[Ohio-talk] FW: The Commensurate Wage Fallacy

Tue Apr 16 19:52:31 UTC 2013

If a twelve year old can get it, surely everyone could---they're just
choosing not to based on some old-fashioned prejudices which aren't even
true.  Blind people have done far more extraordinary things than just
holding a job like everyone else, and I'm not talking about things the
sighted think are amazing simply because they were done by a blind
person---really amazing things.  I think that somehow there has to be a way
to get them to see that and realize that paying people who are capable of
doing excellent work subminimum wages on the basis of not just blindness,
but any disability, is horribly unfair.       

Kaiti Shelton
University of Dayton---2016
Music Therapy Major, Psychology Minor, Clarinet
Secretary, Ohio Association of Blind Students (OABS)-NFB
Member of Alpha Phi Omega-Alpha Gamma Xi Chapter

-----Original Message-----
From: Ohio-talk [mailto:ohio-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Aleeha
Dudley
Sent: Tuesday, April 16, 2013 2:09 PM
To: NFB of Ohio Announcement and Discussion List
Subject: Re: [Ohio-talk] FW: The Commensurate Wage Fallacy

That was indeed a thought provoking read. It's definitely a good thing to
see this sort of discrimination broken down into simple mathematical and
logical statements. It's so sad to see that, even in today's society, we are
still paying disabled workers less than the minimum wage. I've talked to
people in my hometown, including my mother, who think this sort of thing is
right and proper because the disabled can't perform the same quality and
quantity work as the rest of the world. I for one am ready to see this
policy and thought process end once and for all. As I heard a well known
federationist say numerous times at last summer's convention, this policy is
unfair, discriminatory, and immoral!!! 

Aleeha dudley 

On Apr 16, 2013, at 1:33 PM, Suzanne Turner
<sturner at ClevelandSightCenter.org> wrote:

