People with Disabilities and Wage Exploitation

Author: Thomas C. Weiss
Published: 2010/01/12 - Updated: 2025/02/03
Publication Type: Informative
Topic: Editorials and Op-eds - Publications List

Page Content: Synopsis - Introduction - Main

Synopsis: The practice of paying people with disabilities lower wages is legal across the entire nation of America.

Why it matters: This article examines the legal practice in the United States of compensating individuals with disabilities at wages significantly below the federal minimum, highlighting that in 2009, over 300 individuals with mental health disabilities in Iowa earned an average of just $0.60 per hour, with some receiving as little as $0.11 per hour. Proponents of this policy argue that it encourages the employment of people with disabilities by allowing employers to pay less than the standard minimum wage, suggesting that even minimal earnings can provide a sense of self-worth. However, the article contends that this practice constitutes exploitation, as these employees often perform essential services such as food preparation, janitorial work, delivery, and laundry, thereby generating substantial profits for their employers. The piece further criticizes the lack of stringent penalties for employers who violate wage laws, noting that they are seldom required to pay more than the owed wages, with fines, interest, or damages rarely imposed. This discussion is pertinent to individuals with disabilities and advocates, as it underscores systemic issues of economic exploitation and calls for a reevaluation of policies that perpetuate such disparities - Disabled World (DW).

Defining Minimum Wage

Minimum Wage: Minimum wages have been defined as the minimum amount of remuneration an employer must pay wage earners for the work performed during a given period, which cannot be reduced by collective agreement or an individual contract. The movement for minimum wages was first motivated to stop the exploitation of workers in sweatshops by employers thought to have unfair bargaining power over them. Minimum wages can be set by statute, the decision of a competent authority, a wage board, a wage council, or by industrial or labor courts or tribunals. Minimum wages can also be set by giving the force of law to provisions of collective agreements. Most countries had introduced minimum wage legislation by the end of the 20th century. Because minimum wages increase the cost of labor, companies often try to avoid minimum wage laws by using gig workers, moving labor to locations with lower or nonexistent minimum wages, or automating job functions.

Introduction

Amazingly, the practice of paying people with disabilities such piddling wages is legal, not only in the state of Iowa, where these particular people with disabilities are being exploited but across the entire nation of America.

Main Item

The year 2009 found the minimum wage in America reaching $7.25 per hour, something I would never have expected to witness as a teenager who made $2.75 an hour while flipping burgers at the local burger joint. For greater than three-hundred people with mental health disabilities in state-run homes in Iowa, even the $2.75 per hour I made back in the early 1980s would be a fortunate turn of events. Understand that these people with disabilities made, on average, 0.60 cents per hour for their work, with one employee making a scant 0.11 cents for an hour in 2009.

No matter what nation you are in today, the wages these workers with disabilities made comprise sweatshop-level earnings. Amazingly, the practice of paying people with disabilities such piddling wages is legal, not only in the state of Iowa, where these particular people with disabilities are being exploited but across the entire nation of America. The law aims to incentivize employers to hire people with disabilities, who might otherwise not be able to perform tasks at the same level of performance as employees without disabilities, allowing these employers to pay employees with disabilities less per hour - far less.

Supporters of the law state that employers would not hire people with disabilities if they had to pay them the minimum wage. They claim that a paycheck gives people with disabilities self-esteem, even if it is not enough to live off of. Some of the people with disabilities these employers 'pay' live in group housing, giving these employers grounds to argue that their employees with disabilities cost of living is lower, so they do not rely on a paycheck. These employers' obscene profit margins reaped do not figure into the picture anywhere.

The people with disabilities these employers are exploiting work providing everything from food services and janitorial services to delivery and laundry services. In other words, these employees with disabilities are providing the employers using them for what amounts to slave labor with valuable services. There isn't a single question in my mind that these employers are deliberately taking advantage of people with disabilities to gain a profit; they are greedy and have no respect for the humanity of their employees.

Even if one of these employers is found to violate wage laws where workers with disabilities are concerned, they are rarely asked to pay anything other than the wages owed to the employee. According to James Leonard, these employers are not asked to pay fines, interest, or damages. Mr. Leonard is a former attorney for the United States Department of Labor. Mr. Leonard also noted that there is almost a financial incentive to take a chance that they will not be caught because employers are rarely checked due to a lack of inspectors from the Department of Labor.

In one example, a Texas-based company named Henry's Turkey Service allegedly paid workers with disabilities 0.44 cents per hour for their labor. The company is being investigated for allegedly exploiting dozens of employees with mental disabilities. Henry's Turkey Service's abuse had gone on for over thirty years. The company housed the men with disabilities who worked for them in a one-hundred-and-six-year-old bunkhouse deemed unsafe by the state of Texas. No one has said whether or not these workers were forced to live in this derelict building or if they were prevented from leaving either the scrappy quarters or the company.

Personally, the entire concept of money about humanity needs to be re-examined. When people, with or without disabilities, work or provide a service, they need to be compensated - despite the work or service provided. The work or service needs to translate into credit for goods and services. No matter what kind of work or service a person performs or provides, no matter whether or not a person experiences a form of disability, the work or service they provide needs to be equally compensated. Removal of money would remove the greed and corruption that have led to this kind of abuse of humanity.

The concept of work also needs to be re-examined by human societies. Every task a person performs that benefits another person, company, organization, or entity must be deemed compensable. The tasks that people perform that benefit others need to be considered 'work' and duly rewarded through credit towards goods and services. 'X,' the amount of service performed, is equivalent to 'X,' the amount of credit towards goods and services applied to everyone - despite ability. Human societies cannot continue the placement of monetary value on human life.

Employers who pursue blatant abuse of people with disabilities must be found guilty of gross human rights violations. These employers must have their companies shut down, all profits seized, and given to the employees they have abused as compensation. Employers need to find themselves in prison as well. Such outright abusive treatment of human beings cannot be tolerated or justified in any way. Any laws supporting this activity must be taken off the books immediately.

Author Credentials: Thomas C. Weiss is a researcher and editor for Disabled World. Thomas attended college and university courses earning a Masters, Bachelors and two Associate degrees, as well as pursing Disability Studies. As a CNA Thomas has providing care for people with all forms of disabilities. Explore Thomas' complete biography for comprehensive insights into his background, expertise, and accomplishments.