Pay Day
This week I started my training at my new job. I now work at an assissted living facility for mentally disabled adults. It is one of the toughest, emotionally draining, and rewarding jobs I’ve ever had the pleasure of taking part in.
My first day of training consisted of reading about health and safety procedures, house policy, and the rights of the developmentally disabled. While house procedure is about as interesting as, well, house procedure, the rights section was much more, well, lively.
There was a lot of information on “people-first” language. For example, a person is not retarded. A person has a developmental disability or has a medical diagnosis of mental retardation. It’s the difference between saying that your friend has cancer or that your friend is cancerous. It’s a difference that everyone seems to see when talking about cancer, but not when talking about mental retardation.
There is also a bill of rights of sorts for the developmentally disabled. Most of the rights are so basic and such common sense that it is actually embarrassing that they need to be written out. For example, “You have the right to wear the clothing that you choose to wear” and “You have the right to unopened mail and private space” seem so simple yet are so often ignored when dealing with any person with a disability. Why wouldn’t every person have a right to clothing or mail? I mean, if I have the right to wear some of the outfits I manage to leave my apartment in, I’m sure everybody can. Most of the people I now work with are much snappier dressers then most of the people I go to school with.
But what really pisses me off is the wage difference. Minimum wage is $8/hour in California. However, there are “special circumstances” for persons with disabilities (both physical and mental):
There are also exceptions for employees who are mentally or physically disabled, or both, and for nonprofit organizations such as sheltered workshops or rehabilitation facilities that employ disabled workers. Such individuals and organizations may be issued a special license by the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement authorizing employment at a wage less than the legal minimum wage. Labor Code Sections 1191 and 1191.5
(Quoted from Department of Industrial Relations)
Some of the people I’ve met in the last few weeks work in such situations. They are paid a percentage of the minimum wage, based on their productivity. For example, if a person is calculated to be working at a 50% productivity rate, they only get paid $4/hour. I’m sorry, it’s called a minimum wage for a reason. As in it is the lowest a person should be paid.
What is so horrible about being paid lower than the minimum wage is that it assumes that you are not a real person, worth the lowest wage a person is supposed to be paid. Doesn’t this seem like the right to wear clothing you choose and the right to private mail? It does to me.