Real Work For Real Pay: A Self-Advocate’s Guide to Employment Policy

There are many benefits to having a fulfilling job – and when we have the supports we need, disabled people can succeed at jobs that pay well and bolster our self-confidence. There are policies in place to help disabled people find and keep good jobs, like Employment First. But there are also policies that have kept us stuck in low-paying jobs away from our communities.

It’s important for self-advocates to understand employment policy and how things could be different—so that we can effectively advocate for an end to policies that hurt us, and for the adoption of policies that help us. That’s why we’re pleased to announce our latest plain language toolkit, Real Work For Real Pay: A Self-Advocate’s Guide to Employment Policy.

This toolkit will explain:

  • What Employment First is
  • What sheltered workshops are
  • What the minimum wage is
  • The law that lets some companies pay disabled workers less than minimum wage
  • How we can solve problems disabled people have with employment
  • What work requirements are, and why they are a bad idea for people with disabilities

The Employment toolkit is available in two versions:

  • Our Easy Read Edition. The Easy Read version is split into seven parts. Each part has its own glossary, and there is also a separate glossary with all of the terms from every section.The Easy Read version uses pictures along with larger text, and has more white space.
  • A Plain Language Version for either those with vision-related disabilities or those who would prefer a version without accompanying graphics.

Easy Read Edition
The Easy Read Edition is split into parts. Each part has its own glossary, and there is also a separate glossary with all of the terms from every section. Click on the title of any of the parts below to download it:

You can also download the entire Easy Read Edition of the toolkit by clicking here.

Plain Language Version
The Plain Language version is available as one document. You can download it by clicking the link below.

Download Real Work For Real Pay: A Self-Advocate’s Guide to Employment Policy (Plain Language).

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