GBLS Employment Unit

Employment Unit

The Employment Unit

Mission

The mission of the Employment Unit is to represent the most vulnerable among low wage workers and enable them to maximize their income and to overcome obstacles that limit their employment opportunities and income levels. We have identified wages, working conditions and benefits, income during periods of joblessness, access to tax credits, and job training as the main areas where representation is needed.

The Employment Unit strives to meet its mission through:

providing community legal education on workplace and work-related legal rights;
increasing access to representation of immigrant workers through prioritizing representation of these workers along with regular intake in Chelsea, Chinatown, and East Boston (targeting the Latino, Asian and Brazilian communities), and initiating a Haitian Worker Outreach Project;
representing individuals in unemployment benefit hearings, wage and hour claims, tax controversies against the IRS and DOR, accessing job training programs, and other work-related issues; and
representing community-based organizations in systemic policy campaigns to improve access to unemployment and job training programs and to improve wages and work-connected benefits.

We give priority to the most vulnerable low-wage workers, including immigrants, former welfare recipients, workers with limited English proficiency or other barriers, single parents, and workers in contingent jobs. As with all GBLS cases, our representation is generally limited to individuals whose household income is below 125 percent of the federal poverty level.

The Employment Unit's intake is handled through the Legal Advocates Resource Center (LARC) at 617-371-1234 (or toll free: 1-800-323-3205). Employment Unit staff also provide weekly intake in Spanish in Chelsea on Thursdays from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m.. Please call 617-884-7568 for an appointment, which will be arranged by the Suffolk University Legal Services located at 350 Broadway, Chelsea, MA 02150. In addition, intake is available on Monday afternoons from 1:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. in Cantonese at the Chinese Progressive Association, 38 Ash Street, Boston, MA 02111 (call 617-357-4499 for an appointment).

For more information about the specific areas of our work, please click on the links below.

Individual Legal Representation

Unemployment Benefits (including related health insurance and job training benefits)
Wage Enforcement
Discrimination
Low Income Tax Clinic
Job Training Access
Family and Medical Leave
Barriers to Employment

Representation of Community Based Organizations

Paid Sick Days
Access to Job Training
Unemployment Insurance
Living Wage Ordinance
Workplace Rights for Immigrant Workers
Contingent Work
Minimum Wage
Tax benefits such as the Earned Income Tax Credit

Legal Education and Outreach

Weekly Community Intake
Workers' Rights Community Workshops
Trainings for the Private Bar

Updated: 08/07/2007