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What I've Been Reading This Week


Perhaps I should have styled this one as "The New York Times Edition", given that I read a couple great articles from them this week.  With that said, one of the more timely and relevant articles in recent memory has to do with the fight to end sexual harassment in the workplace.  Readers might recall having heard about sexual harassment allegations made against Harvey Weinstein recently (not to mention the allegations over at Fox in recent months).  While the topic is quite sobering, Clyde Haberman penned a well thought out and researched piece on the topic that is worth a read.

As always, below are a couple articles that caught my eye this week.


Paid Sick Leave to Care For Your Dog? That's Fine...At Least With One Italian Employer

Recently, The New York Times posted an article about how Sapienza University in Rome allowed one of its employees to use paid time off to care for her sick English Setter.  While the employer initially counted the days the employee was off work as a "holiday", an animal advocacy group helped the employee make the case that the time off work should instead be counted as paid time off.  Interesting enough, the University had a change of heart and allowed the employee to use leave to care for her dog.  It might be a long while before paid time off to care for dogs becomes customary (especially here in the U.S.), but perhaps this is something we can all get behind.


The Long (& Continuing) Fight to End Sexual Harassment in the Workplace

Clyde Haberman at The New York Times wrote an in depth analysis of the prolonged struggle to end sexual harassment in the workplace...a "fight" that has been ongoing for decades.  With the allegations unfolding in recent days about Harvey Weinstein, Haberman tracks the uphill struggle that women have faced in the workplace, which have become increasingly prevalent in recent years with a string of high profile lawsuits and settlements.  As noted in the article, while the attempt to end sexual harassment in the workplace is far from over, things have progressed quite a bit from where things previously stood.

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