If they are actually exploiting people… I know this sounds like exploitation but this issue is pretty complex and there may actually be no “jobs” for a lot of differently abled people if there isn’t a carve out for certain scenarios. I say jobs in quotes because there are some places that are more or less daycares where adults of certain ability levels can go to work and do end up making less than minimum wage. But they are doing so because they are receiving a level of care and supervision at the same time. These are people who you could not just teach a job and leave to their own devices for any amount of time without endangering them. But they are capable enough to complete certain tasks. I have known adult aged people who’s elderly parents would not know what to do if they had to care for them every day all day.
That said, why in our society are some people put in this situation where the only thing they can do with their adult child is send them off to a menial job for daycare? It’s great that some people get the option to work, but they should also be able to receive care and not have to work menial jobs for sub minimum wages.
Like I said, the whole thing is way more complex than the no nonsense sound bite. If she were to just waive a regulatory hand and eliminate this exemption, without making more comprehensive changes, it might put some families in a very tough position. Having to suddenly pay for daycare for adults who previously were earning some amount of money.
But the places I’m talking about are usually non-profits employing these people to do work for other for profit businesses. It’s not the person at your local movie theater or grocery store working mostly independently and getting paid less than everyone else.
otp@sh.itjust.works 1 week ago
I agree with your comment wholeheartedly and in its entirety.
With that said, raising the wages of people with special needs to be on par with that of the general minimum wage would generally be bad for people with special needs. Employers are incentivized to hire people with special needs because of the lower rate. Many employers would prefer someone without special needs if the hourly costs were the same.
In addition, many people with special needs are working fewer than 40 hours a week, and I still think they should be able to support their lives, to at least comfortably have their basic needs met.
I think the government should be stepping in to fill in the gap. If the state minimum wage is $12/h, but workers with special needs can be paid $8/h (for example), then maybe the government could be paying the extra $4/h to meet the difference.
…or they could use that money towards providing programs that people with special needs could benefit from.
yessikg@lemmy.blahaj.zone 1 week ago
Or instead of continuing to treat disabled people as less than, the government actually creates some anti-discrimination laws with some teeth and then enforces them
otp@sh.itjust.works 1 week ago
Equal work for equal pay is important, yes.
Businesses might be willing to “give a chance” to someone with a disability if they don’t have to pay them as much as anyone else.
If there are no other incentives, and someone with a disability is unable to perform the job as well as someone without a disability, then the business would likely choose the more capable employee regardless of any disabilities. And by definition, that’d usually be an advantage for the person without a disability.
You can’t fire someone for having a disability in a lot of places. You can usually fire someone for not performing well enough at the required duties.
CrayonRosary@lemmy.world 1 week ago
If you could hire an able bodied person for $16/hr, and they can glaze 100 pieces of pottery a day, or you could hire a disabled person for the same pay who can only glaze 25 a day because of their disability, who are you going to hire? I’m talking about a local small business pottery shop who hires people to glaze the pieces.
If a lazy but able-bodied person took the job and refused to meet the 100 pieces a day quota, they’d be fired, and rightfully so. So why are disabled people special? Why do they deserve a pay rate and a quota that an able-bodied person would be fired for? Or maybe you think that firing a lazy person is calling them “less than” and is unethical. Well, at least you’d be consistent.
If you think a small business could survive hiring people who can only produce 1/4 of the normal output at a full wage… I don’t know what day. It’s just not feasible.
I’m sorry for the harsh truth, but sometimes in some ways some disabled people are “less than”. As in sometimes they can only do less work per hour as an an able bodied person. A small business can’t survive while being charitable to disabled workers.
These disability wage laws exist so businesses can legally hire disabled people and pay them something when otherwise they would have no job at all. In my state, the business has to prove they can’t produce the same work in the same time as an able-bodied person. And their wage has to reflect whatever percentage of the work they can do.
I’m 100% in favor of government subsidies for making up the wage difference for disabled people, and not making any benefits dependant on having such a job. The job would be purely a choice for disabled people.
I know it sounds weird in this day and age to say this, but having a job can be very rewarding. I can totally imagine a disabled person preferring to work a job at low pay, having a routine, and interacting with coworkers rather than staying home all day doing hobbies and watching TV.