Mike Okun Speaks to NC Legislative Committee on Work and Family Balance

Yesterday, Michael Okun spoke in front of the North Carolina Legislature's Joint Study Committee on Work and Family Balance. Mike presented an overview of employment law, the specific laws that assist employees in caring for family members and themselves, and possible improvements that could be made to further assist employees as they balance the demands of work and family.

An excellent paper on the topic is “Free Riding on Families: Why the American Workplace Needs to Change and How to Do It,” an Issue Brief by Phoebe Taubman, an Equal Justice Works Fellow with A Better Balance: The Work and Family Legal Center, based in New York City. The paper discusses the need for reform, compares our laws to the more robust protections available in most other countries, and proposes reforms in the areas of: an improved Family and Medical Leave Act, paid sick days, workplace flexibility, employment discrimination against caregivers, and workplace equity.