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"The Boss Can't Do That, Can He?"

A Workers' Rights Curriculum

"The Boss Can't Do That, Can He?" is a 10-module curriculum for teaching Workers Rights, based on Massachusetts law. The curriculum is approximately ten hours long when all parts are used, but it can be broken up into smaller pieces. Individual topic modules range from 45 minutes to two hours. The facilitator's notes, the flipcharts and the handouts for the modules are posted below and may be downloaded. Many of the modules have been revised since the initial version. Revision dates are noted. Updated modules and materials will be posted as they are developed. View the Table of Contents here, or go right to the modules and start downloading. Teachers from Immigrant Rights organizations learn one of the exercises together.	Michelle Plaisimond, from Cambridge Eviction Free Zone, tries out the module on Overtime Materials in Spanish Most of the participants materials (i.e., handouts and participants outlines) for this curriculum are now available in Spanish. The rest will be posted when it becomes ready. For Spanish materials, click here.
What's New? (Most recent updates) • The general pages at the beginning, including cover, authors and acknowledgements, table of contents, and facilitator's introduction, have all been revised and reformatted into 1 document, in April 2009. • All "In Brief" sections (formerly called "Nutshells") have been completely revised as of April, 2009,  to correspond to new 5th edition of Your Rights on the Job. • Listings of government agencies and advocacy organizations • Modules 1, 2, 4, 5 and 6 were updated in April, 2009. Staff from MassCOSH have made good use of the workers rights' curriculum.	Workers Rights for ESOL students The Workers Rights Curriculum assumes some literacy in English. We encourage ESOL and ABE teachers to adapt our materials as necessary for use with limited English proficiency learners. We would also appreciate getting copies of materials that have been adapted for ESOL or ABE use, so that we can publish them here on this website. For an ESOL curriculum that was adapted from our Health and Safety module, click here. (Thank you to Jenny Utech, from Mass. Worker Education Roundtable, who developed this curriculum).
Please Send us Your Feedback If you have used the Workers Rights Curriculum, or any part of it, with your organization, please take a moment to complete our feedback form, so that we can continue to improve our materials.

Pages to Download

• Opening Materials (Includes: Cover, Authors and Acknowledgements,Table of Contents, and Facilitator's Introduction)

• Module 1: Facilitator's notes
• Answer sheet for facilitators
• Flip charts
• Participants' Outline
• Law cards
• Handout: Workplace laws
• Handout: Your Rights on the Job in Massachusetts
  
• Pictures for Activity 1 are in the Appendices. (Use pictures 1, 3 or 4, 5, 11, 14, 16 or 17, 18 or 19 and 21.)
  
• Other handouts in the Appendices: "Partial list of Advocacy Organizations", "Safe and Unsafe Agencies" and "Your RIghts on the Job in Massachusetts"

• Module 2: Facilitator's notes
• Flip charts
• Participants' Outline
• Handouts: "Yvonne's First Paycheck" and "Basic Needs Budget"
• Paystub handout
  
• "In Brief" handouts in the Appendices
  

• Module 4: Facilitator's notes
• Flip charts
• Participants' Outline
• Handout and Answer sheet: "Overtime Worksheet"
• "Overtime In Brief" is in the Appendices
  

• Module 5: Facilitator's notes
• Flip charts
• Participants' Outline
• Handout: "Is This Discrimination?"
• "Overtime In Brief" is in the Appendices

• Module 6: Facilitator's notes
• Flip charts
• Participants' Outline
• Handouts with Answer Sheets: "Health and Safety Scenarios"
  
• Handout: "Your OSHA Rights"
  
• Handout: "What Are Workplace Hazards?"
• Pictures for Activity 3 are in the Appendices. (Use pictures 1, 3 & 6.)
  
