Every instance of employers taking advantage of the disabled should be reported at least to the media.
It’s insane to have someone disabled who doesn’t need to work but wants to work and then being taken advantage of.
Disastrous-Plum-3878 on
I have a example of this not being bad
Care home with aged disability care
Employer would drive over and pick up a guy where his job was to fold boxes
It wasn’t a real job,doesn’t really add capitalistic value to shareholder
If we gotta pay that guy $20, maybe this job doesn’t exist for the dude who does it and loves it?
WearyService1317 on
Unfortunately some disabled people would not be able to compete with the able bodied for work. At least these schemes give the disabled something productive to do, and also provides them with life skills. What’s being advocated here would by and large be the end of many disabled people finding work.
SometimesIAmCorrect on
Genuine question- Isn’t this a way to give disabled people a job while also providing them financial assistance in other ways?
Formal-Try-2779 on
This is one of those things that can be a really good thing and done for the right reasons by well meaning people. But in other cases it can be exploitation by morally bankrupt individuals looking to profit from the situation. Nuance is not something our media or politicians handle well though.
Delamoor on
(note: this is in relation to open employment and the Supported Wages Scheme (SWS), less so ADEs, which are the focus of the article)
I used to work in the DES system, have tried marketing with lots and lots of employers who have had absolutely ZERO interest in hiring anyone with a disability if they can’t do the job at full capacity.
Have had the words “we don’t run a charity” used repeatedly at me. Which, yes, they aren’t… they’re running a business. For profit.
Any of you guys tried getting work even as someone fully qualified or over qualified for a position? How hard you have to try to convince an employer that, yes, you ARE able to fuckin’ stack boxes or sweep floors or face up stock, because they like to imagine that only the best of the best can work at THEIR IGA?
…so how easy do you think it is to convince them to hire someone who fundamentally *can’t* do the job as well as the (usually unreasonable and self-interest) employer would like them to? At full wage?
The ONLY thing that could convince the vast majority of employers to even TRY someone with a disability was the supported wages scheme. And even then, it was like… Three employers in a hundred.
If you want people with significant disabilities to work in open employment, there aren’t many ways to incentivise employers to actually do it, other than letting them pay them based on the amount of work they’re doing.
…ADEs, though… Now they’re really tricky. Because they’re essentially overflow for when open employment isn’t working. However much their management says otherwise… To be honest, they often *aren’t* doing very productive work. They’re inefficient as hell. Many operate like daycare centres, but with working components. A lot (not all) of the people there have tok high support needs for DES to be able to work with them.
I don’t like ADEs, but at the same time… The DES system certainly doesn’t have the skills, means or resources to handle all the people in the ADE system.
And Christ knows, the disability sector is still struggling with the last big overhaul…
el_barnito on
My wife runs an ADE. We think they’re a valuable part of the community. In addition to the wages they receive the employees get all kinds of other supports, life skills training, social support, extra curricular activites (social club events etc) It’s good for their sense of worth and belonging. I volunteer there, and I can safely say most of the employees are happy to be there. (and if the’yre not they’re welcome to seek employment elsewhere. No one is forcing them to work there)
Some of the people are never ever going to be able to be productive in open work. Given that most enterprises exist to make money, why would someone employ someone who was never going to be productive? I tihnk the architects of this “shut down the ADE’s” thing are absolutely living on another planet, I think if they do shut them all down there will be a helluva lot of people sitting at home with nothing to do.
And no ,this ADE does not make a profit. They generate some income from their efforst, but are largely kept aloft via Govt funding and donations.
And,, its a helluva stressful place to run.
Muralove on
Disability and chronic illness don’t fit into a capitalist system. We have to come to realise that not everywhere is capable of working, or working to the extent of others, and we need to realise that this doesn’t make someone lesser.
We complain about a disabled adult receiving minimum wage for a job, but make less of a fuss about career politicians and real estate agents who are paid so much for contributing so little to our society. There are so many ‘useless’ jobs, but for some reason we allow non-disabled people to give themselves yearly raises for doing fuck all.
