Post by Banjo on Sept 26, 2014 16:07:56 GMT 7
What's fair pay for people with intellectual disabilities?
Thousands of disabled Australians earn just a few dollars an hour working at disability enterprises. A recent Federal Court decision will lead to higher wages, but some employers fear this will send them broke. Is this a cunning ploy to get out of paying more or are their fears justified? And some parents believe these jobs are worth a whole lot more to their children than a just a pay packet. So what is a fair wage? Melinda James reports.
There are thousands of—mainly intellectually—disabled employees in Australia getting paid just a few dollars an hour. Some earn even less.
For more than a decade, disability advocates have been fighting for better wages for employees at Australian Disability Enterprises, formerly known as sheltered workshops, and in December 2012 they had a significant win in the Federal Court.
Gordon Prior, 61, is intellectually disabled and legally blind. He used to mow lawns at a disability enterprise in regional Victoria.
When his pay dropped from just over $3 an hour to $2.47 after a wage assessment, he took a complaint of discrimination to the federal court.
Lawyers acting for Gordon and another intellectually disabled man Michel Nojin argued that the government-owned system used to calculate their wage was unlawful and the full bench of the court agreed.
For Gordon, the legal victory is a proud achievement.
'Even though there were a few noses out of joint, it didn't worry me much. I've done the damage and I'm hoping something will come out of it,' he says.
The landmark decision directly affects 10,000 disabled workers, but it has the potential to increase the wages of all 20,000 employees of Australian Disability Enterprises.
Kairsty Wilson, the solicitor who fought the case, thought the long campaign for better wages had been won.
'I thought it's over. All we have to do now is work out the compensation, the back pay for these workers—that was naive,' she says.
The commonwealth tried to appeal the decision in the High Court but failed. The government then applied to the Human Rights Commission for a three year exemption to the Disability Discrimination Act in order to give disability enterprises time to transition to higher wages.
This article represents part of a larger Background Briefing investigation. Listen to Melinda James' full report on Sunday at 8.05 am or use the podcast links above after broadcast.
The commission gave the businesses one year to get their houses in order, a move that disappointed Wilson.
She says disability enterprises have known for years the system was unfair and they should now abide by the court's ruling.
'If it was Myer, if it was Coles, if we can't afford to pay the wages then we can't operate. Any of us, if we went to the Fair Work Commission and said, "Oh look, we want to pay half the wages." Would we be allowed to do that? No of course not. So I don't see that there's any difference.'
There are 194 Australian Disability Enterprises or ADEs. The work they do—everything from packing boxes and mowing lawns, to washing sheets and preparing frozen meals—generates more than $730 million each year. More than half of the ADEs make a loss each year, however. Many of the rest barely break even.
The peak body for ADEs is National Disability Services. Chief Executive Ken Baker knows any new regime will mean higher wages.
He says disability enterprises are competing with cheap overseas labour and prisons for contracts, and are often doing work that could be automated.
'Disability enterprises are competing in very tough markets. They're not-for-profit organisations established specifically to employ people with severe disability, usually intellectual disability, and they're competing with low wage economies overseas. They're barely breaking even, often they're making a loss so you know they're struggling to have the capacity to pay higher wages.'
According to Baker, it's important to note that almost all employees also receive the Disability Support Pension and their pay supplements their benefits. He also says the sector is battling an outdated stereotype of exploitative sheltered workshops.
'I know the people who run these organisations. I know the people who work in these organisations. They have a very strong commitment to the rights of people with disability. Where we disagree with some of the advocacy groups is how to give those rights practical effect.'
The government and Disability Enterprises Australia are scrambling to find a new way to assess wages that will withstand any future legal challenge before next April, the deadline set by the Human Rights Commission.
The federal government has announced a one-off grant of $173 million over four years to tide the workplaces over while they figure out how to pay more and survive.
Advocates like Wilson, however, say that if disability enterprises can't survive paying a few dollars an hour, it's clear the model is broken.
'What we should be doing is revamping the whole system, looking at more places in day programs,' she says. 'Because I go to many ADEs, they arrive in the morning and they sleep. They get woken up, they go and have morning tea and they sleep. They are not productive and they are not employees but they have a right to activities or a quality of life.'
Wilson believes the government should stop propping up disability enterprises and instead invest more in making mainstream employment the first and preferred option for people with an intellectual disability who can work, while those who aren't productive should be sent to publicly funded activity centres.
Ken Baker, however, thinks disability enterprises are providing real value.