• "In Brief" handouts in the Appendices

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Appendices

• Pictures

1.  Slip	12. Plant Closing	Worker slips on spill (picture #1)
2.  Hazardous Waste	13.  Retirement
3.  Safety Net	14. Disability
4.  Dropped Wrench	15. Pregnant worker
5.  Help Wanted	16. Multitasking
6.  Big Brother	17. Time issues
7.  Sick	18. Terminated
8.  Vacation	19. You're fired!
9.  Schedule	20. Signs: Fill in the issue
10. Paycheck	21. Petition: fill in the buttons
11. Overtime	22. Contract vs. employee handbook

• Warm-up for multi-module session
• Government agencies (revised 5/'09)
• Partial list of advocacy organizations (revised 9/'09)
• Chart: Legal Rights of Undocumented Workers (NEW 10/4/07)
• Safe and unsafe agencies for immigrant workers (revised 5/'09)
• "In Brief" sections from Schwartz, Your Rights on the Job (all chapters) (revised 4/'09)

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Materials in Spanish

We plan to make all the participants' materials (i.e., the Participants' Outlines, Flipcharts and the Handouts) available in Spanish. At this time, we do not plan to translate the materials that are seen only by the facilitator.

We will post the Spanish versions as they become available, so keep checking back here.

Contents

Módulo 1: Introducción a los Derechos Básicos del Trabajador en el Sitio de Trabajo

Módulo 2: Empezando el Empleo: Tu Paga y Tu Cheque

Módulo 3: Derechos de Trabajadores Menores de Edad

Módulo 4: Horas Extras (revised 10/4/06)

Módulo 5: Protección contra la Discriminación

Módulo 6: Protecciones de la salud y seguridad y compensaciones para los trabajadores   (new 11/15/05)

Módulo 7: Ley de Licencia Médica o por Asuntos Familiares (FMLA) (new 11/15/05)

Módulo 8: Seguro de desempleo (new 11/15/05)

Módulo 9: El Derecho de Organizarse

Módulo 10:

Appendices:

Módulo 1: Introducción a los Derechos Básicos del Trabajador en el Sitio de Trabajo

    * Guía (Participant Outline)
    * Hoja Suelta (Handout) Leyes del Lugar de Trabajo (revised 11/07)
    * Tarjetas de las Leyes (Law Cards) (new 11/07)
    * Pictures for Activity 1. (Use English version) See Appendices (For Activity 1, use pictures 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 & 11.)

Módulo 2: Empezando el Empleo: Tu Paga y Tu Cheque

    * Guía (Participant Outline) (new 11/07)
    * Hoja Suelta (Handout) (revised 7/06/07)
    * Pay stub handout (Use English version) (revised 7/06/07)
    * Ayudas Visuales (Flipcharts) (new 11/07)

Módulo 3: Derechos de Trabajadores Menores de Edad

    * Guía (Participant Outline) (new 11/07)
    * Ayudas Visuales (Flipcharts) (new 11/07)
    * Hoja Suelta (Handout) "Organizando un Sindicato" (new 11/07)
    * Folleto sobre derechos de estudiantes trabajadores: página 1, página 2.

 
Módulo 4: Horas Extras (revised 10/4/06)

    * Guía (Participant Outline)
    * Hoja Suelta (Handout) (revised 7/06/07)
    * Ayudas Visuales (new 11/07)

 
Módulo 5: Protección contra la Discriminación

    * Guía (Participant Outline)
    * Hoja Suelta (Handout)


Módulo 6: Protecciones de la salud y seguridad y compensaciones para los trabajadores   (new 11/15/05)       

    * Guía (Participant Outline)
    * Hoja Suelta 1 (Handout 1) Actividades y Respuestas
    * Hoja Suelta 2 (Handout 2) Derechos Bajo OSHA
    * Hoja Suelta 3 (Handout 3) Peligros en el Trabajo

 
Módulo 7: Ley de Licencia Médica o por Asuntos Familiares (FMLA) (new 11/15/05)

    * Guía (Participant Outline)
    * Hoja Suelta (Handout)

 
Módulo 8: Seguro de desempleo (new 11/15/05)


    * Guía (Participant Outline)
    * Hoja Suelta (Handout)


Appendices

    * Resumenes ("In a Nutshell") sections from Schwartz, Your Rights on the Job (all chapters) (revised 7/06/07)

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