Hotel housekeepers face a higher risk of injury than other hotel workers, in part due to high workload and pressure to clean hotel rooms quickly. In 1999, the hotel workers union in San Francisco, after documenting hazards faced by the housekeepers, was able to bargain a contract, reducing the quota for rooms cleaned in one day from 15 to 14. Since then, hotel workers and their union (UNITE-HERE) have bargained contracts on workload, conducted research, educated workers and the public, helped pass a California regulation on preventing hotel housekeeper musculoskeletal injuries, and also campaigned against sexual harassment of hotel housekeepers. Find out more and how you can help.

Following a 28-day strike in 2010 at Temple Univ. Hospital, Philadelphia, workers won voluntary 12-hour shifts and overtime, accrual of a sleep day after 16 hours. They rejected shorter minimum call times, and lower weekend and night shift differentials. This kind of contract improves exposure to long work hours and schedules that can affect sleep and reduces workload demands.

The Healthy Families Act is currently in Congress and would allow workers to earn up to seven paid sick days a year. Creating a national paid sick leave standard would allow millions of Americans to earn the time necessary to recover from illnesses like the flu, access health care and take care of a sick family member.

H.R. 5159, is a bill in Congress that seeks to remedy “on-call scheduling” nationally. Retail workers, food service workers, cleaners and many other occupations have irregular or “on-call” schedules which play havoc with people’s lives, like scheduling child care at a moment’s notice, or finishing college courses. Success stories addressing these issues include: 1) San Francisco, which was the first city in the U.S. to pass a Retail Worker Bill of Rights (in 2014), and 2) retail workers and others who came together in New York City and successfully passed a law in 2017 that ends “on-call” scheduling in the City.

This Act would allow the U.S. Department of Labor to authorize grants to states, local governments, and nonprofits to design new models to provide and implement “portable benefits” (retirement savings, workers compensation, life or disability insurance, sick leave, training or educational benefits, healthcare and more) for independent/precarious workers such as contractors, temporary workers and self-employed workers, and would especially benefit low-wage precarious workers. This bill could help to alleviate some of the stressors related to being a precarious/gig worker.

A Better Balance is an organization that “seeks to reduce the stress of conflicting work-family demands and responsibilities, as well as end discrimination against workers (most of whom are women) who care for their children or other family members.” They pursue campaigns to strengthen legal protections and to advance policies that provide paid leave, paid sick time, fair and flexible work, workplace equality (including gender equity), pregnant worker fairness and breastfeeding support at work. They offer you resources and information on these issues and your rights at work.

Coalition for Restaurant Safety and Health (CRSH) is a Philadelphia-based coalition that helps restaurant workers and owners identify and prevent sexual harassment. Although sexual harassment pervades the restaurant industry, restaurant workers often do not report it. They may think that their treatment comes with the job. They may fear retaliation for reporting, or they may believe that their employer won’t do anything to address it. CRSH offers free trainings to restaurants to prevent sexual harassment and to promote respectful and safe workplaces in the restaurant industry.

Family Values at Work (FV@W) grew out of the recognition that valuing caregiving and enabling people to be good providers and good family members is key to achieving racial, gender and economic equity. Labor Project for Working Families (LPWF), a long-standing initiative now working in partnership with FV@W, raises the visibility and engagement of labor unions in state FV@W coalitions. See their resources and toolkit.

Fight for $15 is a movement that began in 2012 when 200 fast-food workers walked off the job to demand $15/hr and union rights in New York City. Today, it is a global movement in hundreds of cities on six continents. It includes fast-food workers, home health aides, child care teachers, airport workers, adjunct professors, retail employees—and underpaid workers everywhere. If you are struggling with low wages and making ends meet, find information, support or join the Fight for $15 movement. Even if you are not a low-wage worker, you can still help support the struggle for fair, living wages for all workers.

The Hazards Campaign is a UK-based network of resource centers and worker advocates supporting worker organizing and campaigning for justice and safety at work.

Their manifesto suggests:

1. 1. Ending deregulation and restoring regulation and enforcement as a social good
   2. Developing a health and safety system based on prevention, precaution and participation
   3. Providing real, enforceable employment and safety rights to ensure good health and safety in low paid and precarious work via joint enforcement agency working

In order to achieve a health and safety system fit for workers at the heart of decent jobs and decent lives.

For their resources on stress and mental ill health in the workplace, visit here.

The International Labour Organization (ILO), a U.N. agency since 1919, brings together governments, employers and workers from 187 member states, to set labor standards, develop policies and devise programs promoting decent work for all women and men.