> Thanks Barbara!
> 
> I thought that it was well written too and explained in a standard of
simplicity.  It gave me a lot to digest.  However, the overall cuisine was
perfected.  Still in 2013, it is hard to read about employers who hire the
disabled continuing to twist and narrow the playing field.
> 
> 
> Suzanne
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Ohio-talk [mailto:ohio-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Barbara
Pierce
> Sent: Tuesday, April 16, 2013 1:09 PM
> To: 'NFB of Ohio Announcement and Discussion List'
> Subject: Re: [Ohio-talk] FW: The Commensurate Wage Fallacy
> 
> Thanks Suzanne for pulling that out and showing it to us. I did not take
the time to read it when the email came in from Anil, and he did an
excellent job of arguing the case.
> 
> Thanks again,
> Barbara
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Ohio-talk [mailto:ohio-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Suzanne
Turner
> Sent: Tuesday, April 16, 2013 11:23 AM
> To: ohio-talk at nfbnet.org; Delcenia at prodigy.net; Steven Friedman; Joel
Zureick; Alexis Vinick; Sterling Garrett; Janice Hannah-Hardy; Jim Hlavaty;
Carlton Toppin; Nicole Kahn; Krystle Williams; rskill2008 at bellsouth.net;
CRDavisjm at gmail.com; Anthony R. Easley; Brooke Dowdy
> Subject: [Ohio-talk] FW: The Commensurate Wage Fallacy
> 
> I thought I would share this perspective.
> Suzanne
> 
> From: "Lewis, Anil" <ALewis at nfb.org<mailto:ALewis at nfb.org>>
> Date: April 15, 2013, 1:35:33 PM EDT
> Subject: The Commensurate Wage Fallacy
> 
> 
> The Commensurate Wage Fallacy
> https://nfb.org/blog/vonb-blog/commensurate-wage-fallacy
> Submitted by alewis on Mon, 04/15/2013 - 09:36 Blog Date:
> Monday, April 15, 2013
> By Anil Lewis
> 
> Under Section 14(c) of the Fair Labor Standards Act, a flawed formula has
been used for years to calculate the commensurate "piece rate" wage for
workers with disabilities.  This formula, based on average wages and survey
data, works mathematically, but fails the common sense test.  My
twelve-year-old stepson asked me the following question from his math
> homework: If Johnny can run one mile in two minutes, how fast can Johnny
run two miles?  He knew that the expected answer was four minutes.  However,
he also had the common sense to know that Johnny would get tired, and it
would take Johnny more time to run each consecutive mile.  I told him to put
four minutes as the answer.  He got an "A" on the homework, but he did not
understand why he got an "A" for the wrong answer.  I validated his common
sense and applauded the fact that at twelve years old, he understood the
root of the commensurate wage fallacy.  The commensurate "subminimum" wage
formula used by over three thousand employers to determine how much they
should pay their workers with disabilities is based on the same flawed logic
as the math problem.
> 
> Before we get to the real commensurate wage fallacy, we must discuss how
the prevailing wage is determined.  A subminimum wage employer must conduct
an annual wage survey of private sector jobs in the employer's geographic
area that are similar to the jobs being performed by the workers with
disabilities.  Then the employer takes the average of at least three of
these industry wage rates to determine the hourly prevailing wage for the
job.  For example, if three private sector employees are being paid $8.25,
$8.30, and $8.35 respectively, the average wage rate of $8.30 would be the
prevailing wage used in the commensurate wage formula.
> 
> The math is correct, but common sense tells you that the subminimum wage
employer gets to shop around to determine which industry wage rates to use,
so if there is a private sector employee being paid $9.00 for a similar job,
there is no requirement for the employer to use this higher wage in the
calculation.  It is more likely that there are no similar jobs in the
community, in which case the employer should use the federal minimum wage of
> $7.25 (or the higher state minimum wage, if one applies) as the prevailing
wage.  Some subminimum wage employers illegally use less than this amount;
and with little to no oversight, this exploitation goes unaddressed for
years.
> 
> The most convoluted and manipulative step used to determine the
commensurate wage is for the employer to conduct a time study.  The employer
chooses an experienced nondisabled worker to perform the job for twenty
minutes.
> Ideally, this is done for at least three cycles by the same person or
three different people.  This provides three productivity rates that are
then averaged to determine the average "piece rate."  Therefore, if
thirty-eight items are produced in the first cycle, forty items are produced
in the second, and forty-two items are produced in the third, the benchmark
would be set for the workers with disabilities to produce forty items in
twenty minutes, or two items per minute.  This means the expectation is for
the workers with disabilities to produce 120 items per hour in order to be
paid the $8.30 prevailing wage.
> 
> Again, the math is sound, but common sense tells you that the employer can
conduct many more time studies and choose the results to manipulate the
commensurate wage outcome, ignoring those time studies in which less than
thirty-eight items are produced.  Essentially, the employer can conduct as
many time studies as necessary to justify the wage that the employer would
like to pay for the job.
> 
> Common sense also tells you that it is unfair to set a productivity
benchmark for an entire work day using only a twenty-minute time study.
> Think of it as another version of my stepson's math problem:  if Johnny
can produce 120 items in an hour, how many can he produce in two hours?  My
twelve-year-old stepson knew the answer.  He realized that Johnny would get
tired, and his productivity would decrease over time.
> 
> The commensurate wage professionals state that they take all of this into
consideration by providing a 15 percent time allowance for Personal time,
Fatigue, and Delay (the PF&D factor).  This is calculated to be nine minutes
