Dayton’s first year of paid family leave

September 14, 2016 by Terra Goodnight

In August, 2015, Dayton became the first City in Ohio to announce it was granting paid parental leave to all municipal employees. The City adopted a policy nearly identical to that available to State of Ohio employees: a two-week, unpaid waiting period followed by four weeks paid at 70 percent of a worker’s usual rate. The policy was extended to both mothers and fathers after the birth, adoption or foster placement of a new child. While on leave, employees may use accumulated leave balances to supplement their pay up to 100 percent, and, in some cases, the City approved flexible schedules to allow workers without sufficient leave balances to work part-time and still receive partial pay.

In contrast with the Family and Medical Leave Act, which requires workers to have been on the job for at least 12 months to be eligible for unpaid leave, Dayton extended benefits to all employees. Staff with less than a year on the job could still take unpaid or partially paid leave under the Dayton program.

When it implemented the policy, Dayton used a model published by Innovation Ohio to estimate the rate of leave-taking among its workforce. Using the IO model and data on the Dayton workforce, over the course of a year, the City expected 66 workers to take leave.

One year later, the results are in. In conversation with City of Dayton staff earlier this month, we learned that the actual number of employees who used parental leave was 64, very close to the 66 our model predicted. Similarly, the projected value of the leave according to the IO model was $191,000 while the actual “value” of leave used by Dayton employees was $170,000. (Note: the value of the leave is merely the number of hours at the worker’s usual rate of pay. The City did not actually incur additional costs to offer the benefit.)

Departments were not given additional funds to deal with any costs associated with workers taking leave. Instead, they were told to absorb any overtime costs within their budgets as they would for overtime used to cover other types of leave. Human Resources examined overtime use at the Police Department and found no discernable increase compared to the prior year. No other departments have reported having challenges keeping overtime under budget.

Interestingly, out of 64 employees who took leave, 54 were men. This is unsurprising, given the large proportion of safety forces — still male-dominated professions — in the City’s workforce. Fire Department employees were the top leave-takers, with 23 employees making use of the benefit, followed by 16 in the Police Department.

Also notable was the observation by City staff that most employees use all the paid leave they were afforded, in contrast to findings in California that men are less likely to take leave, and when they do are out for shorter time periods than women. This could be explained by the fact that Dayton’s policy offers 70 percent of pay during leave, with the ability to supplement up to 100 percent using accrued leave, making it far more generous than the 55 percent of pay offered in California.

Today, City staff offered an update on highlights of the program’s first year at its regular Commission meeting. We congratulate Dayton on the anniversary of this important family-friendly workplace policy.

New Report Shows Hedge Funds Contributing to Ohio Job Loss

September 8, 2016 by Terra Goodnight

Today a new report from Ohio Hedge Clippers – a coalition of policy, labor and grassroots organizing groups — shows the role billionaire hedge fund managers have played in the loss of thousands of Ohio jobs.

In 2009, in the midst of government bailout talks with the Big Three automakers, hedge funds purchased the outstanding debt of auto parts manufacturer Delphi — currently struggling in bankruptcy — for pennies on the dollar. These “vulture capitalists” (so-called because they prey on firms that are near death, seeking profits by slashing costs) were later able to convert their investment into a controlling share of the company’s stock.

The new controlling faction terminated health insurance for many Delphi retirees and threatened to shut down the company if it didn’t get a piece of the government bailout. The hedge funds held the taxpayers, auto industry, and Delphi workers hostage to its steep, anti-worker demands. According to today’s report:

Singer and the other hedge fund vultures wanted more public subsidies for the company and reductions of its obligations to workers like collective bargaining agreements, union wages, health care, and defined benefit pensions.

Because of their considerable leverage (Delphi is a critical supplier to US automakers), they were able to reject a deal to keep 15 of their 29 US facilities open and unionized. Today, one vulture brags that “virtually none” of the workers in Delphi’s remaining 4 US facilities are unionized; thousands more lost their jobs. Taxpayers ultimately contributed $12.9 billion in bailout funds, including $5.6 billion to assume responsibility for much of the Delphi pension obligations. The company has reincorporated abroad to avoid US taxes.

As they took aim at US workers, the hedge funds walked away with a huge profit. After taking the company public in 2011, one fund made $390 million, another $1.3 billion. The biggest payday went to Paulson & Company, whose shares grew by $2.6 billion.

The report warns that many of the same hedge funds are behind the pending merger of Dow and DuPont, which has already led to 10,000 layoffs and promises $3 billion more in “savings.” At risk are the combined 13 Dow and DuPont Ohio facilities and the more 2,000 employees who work there.

Vulture capitalists are increasingly playing an outsized role in politics. Since Citizens United opened the door to nearly unlimited funding for Super PACs, hedge fund managers have dumped billions into efforts to select our next President and Congress.

In fact, 4 of the 5 largest contributors to Fighting for Ohio, one of the two main Super PACs supporting Rob Portman, are hedge fund managers (see table):

At the top of the list is Robert Mercer of Renaissance Technologies, who in addition to supporting Portman has recently put his considerable wealth fully behind Donald Trump’s presidential bid. And the CEO of Paulson & Company — the largest beneficiary of the Delphi takeover — was recently named by Trump as one of his chief economic advisers.

Why do fund managers spend so much on politics? No doubt they seek to preserve their favorable tax treatment of their investment earnings that subjects them to a tax rate lower than that paid by most working Ohioans. Rules allowing companies like Delphi to move their profits overseas to avoid paying US taxes are also popular with vultures seeking to make a buck.

