Vol.24 No.13 - June 30, 1993 - GAO Finds: Paying Minimum Wage to Inmate Workers Would Be Unworkable, Extremely Costly

Sep 29, 2026

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GAO reports on the federal cost and operational implications of requiring minimum wages for incarcerated workers under the FLSA, following a request from Sen. Harry Reid. The study compares inmate wages to statutory minimum wages and gathers views from federal and state prison officials and organized labor. GAO concludes that meeting minimum-wage obligations without cutting inmate work hours would cost prison systems hundreds of millions of dollars annually and would likely trigger large-scale labor cutbacks, increased idleness, and heightened risks of violence and misconduct. Some groups instead argue wages improve “factories with fences” training and fair competition.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

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Pages11

Reading Time28 min

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PAYING MINIMUM WAGE TO INMATE WORKERS WOULD BE UNWORKABLE, EXTREMELY COSTLY

Opinion Sought After Federal Court Ruling On FLSA

Guest Commentary: DEPORT CRIMINAL ALIENS

Results In Brief

Background

Vol.24 No.13 June 30,1993 GAO Finds: ## PAYING MINIMUM WAGE TOINMATE WORKERS WOULD BEUNWORKABLE,EXTREMELY COSTLY Opinion Sought After FederalCourt Ruling On FLSA Paying the minimum wage to inmate laborerswould cost the nation's prison systems hundreds ofmillions of dollars a year and would be unafford-able even if substantial user fees for room andboard were imposed upon the inmates,the U.S.General Accounting Office(GAO)said in a newlyreleased report. GAO conducted the study,PrisonerLabor--Perspectives on Paying the Federal Mini-mum Wage,at the request of Sen.Harry Reid(D-Nev.).In an Oct.1,1992,letter to GAO,theinvestigating arm of Congress,Reid sought infor-mation about the potential effects on prison workprograms and potential fiscal impacts if the nation'sprisons were subjected to the Fair Labor StandardsAct(FLSA)and required to pay minimum wagesfor prisoner work.His request was based upon arecent decision by the U.S.Court of Appeals forthe 9th Circuit that certain prisoners are subject tothe minimum wage provisions of FLSA(Hale v.Arizona,967 F.2d 1356,9th Cir.1992) Reid told GAO officials that Congress needsto decide whether prisoners should be specificallyexcluded from FLSA coverage. In order to answer Reid's questions,GAO: 1.Compared inmates'labor wages tominimum wages; Page 1 IN THIS ISSUE INMATE PAY:Study Finds Minimum Wages Would Wreck Work Programs………………1COMMENTARY:Deport Criminal Aliens……………1EXECUTIONS:Held in Georgia,Texas, Virginia………………………… ……… …………7IN THE COURTS… … …………………9 ## Guest Commentary: DEPORT CRIMINAL ALIENS By Rep.Tom Lewis (R-Florida) Government has no higher duty than toprotect its citizens,and Florida's not having verymuch luck doing that right now.Today,criminalsconvicted of crimes in our state will serve littlemore than a third of their sentences because ourovercrowded jails have run out of room to hold allof them.The recent compromise between thegovernor and the State Legislature only postponesthe date we'll have to start releasing violent crimi-nals early to make room for the incessant stream oflawbreakers flowing into our state's prisons. While the Florida Legislature debates meth-ods to pay for new prison beds,the U.S.Congresscan release some of the building pressure by expel-ling an entire category of inmates from our coun-try. (See COMMENTARY,page eight) 2.Obtained views of Federal andstate prison officials on how theminimum wage would potentiallyaffect prison systems;and 3.Obtained views of organized laborand other organizations likely to haveperspectives on paying prisonersminimum wage. Henry W.Wray,director of administra-tion of justice issues for GAO,said the data arenot projectable to all prison systems,opinionson impact are subjective,and projections forcost impacts are approximations. The information was obtained from offi-cials of the Federal Bureau of Prisons(FBOP)in Washington,D.C.,and four state prisonsystems--Arizona,Florida,Nevada and Virgin-ia.GAO investigators also visited a Federaland a state prison in each of the four states,seeking data on inmate work and pay and viewson the potential effects of a minimum wage.The investigators phoned administrators from15 other state prison systems and sought theirviews,and interviewed officials from otherorganizations,such as the American Federationof Labor and Congress of Industrial Organiza-tions(AFL-CIO)and the Brookings Institution(a Washington think-tank). "We did not verify the data or evaluatethe views provided to us,"Wray told Sen.Reid. An executive summary of the report,written by Wray,follows. Results In Brief If the prison systems GAO visited wererequired to pay minimum wage to their inmateworkers and did so without reducing thenumber of inmate hours worked,they wouldhave to pay hundreds of millions of dollarsmore each year for inmate labor.Consequent-ly,these prison systems generally regardedminimum wage for prisoner work as unafford-able,even if sub

FAQs

Why did Sen. Harry Reid ask GAO to study inmate minimum wages?

Reid requested information on potential effects on prison work programs and fiscal impacts if the FLSA applied minimum wages to prisoner labor. His request followed a 9th Circuit decision regarding FLSA coverage for certain prisoners.

What main cost impact did GAO identify?

GAO found that prison systems would need to pay hundreds of millions of dollars more each year for inmate labor if they paid minimum wage without reducing inmate work hours.

How did prison officials expect operations to change under a minimum wage requirement?

Officials anticipated large-scale cutbacks in inmate labor, leading to more idle time and increased potential for violence and misconduct, along with other adverse effects such as less frequent routine maintenance.

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