If city residents lack life skills, are illiterate or haven't been trained for existing jobs, no amount of new rules or requirements will help them get jobs. A recent policy brief by DC Appleseed, the DC Fiscal Policy Institute, the D.C. Employment Justice Center and other nonprofit organizations identified this "skills mismatch" between D.C. residents...

Policy researchers and advocates unveiled their recommendations for the new administration to support Mayor-elect Gray’s vision for the future of workforce and economic development in the District. These leaders, convened through The Community Foundation’s Greater Washington Workforce Development Collaborative, presented two briefs on how to improve the quality of workforce development infrastructure and policy. Blog...

Eighty percent of low-wage workers do not get any paid sick days, according to MomsRising. Yet some employers have embraced the Accrued Sick and Safe Leave Act. Teaism, a local D.C. chain that serves specialty teas and Asian food, has been a strong supporter of the act since the very beginning. To...

In 2008, 51 percent of day laborers in the D.C. area were paid less than what they had been promised. According to Laura Brown, director of legal services at the D.C. Employment Justice Center, complaints of non-payment or underpayment of wages at the organization’s weekly workers rights clinic jumped from a quarter of all complaints...

The term “Carrotmob” comes from the phase “use the carrot, not the stick,” and is a method of activism in which consumers use their buying power to reward businesses that take socially responsible actions. This Saturday, November 13th starting at 10am at TEAISM’s Penn Quarter location, the Restaurant Opportunities Center of DC (ROCDC) is...