Did you ask for systemic change for Mother's Day? Great! Because that's what we got you...

When my kids were younger I spent a long time being frustrated.

Frustrated that my career wasn’t working for me anymore. Frustrated that school ended at 3 and work ended at 5:30 Frustrated that my return to work journey was nothing short of a hot mess.

When I went looking for help, I was told to breathe more (seriously?), hire help and, lean in (yep...).

What I didn’t realize was that I had changed. I was a different person and the things I wanted from my work were no longer what I wanted when I was 27, and that was ok. In fact, it was GREAT!

What I wanted was systemic change.

I set out to start not just another mom's group. I wanted to create a space that centred YOU, talked about how we needed to change systems, built programs to teach you how to make more money and build community, and I created an organization that would make ACTUAL change.

In the past 5 years, we have helped:

• Pass pay transparency legislation in 4 provinces
• Helped revamp Employment Insurance to better protect mothers and parents
• Launched Canada’s first program to teach women their rights during maternity leave and

Drum roll, please....

The week of Mother's Day, the provincial government has announced Ontario will be targeting employers who penalize employees for taking pregnancy or parental leave.

This is such a huge step in the right direction - putting employers on notice for discriminating against those taking parental leave.

The proposed legislation, if passed, would double the maximum fine for individuals convicted of violating the ESA from $50,000 to $100,000, marking the highest fine in Canada. Additionally, regulatory changes would increase the penalty for repeat offenders who contravene the same ESA provision three or more times from $1,000 to $5,000, one of the highest penalties in the country.

Violations targeted include:

• failure to pay wages
• discrimination based on gender
• penalizing employees for taking pregnancy or parental leave

Read more here: Ontario proposes bigger ESA fines, greater job transparency with new legislation | HRD Canada (hcamag.com)

Happy Mother's Day - I hope your families get you flowers, hugs and so much more - but this Mother’s Day I hope you accept this gift from Moms at Work - systemic friggin' change.

Love,

Al & the Moms at Work Team

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