First Shift Testifies- Oversight Season
Performance oversight season at the DC Council provides a special opportunity for people affected by local government policies and services to give feedback directly to lawmakers. Think something similar to writing a Yelp review for a new restaurant in your neighborhood- you’re grateful it’s there, but you see some tangible ways for it to improve before it can reach its potential of your number one weekly takeout spot. But, instead of wondering if the business is even going to see it, you get a chance to say it directly to the owner! A big opportunity!
When our clients need access to wage replacement benefits due to pregnancy, illness, or caregiving responsibilities, or when they have been fired from discrimination, they interact with government agencies that have the power to either help or harm them. These agencies make promises as to how they will enforce DC laws or carry out DC programs, but they often fall short of their stated (or statutory) commitments. At First Shift, we have an important responsibility- to share stories on behalf of our clients directly to policymakers who determine the conditions under which they get to seek justice for their claims.
We normally participate to give feedback to the primary agencies relevant to our work- the DC Office of Human Rights, which handles discrimination complaints under District law, and the DC Department of Employment Services, which administers the DC Paid Family Leave insurance program. This year, we had three different staff members testify at these hearings- Allison Tallering (staff attorney) and Rosalind Herendeen (senior staff attorney) for DC Office of Human Rights oversight and Laura Brown (executive director) for DC Office of Employment Services oversight.
A summary of our advocacy priorities and highlights from the hearings are below:
We shared stories of how OHR processing delays, some as long as four years, have impacted our clients and prevented them from accessing relief, even when the Office eventually finds there was evidence of discrimination
We recommended that the Council extend the deadline for filing a discrimination case from one to three years to ensure that discrimination cases will be treated just like other claims (personal injury, etc)
We supported changes to OHR procedure that would allow our clients to have their day in court even if they seek the assistance of OHR in investigating their case (Fairness in Human Rights Administration Amendment Act of 2023)
We asked for our clients to be able to skip the OHR intake process if they have a lawyer, in order to avoid delays in the complaint process and prevent OHR staff from interfering with the lawyer’s representation of their client’s best interests
DC Office of Employment Services
We urged the Council to hold a hearing on the Universal Leave Portability Amendment Act of 2023, which would allow people whose employers have paid taxes for them to get PFL benefits to access those benefits, even if they are not eligible to take FMLA leave; have been fired for discriminatory reasons; or are otherwise not working on the date they apply
We proposed multiple technical fixes to help reduce barriers to benefits eligibility across the community, including ones that would help OPFL recognize the breadth of family caregiving relationships across generations and clarify that dads and other bonding parents get to receive the maximum level of benefits they are eligible for regardless of whether they take leave right after the baby comes or later in the child’s first year
We requested that the Office of Paid Family Leave be required to make a portal for medical providers to submit relevant medical documentation for Paid Family Leave insurance applications to make it easier for sick and caregiving workers to apply for benefits.
We conveyed the experience of many of our Spanish-language clients, who have difficulties beyond what English-language speakers experience in getting their applications processed properly at the Office of Paid Family Leave, to stress how OPFL needs to step up and treat both groups the same.
We look forward to seeing how our testimony impacts legislative priorities going further into the legislative calendar! Check back here for any updates or more information on how you can help support our advocacy priorities.
By. A. Tallering
