Past Events

The COVID-19 pandemic underscored the weaknesses that plague modern-day unemployment insurance. From underfunding, lack of access, employer payment failures, and delays to errors in processing benefits, unemployment insurance suffers from an array of maladies. In New York State, several legislative proposals seek to address these problems. Please join the Center for Applied Research on Work in conversation with Unemployment Insurance experts to explore what the current legislative proposals cover. Discussions will include where the proposals need to address the full complement of needs the New York Unemployment Insurance system faces.

In the U.S., tens of thousands of laws restrict access to work for people with convictions. New York State has nearly 500 laws and regulations restricting employment opportunities for people with criminal convictions. Often, these restrictions are one-size-fits-all, without regard to the nature of the conviction and whether it relates–or not–to a specific job’s requirements. In this webinar, the Criminal Justice and Employment Initiative (CJEI) and government and nonprofit partners will discuss the impact of occupational licensing restrictions on justice-impacted individuals. CJEI will present its new brief on this issue: Updating New York State’s Employment Restrictions for People with Criminal Convictions. It will also engage with practitioners who have worked to implement reforms. Learn about their analysis of these policies and their recommendations for change from the points of view of a researcher and an attorney who challenges such laws. You will also hear from a state official from Utah’s Department of Professional Licensing on the promising practices implemented there.

Join this event to demonstrate the Cornell ILR Wage Atlas live. You will hear from Dr. Russell Weaver, the researcher who designed the tool, about the ILR Living Wage Atlas and the latest findings to come out of it. You will also hear from partners Yannet Lathrop, Senior Researcher and Policy Analyst for the National Employment Law Project (NELP), and Dr. Karen King, Executive Director of the Erie County Commission on the Status of Women, on how they use the tool. Come learn how you can take advantage of this rich data source, too.