8 Comments
Every instance of employers taking advantage of the disabled should be reported at least to the media.
It’s insane to have someone disabled who doesn’t need to work but wants to work and then being taken advantage of.
I have a example of this not being bad
Care home with aged disability care
Employer would drive over and pick up a guy where his job was to fold boxes
It wasn’t a real job,doesn’t really add capitalistic value to shareholder
If we gotta pay that guy $20, maybe this job doesn’t exist for the dude who does it and loves it?
Unfortunately some disabled people would not be able to compete with the able bodied for work. At least these schemes give the disabled something productive to do, and also provides them with life skills. What’s being advocated here would by and large be the end of many disabled people finding work.
Genuine question- Isn’t this a way to give disabled people a job while also providing them financial assistance in other ways?
This is one of those things that can be a really good thing and done for the right reasons by well meaning people. But in other cases it can be exploitation by morally bankrupt individuals looking to profit from the situation. Nuance is not something our media or politicians handle well though.
(note: this is in relation to open employment and the Supported Wages Scheme (SWS), less so ADEs, which are the focus of the article)
I used to work in the DES system, have tried marketing with lots and lots of employers who have had absolutely ZERO interest in hiring anyone with a disability if they can’t do the job at full capacity.
Have had the words “we don’t run a charity” used repeatedly at me. Which, yes, they aren’t… they’re running a business. For profit.
Any of you guys tried getting work even as someone fully qualified or over qualified for a position? How hard you have to try to convince an employer that, yes, you ARE able to fuckin’ stack boxes or sweep floors or face up stock, because they like to imagine that only the best of the best can work at THEIR IGA?
…so how easy do you think it is to convince them to hire someone who fundamentally *can’t* do the job as well as the (usually unreasonable and self-interest) employer would like them to? At full wage?
The ONLY thing that could convince the vast majority of employers to even TRY someone with a disability was the supported wages scheme. And even then, it was like… Three employers in a hundred.
If you want people with significant disabilities to work in open employment, there aren’t many ways to incentivise employers to actually do it, other than letting them pay them based on the amount of work they’re doing.
…ADEs, though… Now they’re really tricky. Because they’re essentially overflow for when open employment isn’t working. However much their management says otherwise… To be honest, they often *aren’t* doing very productive work. They’re inefficient as hell. Many operate like daycare centres, but with working components. A lot (not all) of the people there have tok high support needs for DES to be able to work with them.
I don’t like ADEs, but at the same time… The DES system certainly doesn’t have the skills, means or resources to handle all the people in the ADE system.
And Christ knows, the disability sector is still struggling with the last big overhaul…
My wife runs an ADE. We think they’re a valuable part of the community. In addition to the wages they receive the employees get all kinds of other supports, life skills training, social support, extra curricular activites (social club events etc) It’s good for their sense of worth and belonging. I volunteer there, and I can safely say most of the employees are happy to be there. (and if the’yre not they’re welcome to seek employment elsewhere. No one is forcing them to work there)
Some of the people are never ever going to be able to be productive in open work. Given that most enterprises exist to make money, why would someone employ someone who was never going to be productive? I tihnk the architects of this “shut down the ADE’s” thing are absolutely living on another planet, I think if they do shut them all down there will be a helluva lot of people sitting at home with nothing to do.
And no ,this ADE does not make a profit. They generate some income from their efforst, but are largely kept aloft via Govt funding and donations.
And,, its a helluva stressful place to run.
Disability and chronic illness don’t fit into a capitalist system. We have to come to realise that not everywhere is capable of working, or working to the extent of others, and we need to realise that this doesn’t make someone lesser.
We complain about a disabled adult receiving minimum wage for a job, but make less of a fuss about career politicians and real estate agents who are paid so much for contributing so little to our society. There are so many ‘useless’ jobs, but for some reason we allow non-disabled people to give themselves yearly raises for doing fuck all.