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TRAVAIL SALARIE / TRAVAIL GRATUIT

14 décembre 2011, 13:46, par Atzo

ARTICLE : ARE WORKFARE PARTICIPANTS "EMPLOYEES" ? :
Author
VADIM MAHMOUDOV*

I INTRODUCTION

Michael Johns, a participant in Utah’s "workfare" program, was assigned to maintenance and painting duties. In October 1990, he fell from a ladder while painting and sustained injuries. He applied for Social Security Insurance ("SSI"), which provides subsistence benefits for aged and disabled people. 1 While his application was pending, he continued working in the workfare program until January 1991, when he withdrew due to a hernia. During his four-month workfare stint, he was entitled to $ 1124 in welfare benefits. Based on the 413 hours he worked, this would amount to a rate of $ 2.72 per hour, well below the $ 3.80 per hour federal minimum wage then in effect. 2

Johns sued in federal court, claiming that he was an "employee" within the meaning of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 ("FLSA") 3 and thus entitled to minimum wages for his work. The Tenth Circuit denied his claim, declaring that workfare participants are not employees under the FLSA. 4

Frank Patterson was a welfare recipient assigned to work in Ohio’s "work relief" program. In 1984, he was exposed to pigeon droppings during his work assignment and as a result contracted histoplasmosis. After Patterson died in 1985, his wife applied for workers’ compensation benefits. Under the Ohio statute applicable to dependents of work relief participants, 5 she was only entitled to $ 33.11 per week. This rate was lower than the benefit provided to dependents of regular "employees" in similar circumstances ...