'Some of them, their productivity really is very low. Their disability is very severe, but they want to work. My view is if they want to work and they gain the benefits of work which are not just wages: which are friendships, social networks, a sense of dignity, a sense of contributing to society; these are very important benefits and people should be entitled to those benefits.'
www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/backgroundbriefing/the-fair-wage-campaign-that-backfired/5765182
Thousands of disabled Australians earn just a few dollars an hour working at disability enterprises. A recent Federal Court decision will lead to higher wages, but some employers fear this will send them broke. Is this a cunning ploy to get out of paying more or are their fears justified? And some parents believe these jobs are worth a whole lot more to their children than a just a pay packet. So what is a fair wage? Melinda James reports.
There are thousands of—mainly intellectually—disabled employees in Australia getting paid just a few dollars an hour. Some earn even less.
For more than a decade, disability advocates have been fighting for better wages for employees at Australian Disability Enterprises, formerly known as sheltered workshops, and in December 2012 they had a significant win in the Federal Court.
Gordon Prior, 61, is intellectually disabled and legally blind. He used to mow lawns at a disability enterprise in regional Victoria.
When his pay dropped from just over $3 an hour to $2.47 after a wage assessment, he took a complaint of discrimination to the federal court.
Lawyers acting for Gordon and another intellectually disabled man Michel Nojin argued that the government-owned system used to calculate their wage was unlawful and the full bench of the court agreed.
For Gordon, the legal victory is a proud achievement.
'Even though there were a few noses out of joint, it didn't worry me much. I've done the damage and I'm hoping something will come out of it,' he says.
The landmark decision directly affects 10,000 disabled workers, but it has the potential to increase the wages of all 20,000 employees of Australian Disability Enterprises.
Kairsty Wilson, the solicitor who fought the case, thought the long campaign for better wages had been won.
'I thought it's over. All we have to do now is work out the compensation, the back pay for these workers—that was naive,' she says.
The commonwealth tried to appeal the decision in the High Court but failed. The government then applied to the Human Rights Commission for a three year exemption to the Disability Discrimination Act in order to give disability enterprises time to transition to higher wages.
This article represents part of a larger Background Briefing investigation. Listen to Melinda James' full report on Sunday at 8.05 am or use the podcast links above after broadcast.
The commission gave the businesses one year to get their houses in order, a move that disappointed Wilson.
She says disability enterprises have known for years the system was unfair and they should now abide by the court's ruling.
'If it was Myer, if it was Coles, if we can't afford to pay the wages then we can't operate. Any of us, if we went to the Fair Work Commission and said, "Oh look, we want to pay half the wages." Would we be allowed to do that? No of course not. So I don't see that there's any difference.'
There are 194 Australian Disability Enterprises or ADEs. The work they do—everything from packing boxes and mowing lawns, to washing sheets and preparing frozen meals—generates more than $730 million each year. More than half of the ADEs make a loss each year, however. Many of the rest barely break even.
The peak body for ADEs is National Disability Services. Chief Executive Ken Baker knows any new regime will mean higher wages.
He says disability enterprises are competing with cheap overseas labour and prisons for contracts, and are often doing work that could be automated.
'Disability enterprises are competing in very tough markets. They're not-for-profit organisations established specifically to employ people with severe disability, usually intellectual disability, and they're competing with low wage economies overseas. They're barely breaking even, often they're making a loss so you know they're struggling to have the capacity to pay higher wages.'
According to Baker, it's important to note that almost all employees also receive the Disability Support Pension and their pay supplements their benefits. He also says the sector is battling an outdated stereotype of exploitative sheltered workshops.
'I know the people who run these organisations. I know the people who work in these organisations. They have a very strong commitment to the rights of people with disability. Where we disagree with some of the advocacy groups is how to give those rights practical effect.'
The government and Disability Enterprises Australia are scrambling to find a new way to assess wages that will withstand any future legal challenge before next April, the deadline set by the Human Rights Commission.
The federal government has announced a one-off grant of $173 million over four years to tide the workplaces over while they figure out how to pay more and survive.
Advocates like Wilson, however, say that if disability enterprises can't survive paying a few dollars an hour, it's clear the model is broken.
'What we should be doing is revamping the whole system, looking at more places in day programs,' she says. 'Because I go to many ADEs, they arrive in the morning and they sleep. They get woken up, they go and have morning tea and they sleep. They are not productive and they are not employees but they have a right to activities or a quality of life.'
Wilson believes the government should stop propping up disability enterprises and instead invest more in making mainstream employment the first and preferred option for people with an intellectual disability who can work, while those who aren't productive should be sent to publicly funded activity centres.
Ken Baker, however, thinks disability enterprises are providing real value.
'Some of them, their productivity really is very low. Their disability is very severe, but they want to work. My view is if they want to work and they gain the benefits of work which are not just wages: which are friendships, social networks, a sense of dignity, a sense of contributing to society; these are very important benefits and people should be entitled to those benefits.'
www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/backgroundbriefing/the-fair-wage-campaign-that-backfired/5765182
