A key federal agency is calling for an end to a controversial government policy allowing some employers to pay workers with disabilities less than minimum wage.
In a report that’s expected to be sent to President Barack Obama on Thursday, the National Council on Disability is recommending that a provision of the Fair Labor Standards Act — section 14(c) — which allows companies to obtain government permission to pay so-called subminimum wage be eliminated over the course of six years.
“The 14(c) program should be phased-out gradually as part of a systems change effort that enhances existing resources and creates new mechanisms for supporting individuals in obtaining integrated employment and other non-work services,” writes Jonathan Young, chairman of the National Council on Disability, in a letter to the president that accompanies the report, a copy of which was provided to Disability Scoop in advance. “NCD recommends a phase-out of the 14(c) program rather than immediate repeal because those who have been in the program for many years need time to transition to a supported employment environment.”
Since the 1930s, employers have been able to request special permission from the U.S. Department of Labor to pay those with disabilities less than the federal minimum wage, which is currently $7.25 per hour. About 420,000 Americans with disabilities are now employed under the arrangement, according to the Government Accountability Office.
For the report, members of the council — an independent federal agency tasked with advising Congress and the president on disability issues — conducted site visits in seven states to assess how current employment policy is impacting people with disabilities. They also analyzed research on employment practices.
Under the council’s recommendations, subminimum wage would be phased out over a six-year period. The federal government would immediately stop allowing new employers to obtain permission to pay low wages and schools would no longer be allowed to specify any programs paying subminimum wage as a goal for students in their individualized education programs, or IEPs. Meanwhile, individuals already working for less than the minimum would be transitioned into other employment programs within two to six years depending upon how long they had been in their current program.
At the same time, the panel is recommending that lawmakers institute mandatory information sharing to ensure smooth transitions for those currently employed at submimimum wage. The report also urges incentives to encourage states and providers to increase supported employment services, among other changes.
The National Council on Disability’s recommendation to bring an end to subminimum wage is likely to be contentious even among disability advocates. While an increasing number of people with disabilities are obtaining competitive employment, many advocates and families still argue that there’s a place for jobs that pay less than minimum wage, especially for those with the most severe disabilities.
In its report, the council acknowledges these divisions, likening the debate to that in the 1970s and 1980s over deinstitutionalization and noting that “historically, consensus is hard to come by whenever the disability service provision system has needed change.”
A U.S. Senate proposal last year to restrict — but not abolish — subminimum wage died after significant opposition from some disability advocacy groups who thought the bill didn’t go far enough. Meanwhile, another 2011 proposal in Congress to phase out the program never gained much traction.
Just this week, the National Federation of the Blind said it would spearhead protests outside more than 80 Goodwill thrift stores across the country this weekend to oppose the organization’s practice of paying subminimum wage to thousands of workers with disabilities. Goodwill and other employers who utilize the wage allowance defend the practice arguing that they employ thousands who otherwise might be without work.
In addition to its report, members of the National Council on Disability say that as a next step they plan to draft a legislative proposal this fall.
it’s about time-my borderline IQ brother makes about $40 a month/3full days a week in his workshop
Phasing out the sub-minimum wage is great, but how will this affect people’s SSI, SSDI, Medicaid and Medicare benefits? Will they still be eligible for these programs with the increased wages? Will the government increase the allowence to be earned and still keep the benefits? Will the government actually fund supported work programs for those who need one on one assistance to work out in the community? Great idea, but the devil is in the details, which do not appear to have been thought out.
I am a parent of a wonderful 35 year old young man who struggles with sever cognitive limitations and Cerebral Palsy. For the past 13 years he has grown and flourished in his “subminimum wage” program at Lane Community College (LCC), Eugene, OR. While I have an understanding of this issue and abhor those that would exploit those who cannot advocate for themselves, I am ah-struck that any legislative action that ‘throws the baby out with the bathwater’ is not the correct approach. There are exceptional programs, like the one at Lane Community College (LCC), that would be decimated should the 14c be phased out. My son could not “transition to a supported employment environment”. It would not be safe for him and his skills are such that he would simply not be employable. The Lane Community College (LCC) program provides him with social connections, a sense of structure, stability, and opportunity to interact with others in a safe environment. He is not isolated, taken advantage of, and/or exploited. Quite the contrary. And to suggest we make it impossible for such sterling programs to exist by phasing out 14c is to just once again generalize to the point we hurt those we are trying to serve. And once again it is the parents who are hung out to dry and figure out what the heck they can do to make their children’s lives meaningful and fulfilling. Don’t throw the baby out with the bathwater. It makes no sense.
Does this mean that the states and subsidies will need to change their income range? If our consumers earn more money they will lose more benefits like, rent subsidy, food stamps, medicare and even social security benefits. Or at least I am under that impression.
