Should disabled people have the same minimum wage as everyone else.

[DCal430]

Many people may be unaware of this, but people who are disabled, which includes blindness and deafness have a special minimum wage at 20 cents an hour. Many places such as "Goodwill" pay their disabled employees only a dollar or two an hour, while their executives make hundreds of dollars an hour. This reeks of exploitation, and should be changed.

 

[OutHouse]

prove this please.

 

[DCal430]

https://nfb.org//americans-disabilities-protest-goodwill’s-subminimum-wages

 

[sixone]

Many people may be unaware of this, but people who are disabled, which includes blindness and deafness have a special minimum wage at 20 cents an hour. Many places such as "Goodwill" pay their disabled employees only a dollar or two an hour, while their executives make hundreds of dollars an hour. This reeks of exploitation, and should be changed.

OTOH, it gives employers an incentive to take a chance on a disabled employee and gives the disabled employee valuable experience and an opportunity to prove that they can be a valuable employee.

Can you put a price on that?

 

[DCal430]

OTOH, it gives employers an incentive to take a chance on a disabled employee and gives the disabled employee valuable experience and an opportunity to prove that they can be a valuable employee.

Can you put a price on that?

A blind person is just as productive as anyone else they not deserve to be treated and exploited in this manner.

 

[Jaepheth]

Maintaining those special parking spots ain't cheap you know.

 

[Genx87]

This is only for special certificate holders. And it is designed so these people can work at all. It allows an employer to pay sub min wages due to the inability of the disabled person to perform the full job.

Feel free to repeal it but expect many of these disabled will lose their jobs.

 

[Genx87]

A blind person is just as productive as anyone else they not deserve to be treated and exploited in this manner.

Depends on the job of course. Phone operator? Sure... But driving a vehicle or using a cash register? Not at all.

 

[sixone]

https://nfb.org//americans-disabilities-protest-goodwill’s-subminimum-wages

Is earning minimum wage going to interfere with the money they get from the state, to pay for rent, groceries, etc?

 

[Gooberlx2]

Interesting.

So it seems people with disabilities (apparently not the sole deciding factor in their eligibility for sub-minimum wage) may be paid a wage commensurate with their productivity based on the wage of a person in the same job who is not disabled. So, essentially, if they're objectively 20% as productive in the job as someone not disabled, making $10 per hour, they can be paid $2 per hour...or something like that?

http://www.dol.gov/elaws/esa/flsa/14c/
http://www.dol.gov/whd/regs/compliance/whdfs39.htm

A worker who has disabilities for the job being performed is one whose earning or productive capacity is impaired by a physical or mental disability, including those relating to age or injury. Disabilities which may affect productive capacity include blindness, mental illness, mental retardation, cerebral palsy, alcoholism and drug addiction. The following, taken by themselves, are not considered to be disabilities for purposes of paying special minimum wages: education disabilities, chronic unemployment, receipt of welfare benefits, nonattendance at school, juvenile delinquency, and correctional parole or probation.

Commensurate Wage Rates
Special minimum wages must be commensurate wage rates - based on the worker's individual productivity, no matter how limited, in proportion to the wage and productivity of experienced workers who do not have disabilities performing essentially the same type, quality, and quantity of work in the geographic area from which the labor force of the community is drawn. The key elements in determining commensurate rates are:
Determining the standard for workers who do not have disabilities, the objective gauge against which the productivity of the worker with a disability is measured.
Determining the prevailing wage, the wage paid to experienced workers who do not have disabilities for the same or similar work and who are performing such work in the area. Most SCA contracts include a wage determination specifying the prevailing wage rates to be paid for work on the SCA contract.
Evaluating the quantity and quality of the productivity of the worker with the disability.
All special minimum wages must be reviewed and adjusted, if appropriate, at periodic intervals. At a minimum, the productivity of hourly paid workers must be reevaluated every six months and a new prevailing wage survey must be conducted at least every twelve months.

 

[sixone]

A blind person is just as productive as anyone else they not deserve to be treated and exploited in this manner.

You ducked my question.

And diverted to something that's obviously false. A blind person isn't going to take over my job, or any of the jobs I've had, without needing special software and equipment to do it. That requires a substantial investment by the employer, in order to test an unproven employee. Why on earth would they do that, when they could just donate money to your NFB with a whole lot less hassle?

I'm sure you mean well, but you should give these ideas a lot more thought before you go with your knee-jerk reactions.

 

[piasabird]

This may be the only way people will hire disabled people. However, maybe the wage should be just a little higher. It keeps them busy. My wife works for a company that runs residential homes for sinceerly disabled people. Some are blind and some have really low IQ's like 20. This type of employment these people have is more about giving them a sense of worth and having something they can do to keep them busy during the day. They actually like going to work. You have to understand what is going on.

