Salvation Army Program Paying as Little as $1 a Week Doesn’t Violate the Law: Appeals Court

A Salvation Army work program does not violate forced labor laws despite paying participants as little as $1 a week, a federal appeals court ruled on Aug. 6. The plaintiffs filed a lawsuit after they said they enrolled in the Salvation Army’s Adult Rehabilitation Center program, which provides food, clothing, housing, and other amenities in exchange for work. Participants work full-time and receive a small gratuity, between $1 and $25 per week, for the work. The plaintiffs alleged that the Salvation Army uses its rehabilitation programs not to rehabilitate people in need but instead as a “coercive labor arrangement that serves only the organization’s financial interests.”...