stuboy

Lord Freud has commented whether disabled employees could/should be paid less.

I agree in certain circumstances.

johnnyone

I believe a minimum wage should apply across the board.
Having said that I could see how that may deter some employers from employing people with disabilities.
Perhaps the state should give some form of incentive to Employers to assist Employers who are willing to employ disabled people. Must be better than benefits.
Mind you wasn't it this government that closed the Remploy factories putting many disabled people out of work?
As an aside it seems to me that the minimum wage is set to low and in effect is a hidden subsidy given to Employers as many Employees on the minimum wage rely upon state benefits in addition to the minimum wage they receive.

jimenato

I'm not quite sure what is meant by this.

Is it - should be paid less than they currently are
or - should be paid less than an able bodied person doing the same work
or - should be paid less than the minimum wage?

johnnyone

That's a good point. If a disabled person is as productive as an able bodied position they should be treated equally in any event. eg a blind telephonist

Fredbargate

In order for a disabled person to be atractive to an employer there should be some form of sliding scale of subsidies to the employer to overcome any shortfall in production by the disabled employee.

Some would require no subsidy whilst others would, this should help the employee to intigrate into society more, hopefully making their lives more rewarding.

IamStu

A very sensitive subject so I´ll tread carefully.
I would only employ a person with the required skill set, be them able bodied or disabled, and provided any disability would in no way incur extra costs or work for others. This might sound harsh but as a business owner, I have a responsibility to the running of my business, myself and anyone that might work for me.
I also understand there are many jobs in the market place that simply don´t require fully able bodied people.. In such cases, the job is worth a salary that should be paid equally to any person doing the job.
With that said, isn´t the term "disabled" too much of an umbrella term for any of us to actually know what we´re talking about?

stuboy

jimenato

+1

MikeJ

I believe that in Australia and elsewhere they have a system where the productivity of the disabled person is measured in some way and the employee is paid what the job is worth (i.e. no value judgement about the individual) - which I think is what Lord Freud was trying to say - and that the state needed to find a way of topping it up.

There are a number of disabled people who have been priced out of the job market by the minimum wage. It is very important for a person's self respect to feel valued with a waged job.

So what Freud was trying to say, in a hamfisted way, should be applauded and not used for opportunistic political point scoring at the expense of disabled people.

Porth

Until you have first hand experience of the life of a Disabled Person (my wife has been disabled for almost forty years) I suggest it is a subject area that should be treated with some caution.

Porth

But of course it was this Government that closed down Remploy

MikeJ

Actually Remploy Employment Services is still alive and well. The DWP have published plans to privatise it (whilst committing to use their services for government referrals) The direct employment business was started being phased out by the last Government in the early 2000's. When this government proposed withdrawing the subsidy then Remploy responded by closing over half the remaining factories.

Quote:
"The partner/investor will need to demonstrate the commitment, capacity and capability to continue the delivery of Work Choice and continue to grow the business in line with Remploy's mission.

"We will ensure that the Remploy pension scheme continues to be funded and that the accrued benefits of members are protected.

"Our key priority during this process will be to ensure that Remploy Employment Services becomes an independent sustainable business which continues to support disabled people in finding and remaining in employment."

stuboy

As a social model Remploy was fantastic. As a business it was a disaster. I have some albeit limited experience of this company.

Porth

Not in Wales.

MikeJ

Although the one in Porth (& Heywood) went to a management buyout and is now E-Cycle ltd.