Fair Labour Standards Act Of 1938 Essay

Up until the mid 1970's it was actually illegal to be disabled in a sort. It was the 'Ugly Law' which many with Cerebral Palsy suffered greatly from. If anyone was reported ugly due to a deformity of any kind, they would be arrested and taken back home. While not many things like that still happen today, there are situations that happen that are still Ableistic in their own ways. Many crimes that happen against disabled people won't get televised or any awareness raised at all. Parents with disabilities are more likely lose custody of their child, a lot of times for no reason besides being disabled. For intellectually challenged parents there's up to an 80% chance of them losing their child. There are businesses that will refuse to let a handicapped worker to any jobs where they might be visible, some refuse designated parking spaces. The disabled are often paid less, in many places they are paid below minimum wage. Which might be overlooked, if the disability benefits had any help to offer. Unfortunately, disability only offers anywhere from $5k-$7k a year, and the recipient and family they are living with cannot earn more than around $20k a year. The average middle class person is expected to make around $30k a year. Not only must the disabled live off such mediocre wages, but the necessities are ridiculously priced. Manual

than $5.15 an hour. Overtime pay at a rate of not less than one and

For centuries, there has been a common relationship between employers and employees. Over the course of that time, the workplace and the jobs within it have evolved as new jobs were created, ways to execute tasks became more advanced and laws were enacted to put into place fair employment for those in the workforce. In 1938, congress would pass and President Roosevelt would sign the Wages and Hours Bill, more commonly known as the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (FLSA). This federal statute introduced a 44 hour, seven day work week, established the national minimum wage, guaranteed overtime pay in specific types of jobs at a rate of “time and a half”, and it defines oppressive child labor, which prohibits most employment of minors. The FLSA applies to those employees engaged in interstate commerce or in the production of goods for commerce, unless the employer can claim an exemption from coverage.

Individuals with disability have had a long history of maltreatment in America. From being thought of as possessed individuals in need of exorcism, targeted for heinous experiments, unknowingly sterilized, being labeled imbecile, feeble minded, and retarded, to being shipped off to state schools or mental asylums, those with disabilities were given no consideration as a valuable and able to contribute member of society. In a speech to congress, Frank Bowe, a highly educated deaf-man highlighted this claim by stating, “we are not even second-class citizens, we are third-class citizens” (Bowe, F. 1977--need citation), and Jim Cherry (2001) furthered the ideal in his words, that prior to “1970 we [disabled citizens] had no right to education, to employment, to transportation, to housing, or to voting. There were no civil rights laws for us, no federal advocacy grants. Few people looked beyond our medical needs” (Cherry, J.L, 2001 http://www.raggededgemagazine.com/0701/0701cov.htm). Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 attempted to fundamentally change how disabled people were reguarded.

Regarding this concept, the author reveals how business owners could coerce disabled people into performing whatever task that needed to be done simply because they perceive disabled people as incapable of anything more significant. From the railroad business, to the widespread presence of Ford Motor Company, the spectrum of disabled people was shaped by how they were controlled by their organizations. “employers in mechanized sectors-in particular, railroads-were the first to associate disabled people with inefficiency and unproductivity” (Rose, 123). As a result, even when organizations such as Goodwill Industries tried to create special workshops and resources for their disabled employees, it did not end up in providing a solution. Disabled people were left to be controlled by not only their own places of work but by societies overall agreement that disabled people were of lesser value than abled

The Fair Labor Standards Act has been amended many times and is virtually an ever-changing law, however, it does not cover all employees. There are several classes of “exempt” employees, including salaried employees in the executive/managerial, administrative, and professional areas. Outside salespeople are also considered exempt. One of the issues facing companies today is knowing which employees are exempt and which are non-exempt. There are tests to determine if an employee is exempt. In 2004 the tests changed to a standard test, which is whether or not the employee’s salary is $455/week or greater and the duties test, which allows for exempt status if more than 50% of the work performed by an individual is “exempt work.” (Pass and Broadwater) Exempt employees do not receive overtime pay, which can be a substantial cost savings to a company. My previous employer required that an exempt manager close the center each night even though we had non-exempt team leads who acted as managers in most capacities. The reason was to avoid overtime costs.

