This is just ugly: Goodwill pays handicapped employees as little as 4 cents an hour

[Via]

http://investigations.nbcnews.com/_...rs-paid-just-pennies-an-hour?ocid=msnhp&pos=1

Four cents an hour in extreme cases? Wow.

I understand that some disabled workers won't be as productive, and I do agree it's good for handicapped people to get out and feel productive, but this is just an ugly thing any way you slice it. I'm glad it came out so sunlight can disinfect it.

 

[buckshot24]

http://investigations.nbcnews.com/_...rs-paid-just-pennies-an-hour?ocid=msnhp&pos=1

Four cents an hour in extreme cases? Wow.

I understand that some disabled workers won't be as productive, and I do agree it's good for handicapped people to get out and feel productive, but this is just an ugly thing any way you slice it. I'm glad it came out so sunlight can disinfect it.

Seems that the really low wage cases are the extreme minority.

 

[Murloc]

I guess it depends on how you see it.
Is it occupational therapy for someone already getting disability social benefits which are enough to live (100% disability), or a job?

 

[Via]

According to the article 7300 workers at goodwill fall into this category.

The potential for abuse is staggering.

 

[OCGuy]

I think your SSDI benefits can be screwed up by drawing income.

 

[Soundmanred]

http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2321559

 

[Via]

I did a search, didn't come up.

 

[EagleKeeper]

If they can do 10% of the work, they get paid 10% of the expected wage. That does not even account for the lift ting of the trainer/supervisor.

They are being given an opportunity for self esteem and social interaction.

The article is a cherry pick hit piece that also uses misleading/outdated info

 

[Via]

I'm only saying that I'm happy this is now out in the open. I don't think most Americans knew this type of program existed.

Nobody can say for sure that this isn't being abused.

 

[EagleKeeper]

I'm only saying that I'm happy this is now out in the open. I don't think most Americans knew this type of program existed.

Nobody can say for sure that this isn't being abused.

Any program set up to assist a certain class of people has the potential for abuse.

People will make a squawk until it hits their wallet. Then it is ignored as NIMBY

 

[manimal]

Every single incentive scheme ever made has the potential for abuse. Doesn't mean they won't be effective. A small percentage shouldn't deter the overall effectiveness.

 

[SheHateMe]

Don't handicapped people get SSI benefits?

Not that they don't deserve to be paid a decent wage...but I am not sure you can collect social security and have a job.

 

[Subyman]

These employers take on a large liability when hiring special needs workers. Most are programs through group homes. I'm happy to hear Goodwill is letting them work at all. Some of these people need helmets, wheel chairs, and a nurse to be present.

 

[EagleKeeper]

Don't handicapped people get SSI benefits?

Not that they don't deserve to be paid a decent wage...but I am not sure you can collect social security and have a job.

Just like regular SS; they are allowed some additional income.

 

[buckshot24]

According to the article 7300 workers at goodwill fall into this category.

The potential for abuse is staggering.

The extreme cases such as the 4 cent an hour are what I was talking about. There may be 7300 workers that qualify for the program but there aren't that many making pennies an hour. You'd have to be a near vegetable to make 4 cents an hour.

 

[DCal430]

Seems that the really low wage cases are the extreme minority.

It is a lot more than you think, thousands are making below slave wages.

 

[DCal430]

Sick when the executives at goodwill are part of Not the 1%, but the 0.1%. They are all filthy rich, living excess while exploiting those most vulnerable. HTF do you become part of the superrich working for a charity. SICK SICK SICK.

 

[SirStev0]

You realize they aren't working for wages... they are working for the social interaction and normalcy.
Goodwill isn't abusing downtrodden misfortunates as slave labor... they are allow MR and other disabled individuals have a sense of accomplishment for their day.

A lot of time they sort through boxes of clothes and run washing machines... we aren't talking about build the Great Pyramid of Giza or tilling a cotton field..

 

[DCal430]

You realize they aren't working for wages... they are working for the social interaction and normalcy.
Goodwill isn't abusing downtrodden misfortunates as slave labor... they are allow MR and other disabled individuals have a sense of accomplishment for their day.

A lot of time they sort through boxes of clothes and run washing machines... we aren't talking about build the Great Pyramid of Giza or tilling a cotton field..

Please, many of these people are working for a wage. It would cost more money for many of them to get to work than they are paid. Some of these people even college degrees. Blind people can be very productive, but goodwill treats them, like garbage. Something is wrong when 80% of the blind are unemployed, and the majority who do work, make minimum wage or less. Goodwill is a big reason for this.

When the largest organization of the blind, says they are being exploited, it shouldn't be ignored.

The majority of these people are NOT Intellectually Disabled. That is great misinformation. Many of them have HFA, Deafness, Blindness, or Paralysis. Many of these people even have college education. Very few if any are ID.

 

[gevorg]

Capitalism at work. If you disagree, you're a commie.

 

[TerryMathews]

http://investigations.nbcnews.com/_...rs-paid-just-pennies-an-hour?ocid=msnhp&pos=1

Four cents an hour in extreme cases? Wow.

