In 2019, WorkLife Law advocated with California’s Employment Development Department (EDD), which administers the state’s worker-funded State Disability Insurance (SDI), to ensure that farmworkers could access critical paid leave early in pregnancy. Dar a Luz, a collaboration with the Central Coast Alliance United for a Sustainable Economy (CAUSE), continues this critical effort to support and empower farmworkers who need paid time off work to avoid harmful exposure to agricultural toxins during pregnancy, and the postpartum and nursing period.

As the U.S. heads into the second fall of the COVID-19 pandemic, millions of student parents enrolled in college are returning to in person instruction at the same time as their children. The new toolkit from the Center for WorkLife Law’s Pregnant Scholar Initiative offers concrete guidance on how to return to on-campus instruction in a way is inclusive of pregnant and parenting students.

This summer, UC Berkeley student Kybeth Ruiz-Gaytan joined the Center for WorkLife Law team as a research assistant. Kybeth investigated current employer policies and employee needs, which culminated in the creation of our new Toolkit for Centering Equity in the Transition to Hybrid Work. She also added to the Center’s research database by conducting literature reviews focused on how bias plays out for individuals in the LGBTQIA+ community and people with disabilities.