When Opting Out is Not an Option - By Sarah E. Clark, Bay Area BusinessWoman Online
Giles’ story exemplifies a typical situation described in “One Sick Child Away from Being Fired: When Opting Out Is Not an Option,” a report recently released by the University of California Hastings College of the Law. Professor Joan C. Williams, who authored the report, studied 99 union arbitrations where working class employees — bus drivers, telephone workers, construction linemen, nurses’ aides, carpenters, janitors, and others — were in danger of losing their jobs due to family responsibilities. Seventy nine percent of the discipline and discharge arbitrations involved childcare.