per hour, which many employers round to ten minutes per hour.  Therefore,
the productivity expectation set for the workers with disabilities under the
earlier scenario would be for them to produce one hundred items per hour in
order to earn $8.30.  This is more commonly stated to be a piece rate, where
the workers with disabilities are paid eighty-three cents for each item they
produce.
> 
> Although the PF&D allowance may bring the productivity expectation in line
with the worker's reasonable ability to produce over time, this cannot be
considered an adequate adjustment for personal time, fatigue, and delay
inclusively.  Most subminimum wage employers do not encourage the PF&D
allowance to be used for breaks.  Although most employers are required to
provide nondisabled employees a ten-minute paid rest period for every four
hours worked, the sheltered subminimum wage workshops are excluded from this
requirement.  In fact, the ability to work without a break is presented by
the subminimum wage employer as a benefit to the workers with disabilities,
who are encouraged to work as much as possible in order to earn as much as
possible.  This type of pressure produces stress; the stress results in
mistakes; and mistakes result in defective products that the workers do not
get paid for producing.
> 
> Delay is also out of the control of the worker.  The workers cannot
produce anything if the employer is delayed in providing them materials to
produce the item, and unlike the nondisabled workers that get paid an hourly
rate, the workers with disabilities do not get paid when they are not
producing products.  The legal requirement to pay for down time is at the
discretion of the employer, and if an employer does not provide production
supplies in a timely manner, the workers with disabilities can be left idle
for much more than ten minutes without the supplies to produce anything,
thus earning nothing.
> 
> The unspoken math is that there are currently over three hundred thousand
people with disabilities being paid wages below the federal minimum.
> Specifically, 50 percent of these workers receive less than half the
federal minimum wage, and 25 percent receive less than one dollar per hour,
some as low as three cents per hour.  The common sense truth is that most of
these individuals are already productive enough to earn the federal minimum
wage; they are just victims of the flawed wage formula.  Others could be
productive enough to earn the federal minimum wage if provided the proper
training and support, but will never receive either the training or support
while segregated in a subminimum wage work environment.  Those individuals
being paid less than one dollar per hour are truly not ready for work, but
the subminimum wage employers assert that these workers are being afforded
an opportunity to experience the tangible and intangible benefits of work.
> The workers with disabilities get the extremely intangible benefit of
subminimum wages.  The executives get the true tangible benefit from the
public and private dollars meant to support the workers with disabilities,
but used instead to support the six-figure salaries of the executives.  The
subminimum wage employers are essentially getting an "A" for the wrong
answer.
> 
> The fallacy here is that the workers with disabilities are supposedly
being paid based on their productivity.  If the employers truly believe that
the commensurate wage model is adequate and fair for workers with
disabilities, why not use the commensurate wage formula to calculate the
wages for all of the sheltered workshop employees, including the executives?
My twelve-year-old stepson would know the answer to this question as well.
> 
> Visit www.nfb.org/fair-wages<http://www.nfb.org/fair-wages> to get more
information, and add your name to our online
petition<https://nfb.org/civicrm/petition/sign?sid=1&reset=1> to help us
stop the perpetuation of the commensurate wage fallacy.
> 
> 
> 
> Mr. Anil Lewis, M.P.A.
> Director of Advocacy and Policy
> 
> "Eliminating Subminimum Wages for People with Disabilities"
> http://www.nfb.org/fairwages
> 
> NATIONAL FEDERATION OF THE BLIND
> 200 East Wells Street at Jernigan Place
> Baltimore, Maryland   21230
> 
> (410) 659-9314 ext. 2374 (Voice)
> (410) 685-5653 (FAX)
> Email: alewis at nfb.org<mailto:alewis at nfb.org>
> Web: www.nfb.org<http://www.nfb.org>
> twitter: @anillife
> 
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> 
> 
> Suzanne Turner, BSW, MPA
> Employment Coordinator and Benefit Specialist
> 
> Cleveland Sight Center
> 216-791-8118 (main)
> 216-658-7350 (direct)
> 216-791-1101 (fax)
> sturner at ClevelandSightCenter.org <mailto:sturner at ClevelandSightCenter.org>
> 
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> Suzanne Turner, BSW, MPA
> Employment Coordinator and Benefit Specialist
> 
> Cleveland Sight Center
> 216-791-8118 (main)
> 216-658-7350 (direct)
> 216-791-1101 (fax)
> sturner at ClevelandSightCenter.org <mailto:sturner at ClevelandSightCenter.org>
> 
> Help support our White Cane Walk - www.WhiteCaneWalk.org
<http://www.whitecanewalk.org>
> 
> 
> 1909 East 101st Street
> P.O. Box 1988
> Cleveland, Ohio  44106-0188
> 
> Our Mission: To empower people with vision loss to realize their full
potential, and to shape the community's vision of that potential.
> 
> ************************************** CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE
**************************************
> This email including any attachments, is private and is for the sole use
of the intended recipient(s) and may contain copyrighted, confidential,
protected healthcare information and or privileged information otherwise
protected by law. If you are not the intended recipient, be advised that any
unauthorized use, disclosure, copying, distribution, or the taking of any
action in reliance on the contents of this information is strictly
prohibited. If you have received this email in error, please immediately
notify the sender via telephone or return mail and destroy all copies of the
original message.
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