So what's the minimum?

 So, What’s the Minimum

Right now, the federal minimum wage is $7.25 an hour.   That’s pretty low and it’s hard to believe that anyone could live on that amount of money.  But some folks get are paid even less.

Under a law dating back to the 1930’s, employers can receive a special certificate and pay workers with disabilities less than the federal minimum wage.  This is the 14(c) certificate.

We regularly read about workers not being able to live on the $15/hour wage that many states have adopted for typical workers.

Disability advocates have strongly argued that this provision of the law is preventing people with disabilities from gaining any independence.  The provision is called the 14( c) provision.

The Labor Department has now determined that it is going to open a review of the law.  It is asking stake holders to come forth and talk about their experiences with the program and what changes are needed to expand equal opportunity experiences for people with disabilities.

The review comes after expressed concerns from the Government Accountablilty Office, the National Council on Disabilities, the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights and the Labor Department’s Advisory Committee on Increasing Competitive Integrative Employment.  

In May, dozen disability organizations called on the Labor Department to issue a moratorium on the issuance of new certificates that allow employers access to this below minimum wage option.  

Sixteen states have passed legislation banning the practice.  The president and CEO of the American Association of People with Disabilities and the time has come to move away from this program.  She said it has created subminimum and segregated employment situations.   Many years ago, sheltered workshops provided daytime employment for people with disabilities.  Wages were based on the number of pieces a worker could produce in an hour.  These workshops were disallowed and have ceased to exist.  But the continuation of 14( c) certificates, allowing employers to pay less than $7.25 an hour to a person with a disability, is the same situation just dressed differently.