Education-industry collaboration: guidelines for complying with the Fair Labor Standards Act

American Rehabilitation,  Winter, 1992  by William D. Halloran,  Wendell Johnson

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The concept of forming partnerships between business / industry and public school programs has emerged as a significant strategy for ensuring that students with disabilities have access to employment training opportunities (Bolin, 1982; Gaylord-Ross, 1989; Moon, Inge, Wehman, Brooke, & Barcus, 1990). There is an abundance of literature describing how to create vocational programs in businesses and industries in our communities (Stainbeck, Stainbeck, Nietupski, & Hamre-Nietupski, 1986; Pumpian, Shepard, & West, 1989; Moon et al., 1990; Gaylord-Ross, Halloran, & Siegel, 1992). Although schools that implement community-based vocational education programs must adhere to the rules and guidelines of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) administered through the United States Department of Labor (DOL), there have been few resources available for correctly interpreting these complicated regulations (Moon, Kiernan, & Halloran, 1990).

This article describes guidelines which were issued prior to the beginning of the 1992-93 school year by the U.S. Department of Education (ED) and DOL (U.S. Department of Education, 1992) which detail the criteria to be met by education agencies to ensure that programs operate in compliance with FLSA. The guidelines should be of significant value to groups in business and industry that participate in the community-based vocational education programs.

Background

The intent of FLSA is to ensure that people are not exploited in the nation's workplaces. The intent of community-based vocational education for students with disabilities is to provide structured educational activities that will lead to employment in their communities. Community-based vocational education has been demonstrated to be an extremely effective strategy for improving employment outcomes. However, a number of programs have been forced to reduce their services after being cited for failure to pay commensurate wages to students in a variety of community-situations.

Community-based vocational education-the systematic teaching of "life skills" in the actual environments in which the students will need to apply them--has become recognized as a primary methodology for preparing and assisting people with severe disabilities to make the transition from school to community life. These environments include the world of work, where curricular content is based on ecological inventories to determine the skills needed for employment. From the need to develop systematic instructional strategies to prepare people with severe disabilities for employment and independent living, a vocational education model evolved that utilized community worksites for situational assessment and training.

Components of the vocational education model include; vocational exploration, vocational assessment, vocational training, and cooperative vocational education. Over the past 10 years, the components have been acknowledged as necessary prerequisites to effective instruction in the community. Over the same period, research and demonstration indicates that it may not be necessary for a student with severe disabilities to use components of the model. In fact, a combination of these components and the time periods in which they are applied are often variable.

As stated above, alternative educational programs for students with more severe disabilities (community-based vocational education), include the following components:

Vocational Exploration. The vocational exploration component allows students to obtain brief exposure to a variety of work alternatives. This component provides the student with an introduction to occupations by watching work being performed, talking with workers on the job, and actually trying the job under the direct supervision of school personnel. Exploration enables students to make choices regarding occupational areas they may wish to pursue.

Vocational Assessment. The vocational assessment component focuses upon determining individual training objectives in the context of a work environment in which the client might be employed. Specific recommendations result in the development of the Individualized Education Program (IEP). The "situational assessment" is always under the close supervision of school personnel or an assessment site employee.

Vocational Training. Vocational training requires placing the student on the job to obtain work experience, which cannot be simulated in a school setting. A detailed, written training plan usually includes the competencies to be acquired, method(s) of instruction to be used, and procedures for the evaluation of the training. Training is closely supervised by a representative of the school or by a designated co-worker/supervisor. The purpose of this component is to enable students to develop work behavior and competencies needed to secure paid employment.

Cooperative Vocational Education Agreement. This component is an arrangement between the school and the employer whereby each contributes to the student's education and employability in designated ways. The student must be paid for any work from which the employer derives an immediate advantage. If the student in the cooperative vocational education component is unable to perform at the productivity level expected of nondisabled workers, a commensurate wage is established.