I understand that some disabled workers won't be as productive, and I do agree it's good for handicapped people to get out and feel productive, but this is just an ugly thing any way you slice it. I'm glad it came out so sunlight can disinfect it.

You have no idea how this system operates. You're simply reading the inflammatory article and rolling with it.

All of these programs are designed to give the disadvantaged an opportunity to earn some self-worth and to feel normal. You know what is left out of your attack article? The $10-$20/hr "supervisor" who oversees a small group, to maybe even 1, of these "workers" to assist them in tasks they don't comprehend and to keep them from hurting themselves or others.

I have a relative who works as one of those "supervisors" in a facility like this, not a Goodwill. Those employees are paid per part they assemble, which means that some only earn a few cents per week if they only assemble one or two correctly.

This is still charity though, as it would be more efficient to pay traditional employees a normal wage to do the same work. Let's go back to Goodwill. Say it takes 10 of them 2 hours to unload a truck. Figure 1 supervisor to 4 employees at $10/hour and let's take the low end of the article: $0.04/hour per employee. My labor cost to unload the truck is ($10*3 + $0.04*10)*2 or $60.80. Let's say 3 skilled laborers can get the same job done in an hour at $10/hr (a fair wage for entry-manual labor I believe in most markets).

Traditional employees get it done for half price. It's ludicrous to think that these industries are trying to get rich off the disabled.

 

[DCal430]

You have no idea how this system operates. You're simply reading the inflammatory article and rolling with it.

All of these programs are designed to give the disadvantaged an opportunity to earn some self-worth and to feel normal. You know what is left out of your attack article? The $10-$20/hr "supervisor" who oversees a small group, to maybe even 1, of these "workers" to assist them in tasks they don't comprehend and to keep them from hurting themselves or others.

I have a relative who works as one of those "supervisors" in a facility like this, not a Goodwill. Those employees are paid per part they assemble, which means that some only earn a few cents per week if they only assemble one or two correctly.

This is still charity though, as it would be more efficient to pay traditional employees a normal wage to do the same work. Let's go back to Goodwill. Say it takes 10 of them 2 hours to unload a truck. Figure 1 supervisor to 4 employees at $10/hour and let's take the low end of the article: $0.04/hour per employee. My labor cost to unload the truck is ($10*3 + $0.04*10)*2 or $60.80. Let's say 3 skilled laborers can get the same job done in an hour at $10/hr (a fair wage for entry-manual labor I believe in most markets).

Traditional employees get it done for half price. It's ludicrous to think that these industries are trying to get rich off the disabled.

It isn't ludicrous, when the top executives are part of the filthy rich, near the 0.1% level of rich. Some making 7 figures in earnings. Please stop using some hyperbole example of some intellectually disabled worker. That isn't what is happening at all. These are people who are educated, people with normal to high intelligence. People who do not need 1 on 1 supervision to "keep them from hurting themselves or others."

FYI goodwill actually pays them per hour, regardless of how well they do. They have no opportunity to earn more. No mater how much they improve their productivity, it doesn't mater. Goodwill sees them as blind, deaf, paralyzed, and thus less than human.

 

[TerryMathews]

It isn't ludicrous, when the top executives are part of the filthy rich, near the 0.1% level of rich. Some making 7 figures in earnings. Please stop using some hyperbole example of some intellectually disabled worker. That isn't what is happening at all. These are people who are educated, people with normal to high intelligence. People who do not need 1 on 1 supervision to "keep them from hurting themselves or others."

FYI goodwill actually pays them per hour, regardless of how well they do. They have no opportunity to earn more. No mater how much they improve their productivity, it doesn't mater. Goodwill sees them as blind, deaf, paralyzed, and thus less than human.

We should just ban corporate profits. Amirite?

They have plenty of opportunity to earn more. It's a free market.

Finally, have you been in a Goodwill? You are 100% correct, there are plenty of employees there that are normal, or what i would call high-functioning. There are also those that aren't. Those, I am sure, are the ones that Goodwill is getting the minimum wage waivers for.

 

[DCal430]

We should just ban corporate profits. Amirite?

They have plenty of opportunity to earn more. It's a free market.

Finally, have you been in a Goodwill? You are 100% correct, there are plenty of employees there that are normal, or what i would call high-functioning. There are also those that aren't. Those, I am sure, are the ones that Goodwill is getting the minimum wage waivers for.

I actually have talked to these people. Few if any are low functioning. The majority have disabilities such as blindness or HFA. Even the original story interviewed two employees who were blind, and they were paid bellow slave wages.

 

[TerryMathews]

I actually have talked to these people. Few if any are low functioning. The majority have disabilities such as blindness or HFA. Even the original story interviewed two employees who were blind, and they were paid bellow slave wages.

Again, if they are otherwise employable, they why are they working for "below slave wages"?

Your hyperbole to the contrary, they aren't actually slaves. They can work where ever will hire them, at whatever wage the market supports.