[nfbwatlk] FW: NCD Hails Inclusion of Workers with Disabilities in Minimum Wage Executive Order As “Necessary Move Forward”

[Walt Cone]

I don't know how it is now but it used to be they would base the standards on regular workers performing the tasks using automated equiptment and then basing the standard on manual labor the blind person would use to do the same task.


-----Original Message-----
From: nfbwatlk [mailto:nfbwatlk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Mary ellen
Sent: Wednesday, February 12, 2014 10:07 PM
To: 'NFB of Washington Talk Mailing List'
Subject: Re: [nfbwatlk] FW: NCD Hails Inclusion of Workers with Disabilities in Minimum Wage Executive Order As “Necessary Move Forward”

This is exciting news!  For many shops, federal contracts make up a large proportion of the work they do.  .  It will be interesting to see how those shops manage to figure out paychecks if a worker spends part time on federal contracts and part time on contracts from private industry.

Isn't it ironic that only workers with disabilities are paid exclusively based on productivity standards while those without disability are guaranteed a minimum wage.  Those so-called "productivity standards" are determined by asking a very skilled worker without disabilities to work at a task flat out for a short period of time and expecting a worker with a disability to perform at that level over a full day.  Nobody performs at peak efficiency every moment of every day.  By its very nature, the system is abusive.

If a worker with a disability is on a production line, he or she gets paid based on the productivity of the slowest person on that line.  I spent a summer working in a sheltered shop while I was in school.  People who depended on that job for their food and shelter wouldn't work with me.  They couldn't afford to.  I was new and very slow.  They put me with two workers without disabilities because their pay wouldn't decrease when I slowed down the line.  

-----Original Message-----
From: nfbwatlk [mailto:nfbwatlk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Nightingale, Noel
Sent: Wednesday, February 12, 2014 12:31 PM
To: nfbwatlk at nfbnet.org; rehab at nfbnet.org
Subject: [nfbwatlk] FW: NCD Hails Inclusion of Workers with Disabilities in Minimum Wage Executive Order As “Necessary Move Forward”



-----Original Message-----
From: Lawrence Carter-Long for the National Council on Disability [mailto:LCarterLong at NCD.GOV] 
Sent: Wednesday, February 12, 2014 10:31 AM
To: NCD-NEWS-L at LIST.NCD.GOV
Subject: NCD Hails Inclusion of Workers with Disabilities in Minimum Wage Executive Order As “Necessary Move Forward”

Web link here: http://www.ncd.gov/newsroom/02122014

NCD Hails Inclusion of Workers with Disabilities in Minimum Wage Executive Order As “Necessary Move Forward” 
Independent Federal Agency Expects Thousands of Workers with Disabilities Under Federal Contracts To Benefit

Washington, DC — February 12, 2014 — The National Council on Disability (NCD) – an independent federal agency of 15 Presidentially-appointed Council Members who advise the President, Congress and other federal agencies on disability policy – hailed the Obama administration for the inclusion of workers with disabilities in an executive order that the President promised during the State of the Union address to raise the minimum wage for employees of federal service and concession contractors to $10.10/hour. 

A letter issued by NCD on January 30 following the SOTU address by the President sparked an avalanche of advocacy by the disability community – after initial indications from administration officials implied that workers with disabilities now being paid less than minimum wage under Section 14(c) – a provision of the Fair Labor Standards Act, would not be included. 

After a two-week campaign by dozens of disability advocacy groups following NCD’s letter, it was announced that the executive order set to be signed this afternoon will now include federal contract workers with disabilities currently working under Section 14(c).  The independent federal agency hopes this signals the first step toward the eventual elimination of the Section 14(c) provision which the agency views as “a relic” of the 1930’s when it was assumed that people with disabilities could not work. 

With regard to workers with disabilities working under federal contracts, the Executive Order states:  

“Under current law, workers whose productivity is affected because of their disabilities may be paid less than the wage paid to others doing the same job under certain specialized certificate programs. Under this Executive Order, all individuals working under service or concessions contracts with the federal government will be covered by the same $10.10 per hour minimum wage protections.”

“No matter who you are or where you’re from, the opportunities for workers with disabilities to find competitive employment, in the community, alongside non-disabled peers is perhaps better than it has ever been,” said NCD Chairperson Jeff Rosen. “NCD looks forward to working with Congress to keep progress rolling forward until the day we end segregated employment under Section 14(c) where workers with disabilities are still unjustifiably paid below minimum wage more than 80 years after the law was passed. Attitudes have changed since the 1930s and so have expectations for workers with disabilities. The inclusion of workers with disabilities in the President's Executive Order reflects those necessary changes but we’re not done yet.”

Under Section 14 (c), increasingly controversial 80-year-old provision of the Fair Labor Standards Act, employers obtain minimum-wage certificates from the Department of Labor. These certificates allow employers to pay workers based on output. For example, if an employee produces 50% of what it is estimated a non-disabled person should produce, he or she receives 50% of those wages.

About 95% of roughly 420,000 workers employed under 14(c), worked in segregated work environments commonly called “sheltered workshops” performing basic manual work that is regularly paid by the piece. Thousands of workers with disabilities are currently employed by government contractors in service, concession and production areas.

Council Member Chester Finn, who previously spent six years working in sheltered workshop in western New York, said including workers with disabilities in the executive order is simply a matter of fairness that benefits all Americans – including those with disabilities whose contributions have been undervalued for far too long. “People are more productive when their contributions are appreciated,” said Finn. “Everything from boosting morale to improving work incentives leads to higher productivity which, in turn, improves the overall quality and efficiency of services provided to the government. In the end, everybody wins. Including workers with disabilities in the Executive Order suggests that the President, Administration and Department of Labor recognize this too. That’s progress.” 

Website: 
http://www.ncd.gov
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https://www.facebook.com/NCDgov
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About the National Council on Disability (NCD): NCD is an independent federal agency of 15 Presidentially-appointed Council Members and full-time professional staff, who advise the President, Congress and other federal agencies on disability policy, programs, and practices.

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