4 ms·

Even if they're paid below minimum wage, what's wrong with that? For some mental disabilities, expecting economic output above minimum wage is unrealistic. Bu

Even if they're paid below minimum wage, what's wrong with that? For some mental disabilities, expecting economic output above minimum wage is unrealistic. But these are still human beings who have social wants and c. 16 waking hours every day. If they're unemployable at minimum wage, all they have to do is occupy themselves with extremely cheap leisure-- because they can't afford anything else. I have a mentally disabled family member who used to have a below-minimum-wage sorting job at a direct mail place. The wage laws changed and that dried up. My family is able to support him, but he spends a lot of time walking around and mumbling to himself. He seemed happier when he had somewhere to go and something to do. Of course, it's not easy to understand his perspective. Please consider that, in some circumstances, a company hiring severely disabled people below minimum wage is making a positive contribution to society.

atdrummond 8y ago
I'm disabled myself. I don't disagree with the contention in your last paragraph. That said, as a former founder from Seattle, I'm quite aware of the NC's shenanigans. If there's scope to pay the proper minimum wage to these employees ($10.35 based on the NC's arguments that only federal disability and wage laws apply to them) then I'd prefer to see that happen. As it stands, if one assumes the NC's stance on contractor wages to be correct, the disabled workers could still be paid a few dollars per hour. This would still be above the subminimum wage, so the article's quote about being above the minimum wage would still be accurate. But these workers would be missing out on $7-8 dollars per hour that federal wage law demands they be paid.
- i_am_proteus 8y ago
  I get your perspective, but disability is a continuum. As a founder, you're not really the disabled population I'm thinking of. I'm technically disabled myself, but entirely able to earn a good living. There are some disabled people, though, who can't provide $10.35/hr in economic benefit. If the "full" minimum wage is applied to them, it's much more likely that they end up with nothing to do than they end up making those extra $7-8/hr. Businesses are not charities and will we shouldn't expect them to behave as such. If our society wants to provide for a disadvantaged group, straightforward taxation and redistribution is a much more fair way to accomplish that goal than enacting a wage minimum.

atdrummond 8y ago

I'm disabled myself. I don't disagree with the contention in your last paragraph. That said, as a former founder from Seattle, I'm quite aware of the NC's shenanigans. If there's scope to pay the proper minimum wage to these employees ($10.35 based on the NC's arguments that only federal disability and wage laws apply to them) then I'd prefer to see that happen. As it stands, if one assumes the NC's stance on contractor wages to be correct, the disabled workers could still be paid a few dollars per hour. This would still be above the subminimum wage, so the article's quote about being above the minimum wage would still be accurate. But these workers would be missing out on $7-8 dollars per hour that federal wage law demands they be paid.

i_am_proteus 8y ago
I get your perspective, but disability is a continuum. As a founder, you're not really the disabled population I'm thinking of. I'm technically disabled myself, but entirely able to earn a good living. There are some disabled people, though, who can't provide $10.35/hr in economic benefit. If the "full" minimum wage is applied to them, it's much more likely that they end up with nothing to do than they end up making those extra $7-8/hr. Businesses are not charities and will we shouldn't expect them to behave as such. If our society wants to provide for a disadvantaged group, straightforward taxation and redistribution is a much more fair way to accomplish that goal than enacting a wage minimum.