Protecting Workers’ Rights and Patient Care

Worker protections and patient care ultimately go hand-in-hand. Our members work tirelessly to deliver high quality services despite the many obstacles presented in their respective lines of work. This year, AFSCME highlighted the extraordinary challenges that our early educators and child care providers face everyday while providing necessary care. AFSCME members in this profession faced a serious lack of worker protections which compromised their ability to enjoy dignity on the job. Thanks to the efforts of Assemblymember Monique Limón, commonsense worker protection policies were heard in the California State Legislature to help our members receive the basic rights and protections they deserve. 

Early educators, who are licensed or care for children under a publicly-funded child care program, are at risk for occupational health and safety hazards on the job. There are limited training options and little instruction offered on how to handle toxic chemicals, illness, stress and physical straining from lifting and bending. Additionally, home-based child care providers do not receive workers’ compensation if they are injured due to their “independent contractor” status. When an early educator gets hurt on the job, they must keep working through the pain or close their doors.

AB 676 would require the Commission on Health and Safety and Workers’ Compensation to establish and maintain an Early Educators’ Occupational Safety and Health Training Program. This would include a discussion of the risks of chemical and biological hazards, infectious diseases, physical hazards, stress and how to identify and minimize those risks. The bill would specifically require an early educator to attend that training within 6 years of it first being offered, or within 3 months of the person becoming an early educator, whichever occurs later. This one-time, two-hour, in-person, peer-led training would be an important, proactive step to ensure early educators learn how to identify and avoid health and safety risks to protect the provider’s own health and safety as well as the health and safety of the children in her care.