Brown, executive director of the Ohio Women's Public Policy Network, contends the impact of the pandemic differs greatly depending on a person's income, gender or skin color.

She added far too many women are caught between the demands of their jobs and the needs of their families.

"Equitable policies like paid family leave are critical to helping families recover," Brown said. "Particularly Black families and Latinx families, who've been hit hardest, first and worst, by the unemployment of the COVID-19 downturn."

Jon Gromek, a father from Cleveland, said he started a new job before the birth of his second child and had no paid leave available.

He said it was a night-and-day difference from the birth of his first child, when he and his wife had accrued a combined nine months of paid time off.

"Just to be able to be present, especially with our firstborn when we were really figuring things out, was life-changing," Gromek said. "Just to have those memories and experiences and not be stressed when one of us was at work to always know that the other was there, that we didn't have to worry, was the biggest blessing I've ever had as a parent."

Dora Anim, chief operating officer for the Greater Cincinnati Foundation, noted paid-leave policies are a win-win for employers. She said workers perform their best when they know they are supported.

"When employees know their families are taken care of, when they are at peace, they bring their best to work and they are high performer," Anim said. "And most employers don't end up needing to use all these benefits; they just find comfort in knowing that they are available. And this impacts morale, culture and productivity."

According to the latest government data, 17% of civilian workers, 16% of private-industry workers and 25% of state and local government workers had access to paid leave in 2018.

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Reporting by Ohio News Connection in association with Media in the Public Interest and funded in part by the George Gund Foundation.


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A new federal proposal to protect workers from extreme heat is being hailed as a potential lifesaver by labor advocates, even as Florida faces backlash over its heat safety rollbacks.

The proposed OSHA regulation is open for public comment until Dec. 30. It could bring long-awaited protections to millions of workers exposed to dangerous temperatures.

Micki Siegel de Hernández, national deputy director of occupational safety and health for the Communications Workers of America, said Florida recorded more than 200 heat-related worker deaths between 2010 and 2020 and she is baffled by a controversial law Gov. Ron DeSantis signed in April to block local municipalities from enacting protections for workers.

"That bill also prohibits any kind of training or posting of information. It's insane," Siegel de Hernández asserted. "It's disgusting and insane, and also blames workers in the event that they do suffer from some kind of heat-related illness."

DeSantis had sidestepped criticism of the bill by saying it did not come from him. Under the proposed OSHA rule, employers would be required to implement heat illness prevention plans, including access to water, rest breaks and shaded areas.

Siegel de Hernández noted many of Florida's workers, especially those in outdoor industries like construction and agriculture, are at risk of heat exhaustion and heat stroke.

"All of these things are preventable and without a standard, workers will continue to die," Siegel de Hernández contended. "We need to get something passed as quickly as possible."

The OSHA rule would mark the first federal legal protections for indoor and outdoor workers exposed to extreme heat. If approved, it could go into effect as early as next year.

The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health has recommended heat safety standards since the 1970s. But this is the first time the U.S. government has proposed comprehensive heat safety regulations applicable to most industries.


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A new study showed as Texas has emerged as a national leader in wind turbine and solar energy installations, clean energy workers often face dangerous working conditions and unequal pay.

The report from a pair of advocacy groups found few Texas job sites are unionized and workers often receive low pay and lack access to benefits like health insurance, workers' compensation and retirement plans.

Bo Delp, executive director of the Texas Climate Jobs Project, said with unions on the rise in Texas and elsewhere, clean energy job sites need to give workers a voice in determining their working conditions.

"We know unionized workplaces have fewer accidents and have less income and racial inequality," Delp pointed out. "One of the things that's needed is for policymakers and for employers to lean in to that support for collective bargaining that we're seeing across the country."

The report was produced by the Texas Climate Jobs Project and the Cornell University Climate Jobs Institute. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics said while union membership is on the rise in Texas, it remains one of the least unionized states. As a so-called "right to work" state, Texans do not have to join a union to get a job.

The report found work-related injuries are common on industrial-scale work sites, including those where solar panels and wind turbines are installed.

Avalon Hoek Spaans, assistant research director for the Climate Jobs Institute at Cornell University and the study's co-author, said the research showed there were often few work rules designed to prevent injuries on job sites.

"One in four workers have experienced work-related injuries on a clean energy Texas worksite and almost half of all workers surveyed have suffered a heat-related illness," Hoek Spaans reported. "Forty-eight percent of our sample had experienced a heat-related illness, 26% an injury, and 7% saw a fatality."

The study also found rampant racial inequality on job sites, with Black workers making an average of $8,500 a year less than white workers, Spanish speakers made $5,900 less and women made $2,700 less. Workers also said employers often refuse to pay overtime.

New research shows the gender wage gap widened for the first time in two decades.

The Census Bureau found full-time working women make 82.7 cents for every dollar a man makes, down from 84 cents for every dollar in 2022.

Connecticut echoes the trend statewide, particularly in the public sector workforce.

Jamila K. Taylor, president and CEO of the Institute for Women's Policy Research, said states can enact policy solutions to address pay equity issues.

"Factoring in things like access to child care, the affordability of child care," Taylor suggested. "We know that child care is much more expensive in this country. There have been conversations nationally about price gouging and the price of groceries even though, you know, we know the economy has cooled down."

While the economy is growing stronger, she noted some sectors are still recovering from the pandemic. Child care affordability problems existed before the pandemic and were only exacerbated.

Taylor feels one way Connecticut and the nation can help close the gender wage gap is by expanding their respective child tax credits. Affording child care improves women's ability to make sufficient wages to meet their needs and those of their families.

The Census Bureau data showed minority women are earning far less. Black women working full-time make 66.5 cents for every dollar their male counterparts make. For Latina women, it's less than 60 cents for every dollar.

Taylor pointed out several challenges are preventing the gender wage gap from closing any further.

"We still need the political will to broadly support addressing the gender wage gap in this country," Taylor argued. "Better access to higher paying jobs, you know, particularly for women is important."

If the gender wage gap continued on the same slow but steady narrowing trend, all women workers would have reached pay equity with men by 2088. Pay equity between all full-time year-round workers will take over 30 years, finally coming to fruition in 2066.