 

[GlacierFreeze]

I'm sure you mean well,

False. He only means to troll by playing some lame devil advocate/politically correct game. It'll be a pointless and endless debate as usual.

 

[HardcoreRobot]

everyone should be paid according to their skills, ability and productivity

 

[piasabird]

A lot of these jobs are specifically created to give disabled people something useful to do. They often are not real jobs. I do think that being mentally disabled and physically disabled to be two different things. For instance if you are in a wheel chair you may be able to earn a good living at a desk job. However, if you are severly mentally disabled and can not even communicate properly you may need more supervision than the job is worth.

 

[Farang]

I wonder what kind of disability benefits these people are eligible for and how those might offset a decrease in their minimum wage.

 

[DCal430]

A sad reality is the majority of disabled people, such as those who are blind live off government assistance such as SSI. The reason is not because they unable to work, but that society has decided that blind people are too unproductive for meaningful work. Society treats them as if they are less capable.

 

[Farang]

A sad reality is the majority of disabled people, such as those who are blind live off government assistance such as SSI. The reason is not because they unable to work, but that society has decided that blind people are too unproductive for meaningful work. Society treats them as if they are less capable.

They are less capable. They are blind. And they must be in fact too unproductive for meaningful work, in some cases, if those blind people accept jobs far below minimum wage. So it is good that we provide for them.

I'm not sure what your expectation is. . . should blind people be NASCAR drivers? That would be a feel good story but it won't happen because they can't see the road. Life is not fair but in this case it seems people are doing their best to make up the difference.

 

[piasabird]

Just think about it will you hire a blind man for a Welding Job? How will you insure such a person? I would rather pay to take care of a blind person than a drug addicted welfare mother who had 5 children each with a different man.

 

[Gooberlx2]

A sad reality is the majority of disabled people, such as those who are blind live off government assistance such as SSI. The reason is not because they unable to work, but that society has decided that blind people are too unproductive for meaningful work. Society treats them as if they are less capable.

OR...it's not that simple. There are only so many jobs suitable for the blind to go around, and they still have to compete with with the rest of the population for those jobs. There absolutely is additional cost to employing those with disabilities, so that's another factor in the hiring process.

Add in other environmental challenges like growing up in the ghetto without any support structure. Some/many disabled people simply have little to no chance of having any kind of employment without employers going out of their way to essentially create the position for them.

 

[Doppel]

A sad reality is the majority of disabled people, such as those who are blind live off government assistance such as SSI. The reason is not because they unable to work, but that society has decided that blind people are too unproductive for meaningful work. Society treats them as if they are less capable.

The PC training you have been exposed to has made you dumb. They are less capable. Massively so in most professions.

I have noticed Target hires a lot of deaf and Down's syndrome people. I think this is a good thing but it turns out that they get government kick backs most likely and so are not doing it out of the goodness of their heart. Still, the other day I had a tiny issue at the cashier and a guy with downs was actually managing them--and did so competently. I see so damn few handicapped (mentally) people employed that I am certainly behind this.

 

[Oldgamer]

Many people may be unaware of this, but people who are disabled, which includes blindness and deafness have a special minimum wage at 20 cents an hour. Many places such as "Goodwill" pay their disabled employees only a dollar or two an hour, while their executives make hundreds of dollars an hour. This reeks of exploitation, and should be changed.

That must just be Goodwill, because I have family that are disabled, and they work at full pay rate part time. So this must be particular companies who are doing this. I have never heard of this.

 

[werepossum]

OTOH, it gives employers an incentive to take a chance on a disabled employee and gives the disabled employee valuable experience and an opportunity to prove that they can be a valuable employee.

Can you put a price on that?

Exactly. These special certificate holders may not be able to compete with non-disabled people, or to get employers to take a chance. If they prove able to compete with non-disabled people, there is nothing to prevent them from getting paid the same; they don't HAVE to take a lower wage just because it is legal.

My first thought was actually Id prefer to see regular minimum wage and an off-setting tax credit. But upon reflection, I'd bet most of these employers are not-for-profits or charities.

 

[Oldgamer]

I guess this really depends on the severity of the persons disability, what their skill sets are, what they are capable of handling. In addition, some disabilities, (not just blindness) may require a lot of time off from work, for doctor visits and such) and so a part time job might be required as in the case of some of my family members. But I do think it is wrong for an employer to try and take advantage of a disabled person if they are perfectly capabable of handling a job position that anyone else can do. To me that cries discrimination. If a blind person is able to do computer work via specialized equipement for example, and do their job efficiently, then they should be paid the same as anyone else who is hired for that position.

 

[Hayabusa Rider]

This is only for special certificate holders. And it is designed so these people can work at all. It allows an employer to pay sub min wages due to the inability of the disabled person to perform the full job.

Feel free to repeal it but expect many of these disabled will lose their jobs.

How much would you pay to work? I mean net loss.