This legislation is asinine! If there’s nothing in it to change the amt. earned to still receive SSI and Medicaid the disabled person will actually have less total income, no medical coverage and workshops will begin to close so then no job. They will once again sit at home or institutions purposeless. Ten big steps backwards so lawmakers can feel good about themselves.
DisabilityScoop can do those with developmental disabilities a huge service by having an article that correctly explains the issues involved. Example: National Federation of the Blind represents the blind whom may not be intellectually disabled yet they are speaking for the intellectually disabled which they should not speak for. Anne wrote about her brother in a workshop setting which is not a sub-minimum wage group but paid on piece work and often do not have work at all but provide day care so parents can work and her brother at least has a place to go. What percentage of those employed work in a subminimum wage group and what is their average pay and how many hours a week do they work? My experience says that the average worker in a subminimum wage group works 30 to 40 hours a week and their average pay is over $6.00 per hour. A subminimum wage group can be an excellent first job out of school to learn new skills that allow them to compete at a higher level. My experience says that the average minimum wage or above employee with developmental disabilities works less than 30 hours a week and does not work 5 days a week. Perhaps I am wrong – so what is the correct data? What about day groups that work a few hours a day say folding napkins and the rest of the day volunteering or doing social activities? How many parents do not allow their adult with developmental disability to work unless they can be employed for the number of days and hours per day that allow the parent to work (adult unable or not safe to leave at home alone). In California, you only get one service either supported employment or day care type services so a parent that works have to choose what is best for the family or they just take the risk of leaving their adult at home alone or with relatives. If sub minimum wage is so bad then supported volunteer work must be eliminated also – they don’t get any pay.
Do any of these groups have any idea what a high level of unemployment rate the US has – and we are really willing to have our adults with significant developmental disabilities compete with the high school graduate or in many cases the college graduate for that minimum wage job?
I for the most part distrust people who have a simple answer to a complex problem. In this case the benefits that 14C provides far outweigh the limited few that feel they have no choice. I would advocate for fully informed choice and the promise of funding for all services not just services which a limited few feel is the correct choice for others. We need to fully stand by self-directed services and let the person receiving the services make their own decision not someone that does not have any skin in the game.
I supervise an enclave where consumers are paid “piece rate”. I have very few people, if any, that can consistently produce enough product for an employer to afford to pay the minimum wage. The company I work for has three workshops and an enclave where we provide work for well over 100 consumers on a consistent daily basis. All of these will have to close! We would loose hundreds and hundreds of dollars a day paying minimum wage! All of our consumers will be out of work! How can people not understand this?
If you are an employer and you know they can’t work fast enough for you to recoup the wages you are paying, are you going to hire my consumers? And if you do, how long are they going to keep their jobs, with you loosing money every day?
This won’t force workshops to pay minimum wage, it will force them to CLOSE! My consumers are working here for a reason! They enjoy what they do now but most are unable to work fast enough to hold comparable public positions. When they are forced to compete for minimum wage jobs, who do you think is going to win THAT battle? If the workshops are closed, who is going to prepare the consumers to compete? All of my consumers are going to loose their jobs and be replaced by one of the millions of Americans that are looking for work! It will be my consumers that will become the 8% unemployed you Federal fools!!!!!
For you people that think we are taking advantage of our consumers, you are dead wrong! The piece rate we and all others pay is based on minimum wage or above . Any consumer that works fast enough (comparable to a non-handicapped person doing the same job) will make minimum wage or more! They are not being taken advantage of, they are being paid for the amount of work they can perform! It is in this way that employers can afford to pay them!!! It is in this way that my consumers keep their jobs!
For people that say their loved one is being underpaid in a workshop, it is not true! All they have to do to make minimum wage is work a comparable speed. If they can’t do that, their paychecks will be lower, no mater what you claim there ability to be. If they can work that speed, why are you keeping them in a workshop that would misuse them? Why don’t you get them a public job? And while you are thinking about it, where are you going to get that job and why haven’t you done it already? If you haven’t helped them yet, what are you waiting for? What’s stopping you? Could it be reality! It is YOU that will unwittingly be their demise! What will be your plan for your loved one when the workshops you are attacking are gone? Your loved one may never work again and YOU are to blame!
I love my consumers and as their advocate, I beg that people think realistically and act before it’s too late! If this happens, most of my guys will never work again! Thanks anyway Feds, but leave my people alone!
The general population of Americans can’t find meaningful jobs with benefits, how do you really think this will work for our special needs population? If they work at full pay, even at part time work, they will lose their social security benefits, medicaid/medicare, rent/housing subsidy, food stamps, etc! Or is that the real plan all along?
While on the face of it it might appear that subminimum wage is discriminatory…in reality phasing it out requires that anyone who works MUST meet competitive standards for employment. This is unfortunately another example of appearing to be fighting for people with special needs when the reality is it will further limit opportunities for people who due to no fault of their own nor due to lacks in the system of support can NOT handle the pressure of competitive employment…they may not be able to work fast enough…they may not be safe in the community when job coaching fades…which is part and parcel of the design of that program.
