John's usual--
The colder weather last week was a bit shocking. I know the fall is getting late, but the weather up to now has been so great. And now we're almost ready to fall back into daylight savings time. It's rough when it starts getting dark just after 5. Still, I do love the Thanksgiving & Christmas season.
There's quite a lot of recent talk about the Department of Labor's Special Wage Permit that allows sheltered workshops to pay based on productivity even when that pay is less than the minimum hourly wage. CLI completed our transition away from using a special minimum wage certificate in 2016. All jobs that we help people get, with a community employer or with Firelands Local LLC, pay at least Ohio's minimum hourly wage ($8.80 currently). It's pulling a thread though, where changing one thing causes other effects. CLI had to embrace a completely new service model-- shifting everything to community-based. For programs that are still mostly operating out of a large facility, the ability to pay piece-rate wages is pretty important. Otherwise, you can only afford to pay workers that can hit a quota, which is problematic. It's a pretty hot political topic with good people passionate on both sides of the argument. Whether the federal government eliminates the special wage certificates or not-- other laws specific to employment first and anti-segregation still apply. CLI is committed to figuring out new ways to customize services to fit each client's needs. The reality is that sheltered workshops have met a lot of client & family needs over the last 40+ years. The system is trending away from this service delivery model. We have to figure out how providers like CLI come up with new ways to continue to meet those client & family needs.h sides of the argument.
Have a good week. Keep yourself and others safe!
John