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Special Bulletin Relative To Goodwill Industries In Connection With The Wages And Hours

Creator: Oliver A. Friedman (author)
Date: February 25, 1940
Publication: The Goodwill Bulletin
Source: Goodwill Industries International, Inc., Archives, Robert E. Watkins Library

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SPECIAL BULLETIN RELATIVE TO GOODWILL INDUSTRIES IN CONNECTION WITH THE WAGES AND HOURS

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This brief special bulletin is issued primarily to urge all Goodwill Industries that have not already done so to fill in and return to Washington, at once, the "Notice of Intention to File Formal Application for a Sheltered Workshop Certificate."

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Your executive secretary has been in the field for the past three weeks and has been unable to answer individual correspondence relative to the new regulation. A definite detailed statement will be included in the February Bulletin to be issued within a few days. Questions raised in individual correspondence not answered in that Bulletin will be answered direct to the individual raising the question.

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The present situation is this.

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1. Many months ago a temporary regulation was issued by the Administrator of the Wage and Hour Division, which permitted Sheltered Workshops to employ handicapped persons at less than the minimum wage pending the development of permanent regulations to cover Sheltered Workshops.

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2. This temporary regulation expires March 1st, 1940.

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3. The permanent regulations to cover Sheltered Workshops have been issued and copies have been mailed to all Goodwill Industries direct from the Department of Labor, Washington, D. C., together with a form known as "Notice of Intention to File Formal Application for a Sheltered Workshop Certificate".

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4. The permanent regulation provides that unless Sheltered Workshops file this "Notice of Intention to File Formal Application for Sheltered Workshop Certificate" with the Wage and Hour Division of the Department of Labor before March 1st, the temporary regulation expires on that date. For those Shops, however, that file the above mentioned "Notice" the conditions of the temporary regulation continue until thirty days after the Formal Application blank for a Sheltered Workshop Certificate has been sent to such Sheltered Workshops. The purpose of the "Notice of Intention to File Formal Application for Sheltered Workshop Certificate" is to give Sheltered Workshops which intend to apply for a Certificate the benefit of the present regulations until they have had an opportunity to make that formal application and allows them thirty days in which to make the formal application after they have received the formal application blank. It, therefore, behooves all Goodwill Industries that have not already done so to return this "Notice of Intention to File Formal Application" at once.

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5. Some local Goodwill Industries have raised the question as to whether they were engaged in interstate commerce. The general interpretation thus far has been that if any of the activities of an organization are such that the materials handled in those activities may be believed to eventually find their way into interstate commerce those particular activities of the organization may be interpreted to be in interstate commerce. This very definitely touches Goodwill Industries in connection with our salvage departments and all persons who in any way handle salvage including drivers and helpers.

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We would repeat that there is no specific exemption for Sheltered Workshops or charitable institutions as such, under the Act. We have not been advised in any way that there may be any other possible exemption which would cover the situation of Sheltered Workshops. We have suggested that possibly Goodwill Industries may be classified as retail establishments although there is question even as to whether this is possible.

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It is also generally known that if any organization assumes that it is not under any particular law and then later upon complaint and investigation it is found that the organization is under the law, the responsibility for not having taken such steps as were necessary to protect the interests of the organization is definitely upon that organization.

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The blank issued February 14th is simply a notice on the part of the local Goodwill Industries that it is their intention to file a formal application for a Sheltered Workshop Certificate when such formal application forms are available. The sending in of this notice does give the Goodwill Industries that do so the further protection of the present temporary regulation governing Sheltered Workshops until thirty days after the formal application for a Sheltered Workshop Certificate has been sent to those Goodwill Industries. It is thus apparent that a local Goodwill Industries is in no way endangering its liberties by returning this "Notice of Intention to File Formal Application" and it is securing all the protection that is available in the temporary and the permanent regulation until such time as the formal application blank is available.

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6. It has come to the attention of your executive secretary that some Goodwill Industries have indicated that they did not believe they were under the Act and they would not pay any further attention to it, we would remind any Goodwill Industries that might have such opinion that the burden of responsibility is entirely upon them if they do not cooperate with the Wage and Hour Division by sending in this particular blank.

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