According to Gary Dessler, “employers with 15 or more workers are prohibited from discriminating against qualified individuals with disabilities with regard to applications, hiring, discharge, compensation, advancement, training, or other terms, conditions, or privileges of employment. It also says that employers must make ‘reasonable accommodations’ for physical or mental limitations unless doing so imposes an ‘undue hardship’ on the business.” It not only prohibits discrimination in employment but also outlaws most physical barriers in public accommodations, transportation, telecommunications, and government services.

In recent news, the famous law firm, Seyfarth Shaw, claimed that the number of cases based on Title III of the Americans with Disability Act, have increased over the year by 63% in 2015. The act makes it illegal for the businesses to discriminate on the basis of a disability when they are open to general public for hiring. The law is applicable to a variety of general public direct interaction based industries including housing, construction, school, teaching and day care therefore, had the law been in real practice and implemented in force the discrimination would have not taken place. Discrimination is taking place at a much higher rate than ever before because of all the cases that are flooding the court system.

The Fair Work Commission (FWC) in Australia along modern awards and employment contracts, has the power to control employee wages and conditions. Wages are the price paid to the labour force for its contributions in the production process. The FWC regulates if the National Employment Standards and enterprise agreements are met under the Fair Work Act (2009). Modern awards and employment contracts are arranged for the remaining individuals in order to determine their wages and conditions. Wages are also determined through the government implementation of price floors and also the supply and demand. Consequences are implemented by the FWC if Australia companies are found to have contravened the Fair Work Act (2009), one recent Australian company that was found to have infringed this legislation was Coles.

Employers should hire disabled workers and pay them at least minimum wage. People, that are willing and capable of working should be able to have a job that is enough to keep them off the streets. One of the nation's best-known charities, Goodwill is a multibillion dollar company where the executives make six figure salaries. This is company is just one of many that are allowed to pay their disabled workers far less than minimum wage, with as little as 22 cents an hour. This is aloud in the workforce because of the federal law known as Section 14 (c). “If they really do pay the CEO of Goodwill three-quarters of a million dollars, they certainly can pay me more than they’re paying,” says Harold Leigland. A legally blind citizen who hangs clothes

People with disabilities have become an integral part of the workforce. The ADA forbids discrimination against people with disabilities when recruiting, hiring, training, and compensating employees (Sotoa & Kleiner, 2013). The ADA prohibits discrimination against people with disabilities in employment, transportation, public accommodation, communications, and governmental and establishes requirements for telecommunications relay services (activities (Stryker, R. (2013). Employers are not allowed to ask employees if they have a disability. The employers are not allowed to ask employees with disabilities to undergo a medical exam before an offer of employment unless all applicants are required to take the same exam (Kaye, Jans, & Jones,

The common theme throughout the ADA is the unsuccessful ability to close the gap in employment for people with disabilities. A change that could be recommended to increase hiring individuals is having companies be held accountable for diversity in the workplace. Under Affirmative Action, companies use internal audits and reporting systems as a means to measure an employer's diversity in the workplace (About Affirmative, 2015). However, workplaces are not required to track or report on people with disabilities who have applied and were not hired. By making it a law for companies to report on why they did not hire a person or who they did hire can help track if companies are favoring one person's ability over another.

The National Labor Relations Act (NLRA), also known as the Wagner Act, was enacted in Congress in 1935 and became one of the most important legacies of the New Deal. Prior to the passage of the NLRA, employers had been free to spy on, interrogate, discipline, discharge, and blacklist union members. Reversing years of federal opposition, the statute guaranteed the right of employees to organize labor unions, to engage in collective bargaining, and to take part in strikes. The act also created a National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) to arbitrate deadlocked labor-management disputes, guarantee democratic union elections, and penalize unfair labor practices by employers. The law applied to all employees involved in the interstate

A second disadvantage that disabled people experience is not getting an equivalent pay as a person without a disability would in the same employment. When disabled people are paid under the minimum wage it is called subminimum. “Under section 14(c) of

    A person with a disability, or handicap, can be defined as someone with a physical or mental impairment, which has a substantial or long-term adverse affect on his or her ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities (Employment 2). Handicap workers face many challenges in the work place that the average person overlooks. Also, many special arrangements and alterations have been made to the workplace for people with handicaps. Accessibility, transportation, workload, and salary are just some of the many issues that must be considered with the prospect of employing the handicap.