[Nfbk] FW: [rehab] US Department of Labor secures more than $250, 000 in back wages for student workers with disabilities in Providence, R.I., U.S. DOL Press Release January 28 2014

[Melanie Peskoe]

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-----Original Message-----
From: rehab [mailto:rehab-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Nightingale, Noel
Sent: Friday, January 31, 2014 5:36 PM
To: rehab at nfbnet.org
Subject: [rehab] US Department of Labor secures more than $250, 000 in back
wages for student workers with disabilities in Providence, R.I., U.S. DOL
Press Release January 28 2014


Link:
http://www.dol.gov/opa/media/press/whd/WHD20132358.htm

Text:
News Release
WHD News Release: [01/28/2014]
Contact Name: Ted Fitzgerald or Jennifer Marion Phone Number: (617) 565-2075
or (202) 693-5795
Email: Fitzgerald.Edmund at dol.gov or marion.jennifer.r at dol.gov Release
Number: 13-2358-BOS

US Department of Labor secures more than $250,000 in back wages for student
workers with disabilities in Providence, R.I.
Harold A. Birch Vocational Center and School violated federal minimum wage
law

PROVIDENCE, R.I. - The City of Providence, the Providence School Board and
the Harold A. Birch Vocational Center and School have signed a settlement
agreement to pay $250,859 in back wages to 60 student workers with
disabilities following an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor's
Wage and Hour Division that found violations of the minimum wage provisions
of the Fair Labor Standards Act. As part of the settlement agreement the
department has retroactively revoked the certificate that allowed the school
to pay the workers less than the current federal minimum wage for the work
performed.

"This settlement is the result of a strategic enforcement initiative to
protect workers with disabilities from exploitation," said David R. Gerrain,
acting district director of the Wage and Hour Division's Hartford office.
"Workers with disabilities deserve an opportunity to do meaningful work and
to receive an income. Although employers may legally pay such workers below
the current federal minimum wage, the law clearly states that they may only
do so when they assure compliance with certain, key conditions."

"We applaud the U.S. Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division for its
efforts to enforce the Fair Labor Standards Act to protect individuals with
disabilities from exploitation and abuse. This agreement brings valuable
compensation to students who, because of their disabilities, were deprived
of appropriate wages, segregated from their peers, and denied the
opportunity to prepare for work in real jobs," said Eve Hill, deputy
assistant attorney general for the Civil Rights Division of the Department
of Justice. "This compensation is an important step towards independence,
economic self-sufficiency, and full community participation for these
students."

Specifically, the department found that Birch Vocational School failed to
determine the prevailing wage rates for workers performing similar work in
the area, failed to determine the appropriate sub-minimum wage to be paid to
each worker as allowed under Section 14(c) of the FLSA, failed to maintain
proper records, and failed to properly pay employees in accordance with the
Act.

Rather than calculate and pay wages commensurate with workers' individual
levels of productivity, as required under the terms of a certificate, the
employer in this case paid workers flat rates of $1- $2.01 per day, without
regard to the number of hours they had worked or to how much they had
produced. The company also falsified time-study documents that are necessary
to calculate legitimate rates of pay. Student employees were paid
sporadically, sometimes going for weeks at a time between paychecks. Birch
ceased operation of its work center as of April 12, 2013. While employed by
the work center, students performed work assembling, packing and sorting of
goods by hand.

The FLSA, in general, requires that covered, non-exempt employees be paid at
least the federal minimum wage of $7.25 for all hours worked, plus time and
one-half their regular rates of pay, including commissions, bonuses and
incentive pay, for hours worked beyond 40 per workweek. However, since its
enactment in 1938, the FLSA has contained provisions designed to promote
employment opportunities for individuals with disabilities. Section 14(c) of
the act allows employers, after receiving a certificate of authorization
from the division, to pay wages less than the federal minimum wage to
workers with disabilities when their disabilities impair their productive
capacities for the work being performed.

The division has been pursuing strategies to strengthen compliance with
Section 14(c) and maximize the impact of its benefits for workers with
disabilities, their employers, families and communities. These strategies
include using all available enforcement tools to remedy and deter future
violations; providing new compliance assistance materials and tools; and
hosting new compliance conferences for employers, community rehabilitation
programs, advocates, workers and other interested parties.

The Wage and Hour Division issued a retroactive revocation of the
certificate authorizing Birch to pay sub-minimum wages between June 1, 2010,
and June 1, 2013, during which time the school was operating in violation of
the law. As a result, all FLSA-covered employees performing work for Birch
during that time period are owed no less than the federal minimum wage of
$7.25 per hour for all hours worked. The agreement signed by the parties
waives any right to appeal this revocation. The employer has further agreed
not to pursue another certificate in the future.

This resolution comes just months after the department announced the
revocation of authorization for Training Through Placement, Inc., based in
North Providence, to pay disabled workers less than the federal minimum
wage. That investigation disclosed that the program at Birch served as the
point of origin for many people entering the program at TTP. In June the
Justice Department also announced that it had entered into an interim
settlement agreement with Rhode Island and the city to resolve violations of
the Americans with Disabilities Act for approximately 200 state residents
with intellectual and developmental disabilities who performed work for TTP
and the Harold A. Birch Vocational Center and School.

The investigation was conducted by the division's district office in
Hartford, Conn. Legal support was provided by Attorney Nathan Goldstein of
the department's New England Regional Office of the Solicitor. Information
about subminimum wage rates can be found at
http://www.dol.gov/whd/regs/compliance/whdfs39.pdf. For more information
about the FLSA and other federal wage laws, call the Wage and Hour
Division's toll-free helpline at 866-4US-WAGE (487-9243). Information is
also available at www.dol.gov.
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