Posts In: Employment

Resilience, Authenticity, and Gratitude: From South America to Duke Business School

Oct 14, 2019

I had a somewhat typical childhood growing up in Cartagena, Columbia, a port city on the Caribbean Sea, except that I was not allowed to attend school because of my blindness.

A Photographer's Insights on Vision Loss

Oct 23, 2018

"We’ll find out..." It was a phrase said to me repeatedly by two of my greatest mentors, Fred Sanders and Jim Platt. Almost fifty years later, that phrase seems to pop out of my own mouth with increasing regularity.

My Job at a Children’s Museum

Aug 30, 2018

If we were to ask a random sample of our sighted friends if a blind person could work at a children’s museum, the majority of those individuals might say no.

Finding a Career in Music Therapy

Jul 26, 2018

Music therapy, like blindness, is very misunderstood. As a blind student in a field in which disabled people are just starting to become the helpers rather than solely the recipients of help, I've needed to find my own solutions to many complicated problems.

Be the STAR of Your Story: Using Your Past Experiences to Excel in Interviews

Jun 5, 2017

With the unemployment rate for the blind hovering around 70 percent, the National Federation of the Blind Employment Committee is dedicated to providing resources and information to help the blind become gainfully employed.

Shutdown Slams Blind Merchants

Oct 10, 2013

Since its inception in 1936, the federal Randolph-Sheppard program has become the most effective government employment program for the blind. Today some one thousand blind entrepreneurs operate businesses on federal property throughout the United States, ranging from full-service restaurants and cafeterias to vending machine stocking and maintenance operations.

National Federation of the Blind Position Statement on Section 511 of Title V of the Workforce Investment Act

Aug 8, 2013

This paper sets forth the position of the National Federation of the Blind (NFB) with respect to the proposed addition to Title V of the Rehabilitation Act, known hereinafter as Section 511, contained in the draft reauthorization of the Workforce Investment Act recently reported favorably by the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions.

No Help from the Senate HELP Committee: Increasing the Wage Disparity for Workers with Disabilities

Jun 26, 2013

Yesterday was the seventy-fifth anniversary of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), which is a monumental piece of legislation for most American workers.  The FLSA provides for the payment of a federal minimum wage, which is now $7.25 per hour, to every American citizen.

Victims of the Exemption

Apr 22, 2013

Section 14(c) of the Fair Labor Standards Act exempts over three thousand employers from paying their workers with disabilities the federal minimum wage, allowing them to pay workers subminimum wages as low as three cents per hour.  The Fair Wages for Workers with Disabilities Act of 2013 will repeal this unfair, discriminatory, and immoral provision.

The Commensurate Wage Fallacy

Apr 15, 2013

Under Section 14(c) of the Fair Labor Standards Act, a flawed formula has been used for years to calculate the commensurate “piece rate” wage for workers with disabilities.  This formula, based on average wages and survey data, works mathematically, but fails the common sense test.