copacetic91
kiwifarms.net
- Joined
- Jun 30, 2021
Yeah, but it’s not just the kind of sheltered workshops that you’re thinking of. Even Goodwill sets up their own “sheltered workshop” situations like hanging clothes to be able to pay sub-minimum wages to their disabled workers. Like, less than $1/hour in some places. Funny when their mission statement is literally about giving meaningful employment to disabled people.My understanding about the sub-minimum wage piecework that's usually done in sheltered workshops is mainly so people who qualify can earn some of their own money, and not have it interfere with their disability benefits.
In the US, under the Fair Labor Standards Act, employers are allowed to apply for certificates to pay sub minimum wages to disabled workers based on the worker's individual productivity, but I think that’s kind of a shitty loophole. I think anyone who has ever worked has dealt with seemingly non-disabled people who are completely useless and they still get a paycheck.
Several states have done away with these sub minimum wage allowances.
One of the weirdest programs is where they have an adult who is paid to supervise a DD person at a job. Like some guy is getting paid $14 an hour to watch a sped person do a $7 an hour job.
Yeah, it’s called job coaching. Typically funded by non-profits or school districts or similar, not the company that the disabled person is working for. They all work together, but the job coach and the disabled person have two different employers but all work together. Having jobs instead of just sitting bored in homes all day can help disabled people feel like they have purpose and meaning in life.
It does sound like a weird setup when you first learn about it, but it generally works and keeps people from rotting away miserably with nothing to do in homes.
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