The New Brunswick government introduced a bill Tuesday that would prevent people with disabilities from getting less than minimum wage for the same work as others.
Post-Secondary Education, Training and Labour Minister Trevor Holder called the practice of giving below-minimum-wage stipends to workers “archaic” in a news release Tuesday.
Shelley Petit, the chairperson of the New Brunswick Coalition of Persons with Disabilities, said she’s glad changes to the Employment Standards Act have been proposed, but she doesn’t understand what took the government so long.
“They were paid often egregiously less,” she said of workers with disabilities. “And the fact that it’s still happening today in 2022, we should be ashamed of ourselves as a society. The things we do to people with disabilities is unacceptable.”
The proposed amendments would “update the definition of employer and employee” and “remove ambiguity around the paying of sub-minimum wage stipends,” according to a news release from the provincial government.
The definition of employer would be amended to include “any person who authorizes an employee to be in or about a place of employment to perform work, supply services or receive training.”
The definition of employee would be amended to include “a person who performs work or supplies services, or who receives training, unless exempted by regulation, regardless of whether the person receives accommodations to meet their needs.”
Petit said that the amendments are good but other areas of assistance need to also be looked at to ensure people with disabilities don’t lose other benefits once they start making minimum wage. She’s concerned that people could lose housing subsidies or health benefits if they hit a certain income.
Haley Flaro, executive director of Ability New Brunswick, said she is confident that those on minimum wage who are low income will still be eligible for benefits.
She said it will be a transition period, but that there are still programs to help with equipment, supplies and medications.
Flaro said the introduction of amendments is a “historic moment in New Brunswick.” For too long, people with disabilities haven’t had equal protection under the law, she said.
The old legislation didn’t promote the inclusion and diversity of people with disabilities in the workplace, she said, but now that’s been corrected.
In the past, Flaro said, she’s had experiences with people who had mobility disabilities being paid $40 per week for 35 hours.
Flaro said legislation in New Brunswick sets a tone and a culture and while she’s excited about the shift to “real work for real pay,” she is also excited that New Brunswick is sending a message that they want to be a leader in hiring and retaining people with disabilities in the workplace.
“Here is a significant opportunity for people with a disability that have been receiving what we call stipends for work, which are not even close to being minimum wage, to have a real opportunity to be paid for the work similar to anyone who deserves to be paid for their work,” she said.
This story was originally published in CBC News on Nov. 2, 2022.
Hannah Rudderham Portfolio 