{
  "id": "97-1038",
  "type": "CRS Report",
  "typeId": "REPORTS",
  "number": "97-1038",
  "active": false,
  "source": "EveryCRSReport.com",
  "versions": [
    {
      "source": "EveryCRSReport.com",
      "id": 103417,
      "date": "2004-06-28",
      "retrieved": "2016-04-07T20:13:15.977079",
      "title": "Welfare Recipients and Workforce Laws",
      "summary": "Work requirements of the 1996 welfare law ( P.L. 104-193 ) and discussions about \nreauthorization\nof the program of Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) have raised questions about\nthe application of basic labor and employment tax laws to TANF recipients. The most controversial\nissue has been the status of persons assigned to \"workfare\" programs, in which recipients work in\nexchange for their TANF benefits. The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of New York\nheld on March 1, 2004, that participants in the Work Experience Program (WEP) are\n\"employees\"entitled to wage and hour protections of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). In\nFebruary the Second Circuit Court of Appeals held that WEP participants also are employees under\nfederal civil rights employment-related legislation. In the absence of explicit language in the 1996\nlaw, the Clinton Administration's Department of Labor (DOL) maintained that most workfare\nparticipants were employees and hence, must be \"compensated\" at the minimum wage rate. Because\nTANF sets a minimum work week, some states might have to raise benefits to meet the minimum\nwage standard for workfare participants. Another issue is whether workfare \"wages\" are subject to\npayroll taxes. If Congress should increase the federal minimum wage rate or the TANF work week,\nit would increase the number of states whose workfare programs might have to be changed to meet\nFLSA and Internal Revenue Service (IRS) requirements. This report will be updated when significant\ndevelopments occur.",
      "type": "CRS Report",
      "typeId": "REPORTS",
      "active": false,
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          "encoding": null,
          "url": "http://www.crs.gov/Reports/pdf/97-1038",
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          "images": null
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      ],
      "topics": []
    }
  ],
  "topics": [
    "Domestic Social Policy"
  ]
}