Melissa Josephs has expertise in a range of workplace issues such as paid sick days, sexual harassment, fair wages, work and family, and affirmative action. A member of the WE staff since 1990, Josephs promotes passage and effective implementation of equal employment opportunity laws and regulations at the state and federal levels. Examples of issues she works on include campaigns to increase the minimum wage and pass paid sick days legislation in Illinois and at the federal level, and federal campaigns to strengthen anti-discrimination laws such as the Equal Pay Act and the Pregnancy Discrimination Act.
She leads the Illinois Paid Leave Coalition, and is a coalition member of Raise Illinois, Family Values at Work, the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights Employment Task Force, the Chicago Lawyers’ Committee on Civil Rights Under Law’s Advisory Committee for the Employment Opportunity and Impact Litigation Projects, and UNITE HERE’s Community Key Leaders Group focusing on hotel worker rights.
Prior to joining Women Employed, Josephs was a community organizer at the Northwest Neighborhood Federation.
Josephs has a B.A. in English and Journalism from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and a J.D. from IIT Chicago-Kent College of Law
Press Mentions:
- New York Times, "Obama's Labor Agenda," February 14, 2013
- Vocalo Radio, "Women Excel in Higher Education But Pay and Leadership Gaps Persist," September 5, 2012
- WGN Radio, “Mike McConnell Show,” April 20, 2012
- Chicago Sun-Times, “Women to rally for equal pay Tuesday at Daley Center,” April 16, 2012
- Womens eNews, “Illinois sick day bill to require 7 paid days,” April 9, 2012
- Springfield News Sun, “Protecting pregnant women in the workplace,” March 19, 2012
- Womens eNews, “Minimum wage doesn’t pay for hard work; Let’s hike,” February 7, 2012
