Labor advocates hosted a hearing in Chicago today and highlighted the plight of part-time workers in retail and other service industries,
while underscoring the need for federal legislation that would extend
protections, including health care, family and medical leave and
pensions, to part-time employees.
The Part-Time Worker Bill of Rights Act of 2013 (HR 675),
sponsored by U.S. Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D, IL-9), aims to do just that
by building upon the Affordable Care Act and ensuring that part-time
employees who work less than 30 hours a week have access to important
workplace benefits.
As it stands, many of the federally mandated
work-related benefits apply only to full-time workers, but that set up no longer meets the needs of the nation's workforce, Schakowsky said at the hearing, which was held at the Spertus Institute for Jewish Learning and Leadership.
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