Trump may talk tough about hedge funds, but they make up a large part of his economic team. And Portman, who has made an issue of the pension mess at Delphi, should look no further than the backers of his Super PAC for an explanation.

Ohio considers workplace protections for pregnant women

April 20, 2016 by Terra Goodnight

In February, state lawmakers introduced bipartisan legislation that would create important workplace legal protections for Ohio women. Applicable to all workplaces with 5 or more employees, Senate Bill 301 would require employers to provide reasonable accommodations for pregnant and breastfeeding workers to allow them to remain in their jobs. Currently, no such protections exist, so women who may require frequent bathroom breaks, a place to sit or to avoid heavy lifting may today be fired or forced to take leave without pay.

According to the Plain Dealer, more than 1,500 complaints have been filed with the Ohio Civil Rights Commission about workplace discrimination related to pregnancy, making clear that the problem is a genuine threat to women’s (and families’) economic security. As of December, 2015, the National Partnership for Women and Families reported that 16 states, the District of Columbia and four cities have enacted pregnancy nondiscrimination laws.

The primary sponsors of S.B. 301 are Democrat Capri Cafaro and Republican Shannon Jones. In fact, every female member of the Ohio Senate — from both parties — has endorsed the legislation. The bill has been assigned to the Senate Civil Justice committee where it will receive its first hearing today.

Raising Minimum Wage In Cleveland Can Help Nearly 100,000 Working Families

April 13, 2016 by Keary McCarthy

COLUMBUS – As the push for a ballot measure to increase the minimum wage in Cleveland begins, Innovation Ohio has taken a closer look at how a wage increase will impact working families and who would benefit. The findings show that nearly 100,000 workers in Cleveland would benefit from a minimum wage increase to $15. The vast majority—96 percent—of Cleveland workers who would get a raise are 20 or older, and 7 in 10 are over the age of 30. The report also shows that nearly one in five Cleveland workers who would see wages rise are currently relying on food stamps.

“Now is the time to consider raising the wage in Cleveland because far too many families are working but still struggling to escape poverty,” said Innovation Ohio President Keary McCarthy. “Raising the minimum wage to $15 will increase consumer spending and boost the City’s overall economic activity.”

The analysis found that 44 percent of Cleveland workers who would get a raise earn at least half of their household’s income, and that 33 percent are parents. It also showed that 59 percent of Cleveland workers who would be impacted are women.

“Beyond being a home care provider, I am a mother of four smart, wonderful kids,” said Cleveland resident Artheta Peters, who was interviewed for the report. Peters continued: “I usually work about 56 hours a week and have had to depend on food stamps and other services to make ends meet. Raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour would give my family the stability we need to cover the basic necessities.”

Read the Full Report: How the Fight for $15 Strengthens Cleveland and its Workers.

Innovation Ohio is a policy and advocacy non-profit based in Columbus, Ohio.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: APRIL 13, 2016

Media Contact: Chase Brown
614-220-0150

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On Equal Pay Day, One Policy Can Help

April 12, 2016 by Jayne Van Schaik

Women in Ohio earn just 78 cents, on average, for every dollar their male counterparts take home. To raise awareness of this continuing pay disparity, April 12 has been designated “Equal Pay Day,” a symbolic recognition of the day when the average woman catches up to what the average male earned in 2015. This year on Equal Pay Day, we are highlighting one workplace policy that could help to close the gap between men and women: paid parental leave.

Every year, thousands of Ohioans face the tough choice between earning a paycheck and caring for a new child. The U.S. holds the dubious distinction of being the only industrialized nation where new parents are not guaranteed paid time off after a birth or adoption. And just 13 percent of U.S. workers receive any form of paid family leave through their employers. Unfortunately, the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993, groundbreaking in its time, only guarantees a job will be there when a worker returns, not a paycheck while they are out. Clearly, twenty-first century policies are necessary to meet the needs of twenty-first century families.

After the birth or adoption of a child, too many new parents, particularly new mothers, are left with several terrible options: go back to work too soon after having a child, lose critical income by taking leave without pay, or exit the workforce temporarily. The choices are worse for low-income women and women of color. Just four percent of low-wage workers — who are more likely to be black or Latino, and for whom the pay gap between women and men is even larger — have access to paid family leave, compared to 22 percent of high wage-earners.

There is a direct connection between paid leave policies and equal pay. Because so few have access to paid leave policies, women in the U.S. are more likely to leave employment after childbirth, reducing their earnings compared to their male counterparts. And women with employment gaps are less likely to be considered for more senior positions which, in turn, further increases pay gaps between them and men in similar positions.

Paid Parental Leave also leads to a more equitable division of labor at home, which can in turn reduce gender pay disparities. Research shows that when even brief periods of paid leave are extended to fathers, men are more likely to be involved in childcare and domestic responsibilities months and years later. Further, when dad takes on some of the responsibility for caring for a new child, it gives mom the opportunity to return to work faster and advance in her career.

Recently introduced Ohio House Bill 511 would establish a paid family leave insurance program allowing up to 12 weeks of leave with pay. If enacted, Ohio would be the fourth state to adopt a statewide policy. The legislation would not only ensure that parents could bond and care for their newborn without giving up a paycheck or their job, but would also allow working Ohioans to address their own or a family member’s serious health condition. HB 511 is a step in the right direction for Ohio families and will create a workplace that is more conducive to family life and begin to reduce the gender pay gap.

For more on the benefits of paid parental leave, read our 2015 report: The Benefits of paid parental leave for women, families, employers and local communities