Stress Prevention at Work Checkpoints is an app and a manual designed for use by anyone interested in workplace stress prevention: national authorities, company and organizational managers, trade unions, human resource personnel, and occupational safety and health practitioners. The ILO SOLVE program is also available to download. It is an interactive educational program designed to assist in the development of policy and action to address health promotion issues at the workplace. It deals with the prevention of work-related stressors (both workplace stress and economic stressors), alcohol and drug abuse, violence (both physical and psychological), the prevention of HIV/AIDS, as well as the promotion of tobacco-free workplaces and health lifestyles, including good eating, sleeping and exercise habits. It includes guides for trainers and participants.

In January 2019, the ILO’s Global Commission on the Future of Work released the report, “A Human-Centered Agenda Needed for a Decent Future of Work.”

Among the ten recommendations are:

• • A universal labour guarantee that protects fundamental workers’ rights, an adequate living wage, limits on hours of work and safe and healthy workplaces.
  • Guaranteed social protection from birth to old age that supports people’s needs over the life cycle.
  • A universal entitlement to lifelong learning that enables people to skill, reskill and upskill.
  • Managing technological change to boost decent work, including an international governance system for digital labour platforms.
  • Greater investments in the care, green and rural economies.
  • A transformative and measurable agenda for gender equality.
  • Reshaping business incentives to encourage long-term investments.

The National Council for Occupational Safety and Health (NCOSH) is a federation of local and statewide “COSH” groups—committees/coalitions dedicated to advancing the rights of workers related to health and safety issues, regardless of their immigration status. COSH groups are typically non-profit organizations. You can find a local COSH group near you or find information about starting one.

NIOSH resources on Non Standard Work Arrangements include workers considered temporary, contingent, part-time, on-call, direct hire, agency, contract, app-based, on-demand, freelance, and gig workers. Independent contractors do not have a legal right to a safe workplace and are not legally eligible for workers’ compensation benefits if they are injured on the job. Many non-standard, low-wage workers do not earn minimum wage. Studies have shown that non-standard workers are more likely to get injured on the job and are more likely to become ill compared to permanent workers which may be related to a lack of paid sick leave. OSHA and NIOSH have developed a joint guideline for employers of temporary workers (e.g. staffing agencies): Recommended Practices for Protecting Temporary Workers and Cal OSHA has also produced a Safety and Health Fact Sheet on this issue.

NIOSH resources on sleep, fatigue, shift-work and long hours: A significant number of U.S. workers are exposed to health and safety risks associated with shift work, long work hours, and related workplace sleep and fatigue issues. If you are working in the aviation, transportation, and healthcare industries, are an emergency responder, or otherwise find yourself working long hours and night shifts, this can be particularly dangerous to your health and well-being. NIOSH has made available a webinar series and other resources about how shift work and long hours affect fatigue and sleep, as well as providing training and resources for coping with them.

This tool ranks states according to their wage policies (changes to federal minimum wage), worker protection policies (paid sick leave, pregnancy protections and equal pay), and right-to-organize policies. They also show that there is a relationship between a state’s ranking in the Best State to Work Index and positive economic and health indicators. The higher the index, the less infant mortality and poverty rates, and the higher the life expectancy, median income, GDP per capita, and labor force participation rates in that state.

ROC United is the leading restaurant workers’ rights advocacy organization in the country, representing thousands of people who work in restaurants, over 750 high-road employers, and thousands of engaged consumers united for raising restaurant industry standards. With the mission to improve wages and working conditions for the nation’s restaurant workforce, they have also been a leader in addressing sexual harassment and discrimination in the restaurant industry.

Workplace Bullying Institute (WBI) is an organization in the U.S. that has been offering comprehensive resources about workplace bullying—for individuals who have been bullied and to organizations that want to address bullying in the workplace. WBI includes self-help advice for individuals, personal coaching, research, books, public education, union assistance, training for professionals, employer consulting, and legislative advocacy. In 2001, WBI launched the Healthy Workplace Bill, which has now been introduced in 31 states/territories. If you feel you want to get involved in supporting this bill in your state, see how you can help.

A California-based organization (part of the National Council for Occupational Safety and Health), Worksafe is dedicated to promoting and protecting the basic right of all people to a safe and healthy workplace. You can get free worker trainings about health and safety rights, hazard awareness, immigrant rights and workers compensation. You can also get resources to find out how to file an OSH complaint, address retaliation, or protect yourself as a whistleblower.