The Vermont Commission on Women (VCW) has launched a short public survey called the Listening Project, designed to help focus future work on issues that matter to Vermonters. The survey asks what needs aren’t being met for Vermont women, what most effects their abilities to provide for themselves or their families, and what can be done to help.
The Vermont Commission on Women today voted to issue the following statement:
“The Vermont Commission on Women supports the joint resolution passed by the Vermont Senate and House condemning the recently reversed federal policy of separating children from their families at the southern international border, expressing a profound hope that the family separation policy will not be reinstated, and imploring the Department of Homeland Security to reunite the separated families immediately.”
The 2017-2018 Session of the Vermont General Assembly adjourned on May 24th, 2018. Below, you’ll find a roundup of legislation of interest to or particularly impacting women. If you’d like to refresh your memory about the legislation passed in 2017 during the first half of the biennium, read last year’s legislative update here.
Pregnant workers in Vermont have new legal protections in the workplace this year. As of January 1, 2018, employees experiencing healthy, uncomplicated pregnancies and needing reasonable workplace accommodations, such as rest breaks, a stool to lean or sit on, more frequent bathroom breaks, not lifting over a certain weight, flexible scheduling, or time off for medical appointments, are protected when making those requests, and unless they impose an undue hardship, employers must grant them.
Today at one o’clock Governor Scott signed H.294, a new law prohibiting inquiries about salary history.
Equal Pay Day’s date symbolizes how far into the year women must work to earn what men earned in the previous year due to the gender wage gap.
Brattleboro’s Emilie Kornheiser kicks off the Vermont Commission on Women’s (VCW) statewide community listening project at the River Garden this Friday, as part of Brattleboro’s Strolling of the Heifers noontime Brown Bag Lunch series. Her discussion, “Women and the Economy,” will center on the place, needs, and strengths of women in Brattleboro. This event is FREE and open to the public. Thoughts and comments will help shape VCW’s policy work for women and families. More info at strollingofthe
Ensuring Vermont has enough high-quality, affordable child care is essential to supporting gender equality in the workplace, according to a new report co-authored by Let’s Grow Kids (LGK) and the Vermont Commission on Women (VCW). The report outlines policy recommendations—including increasing investments in Vermont’s Child Care Financial Assistance Program and passing paid family leave—as key strategies to supporting working women and their families.
