Why Are Some Disability and Social Welfare Organizations Said to Have a Dark Side?

This is a continuation of a previous article I wrote about disability welfare and social welfare corporations involved in employment support.

You can check the article "The Darkness of Disability Welfare and Social Welfare Corporations"

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This article outlines the overview and characteristics of social welfare corporations and why they are sometimes said to have a dark side.

1. Exploiting Employees Who Wish to Help Others

Many employees working at these facilities genuinely want to support the users of continuous employment support services, which is why they continue their work.

Because they have noble thoughts like "I want to be helpful" and "I want to contribute to others," they think about the people who come to the facility every day. However, it is the reality that, although hopefully a minority, there are those who conspire with (or are coerced by) management to work for profit.

Including the content described so far, those working in

need to file a tax return (pay taxes) if their annual wage exceeds 650,000 yen, as it is considered miscellaneous income under tax law.

Miscellaneous income is the category that can be most easily taxed under tax law.

For the concept and characteristics of wages, please refer

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From Ayumi's perspective, the government might view it as, "Since we are supporting you with taxes, please pay back with taxes accordingly."

2. Misconduct of Social Welfare Corporations and Continuous Employment Support Facilities

In some problematic continuous employment support facilities, they are established without a solid business philosophy. They gather staff with little knowledge or experience without investing in facilities, cut labor costs, and have disabled individuals work uniformly for short periods (1 to 5 hours) regardless of their wishes.

In some cases, users are made to attend the facility without doing anything significant, staying for only a short time. Even if business income is less than half of the wages paid to disabled individuals, they pay the minimum wage and wages from disability welfare service benefits and Special Job Seeker Employment Development Grants (Tokkai Kin), keeping the rest as profit.

In severe cases, when the receipt of Tokkai Kin ends, they may dismiss users and bring in new ones to repeatedly receive the grants.

Type A and B continuous employment support facilities are required to employ welfare specialists such as service management officers and life support staff. They also need to have vocational instructors for technical guidance (mandatory for Type A). Rent for office space and equipment costs are necessary, as are sales-related administrative expenses.

As a budget for such facility operations, approximately 6,000 yen per day is provided as a subsidy for each disabled person. If 20 people are employed and considering days off, the monthly amount would be about 2.5 million yen, assuming 22 working days a month.

Since the subsidy is granted uniformly regardless of working hours, about 6,000 yen is provided even if a disabled person is present at the facility for just one minute. Therefore, some facilities aim to have as many disabled people as possible without actual employment activities, seeking only the subsidy.

There is no incentive to acquire new work through sales efforts, nor is there a need to develop the members. By enclosing individuals in the facility without considering their abilities, aptitudes, or visions, a revenue model is created.

3. What Is Happening in Some Type A Continuous Employment Support Facilities?

Regarding Type A continuous employment support, even if there is no work (or very little), users at Type A facilities can receive minimum wage just by being there.

Facilities that operate honestly and diligently complete the work received from clients every day, yet the hourly wage remains the same. This creates a system where honest people are at a disadvantage.

4. What Is Happening in Some Type B Continuous Employment Support Facilities?

Regarding Type B continuous employment support, wages often arise from performance-based pay.

In a real case, if 100 pens are accepted for 100 yen and the work is not completed by the attendees that day, employees must finish it.

Moreover, there are often no overtime payments. This is a severe form of exploitation of motivation. Before addressing the employment issues of disabled individuals, there is a lack of awareness and misconduct in employment practices.

Due to these issues, there is a prevailing notion that "they are exploiting disabled individuals," "intervening for profit," and "viewing disabled individuals merely as money trees," creating a situation where facilities providing genuine services suffer.

Reference: The Deep Darkness of "Disability Welfare" as Told by a Man Who Changed Jobs 10 Times

5. In Conclusion

Unfortunately, Ayumi believes it is challenging to eliminate such problematic social welfare corporations and employment support facilities. The government and politics are deeply involved, and it will take time. However, it is possible to reduce them.

We aim to create a society where each person's value is fairly evaluated, where disabilities are seen as valuable, and where there are values that only disabled individuals can demonstrate. We provide a "barrier-free certification-based customer attraction support service" with this vision.

We are working with the vision of "increasing life choices and creating equal opportunities."

If you are even slightly interested in what Ayumi is doing, please check here.