The National Employment Law Project is weighing cutbacks that some employees say could put its future in jeopardy.
The National Employment Law Project is at odds with its staff amid a budget crisis that threatens to mute a leading voice for workers' rights, according to five current and former employees.
NELP leadership has initiated buyouts in recent weeks, and the organization is weighing layoffs that staffers fear could cut their ranks by more than half.
The cutbacks have come after a major grant that the organization had been courting for more than a year fell through in late January, according to four people familiar with the matter who were granted anonymity to discuss the situation. The award was projected to be a multimillion-dollar annual commitment for several years, with the possibility of a much-larger grant down the road — an investment that could have been transformative for NELP.
“We’re trying to raise the alarm that if this goes through that NELP will be unrecognizable,” said one current employee.
The New York-based organization has served as a progressive policy tentpole on state and federal workplace issues helping to advocate for higher minimum wages, safety standards, paid leave and other advances for workers. NELP has also been a talent pipeline for Democratic presidential administrations filling key roles in the Labor Department and elsewhere.
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