Comments on: State Lacks Resources to Help People with Disabilities Find Minimum Wage Jobs https://www.sanjoseinside.com/news/state-lacks-resources-to-help-people-with-disabilities-find-minimum-wage-jobs/ A look inside San Jose politics and culture Thu, 18 May 2023 21:00:22 +0000 hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=5.6.12 By: Kathryn Hedges https://www.sanjoseinside.com/news/state-lacks-resources-to-help-people-with-disabilities-find-minimum-wage-jobs/#comment-1773116 Thu, 18 May 2023 21:00:22 +0000 https://www.sanjoseinside.com/?p=201204334#comment-1773116 Subminimum wage is supposed to be prorated to correct for the worker’s production rate. If Joe can assemble 16 widgets an hour, he makes $16/hr. If John only assembles 4 widgets an hour, he makes $4/hr. It should cost the customer $1/widget plus whatever overhead the agency charges, no matter how fast or slow John or Joe works. If the agency has to increase its contracting rates to customers, then it has been exploiting workers who are being paid less than $1/widget for their labor assembling widgets.

I call shenanigans on these sheltered workshops. They’re exploiting people who can work better than they have been told they can work, and who have been told they have no other option.

I’ve had people tell me I need to work in a sheltered workshop because I’m Autistic, even though I have two master’s degrees, because I shouldn’t expect an employer to accommodate my sensory needs or give me directions in writing instead of “nonverbal signals.” They’d be happy to pay me $4/hr to design widgets, write widget instruction sheets, or design widget packaging.

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