Taking away the option of workshop style employment is again limiting the choice that people with special needs will have when the exit the school system. It’s as if we were to “offer the neuro-typical students the ‘choice’ of Harvard or community college…with nothing in between! Ridiculous!” Limiting choices by closing one of the transition options is not a move forward it’s a leap back.
Hope this includes sheltered workshops, too.
It’s about time our government realized it’s time to change this out-dated law. I appreciate that they recognize it cannot happen all at once and would take a phase-out approach.
To commenters below wondering if the government is going to help people with disabilities find jobs once workshops are closed, I think you’re missing out on an important point: inclusion and equality means the government doesn’t do every single thing for a person with a disability. We need to get away from the mindset that “oh, there’s a program for that” every time a need arises for a person with a disability. (Because how many times have people tried to limit our children by saying “isn’t there a special program for that? your child doesn’t need to be here with the typical kids”)
More important – and more structurally sound – is an approach that combines both paid supports/programs and natural supports. A person fully invested in his or her community has access to natural supports, people who are invested in this person, and a chance for the person with a disability to be invested in others. We all use natural supports every single day – why do we deny that opportunity to people with disabilities?
We’ve also all failed at jobs. Why do we insist on a person with a disability finding the “right” job immediately and leaving him or her there forever? We need to allow people with disabilities the right to try different things, and the right to fail.
Can we just stop ‘labeling’ employment? “Integrated employment” also implies “disability”, IMO. How about EMPLOYMENT for ALL, period. We all can be employed with our individual talents and expertise and should be paid for that accordingly. Look at a customized employment model for everyone; great method to capture the unique talents and ability of each individual HUMAN, regardless of disability. I have been customizing my employment for years!!
My son is employed with Bob Evans in our town and they pay him $7.50 a hour. I am allowed to go in a work besides him and help him. My son has Autism and needs assitance with understanding what he needs to do but once you he does well. I am Thankful to Bob Evans for giving him chance to be apart of our community.
Hey Theresa, Kat and Jan, RIGHT ON! Your eyes are open! MomtoOne! What color are the sundowns in your world? I bet they are beautiful, but that’s the only thing in your world I want any part of! You are unrealistic! Were are these jobs everyone is going to get? There arn’t any now! Where are the jobs going to be when the enemployment rate goes over 15% because of the workshops closing?You should stick to lawn mowing! You don’t have a clue!!!!!
The Subminimum wage law acts like to something called indentured servitude. SSI and SSDI would not necessary if the wages are fair and paid work with merit policy. I rather earn a fair wage and not be recipient of hand outs or scraps that society deems that people with autism deserve. From what I observed people non-disabled deserve to get ahead and we are substandard people deserve a job no one will take because the work is the same and wage is not. That is saying one group deserves to be paid more and another group does not. African Americans called that slavery and Jim Crowe. Or they legally at one point 2/3 of white man in the census. If we want people to be treated equally we must make sure they have the same job opportunities in all sects disabled and non-disabled. The Subminimum wage said we are paying sub humans for work that most non-disabled person does. It give pass to wage discrimination to sect of people.
The actual rate of Autism/Asperger nation wide for unemployment is 80%. It only worse globally at 99%. So there is a big discrephancy. This rate is included with people who have degrees for accredited schools.
dumb question why limit people with disabilited. We staill human i Am disabled I have high fuctioning version of Autism.I was rised normal conversitive home. We work hard. We as coummity of disabled America. Need to try and leave SSi make more money get benfits which are own. Go to school get education get Ged or diploma be somebody. I lived off SSi its not enough no live off of. Now I work for Ltc. Make 8.99 an hour plus and going to.get more money soon for state or federal job and save up to go back to school. You people need stop Brainwashing your disabled child making him or her depending on government to take of every little need. If their high functing let be independent have a social life get a good job go to school. Btw I have my own place I take care my own stuff bills stuff like that yes I ssi…we need to make the work place equal. my gf who am enaged to gets 3.99 and she gets no SSi or sdi. Try putting yourself at that wage and try to make bills.
As long as the executive director of our Goodwill makes over $900,000 a year for sitting at a desk pushing around paper they can pay people with disabilities a living wage. I know it is a radical idea but typical people get to chose the jobs they apply for. Choice is not available for people with disabilities. Did anyone ever consider that they might like to work in the community with people who don’t have disabilities?
This action primarily serves those with the mildest disabilities.Those with the most severe disabilities will get the least. They already are sitting home in isolation because of this misguided advocacy. The message is you have no value unless you work. How much is the public willing to pay for a , “customized employment model’? So much money already going to disabled jobs programs and the benefactors are the employment vendors.