Policy

End Subminimum Wage for People with Disabilities

It is long past time we ended the provision of federal law that allows certain employers to keep people with disabilities in sheltered workshops and pay them less than the minimum wage. This provision, known as the 14(c) certificate program, was established as part of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 – the same law that established a federal minimum wage and the 40-hour work week.

That anyone with a disability in the United States should be paid less than federal law allows anyone else in this country to be paid is simply wrong. Our society has changed dramatically since the 1930s. While employing people with disabilities at all during the Great Depression may have been seen as forward-thinking at the time, it is clear that the 14(c) program has no place in the 21st century.

United Spinal fully supports the Transformation to Competitive Employment Act (H.R. 873/S. 260). This legislation would responsibly phase out the 14(c) certificate program over a period of 6 years and ensure that all people with disabilities who want to work will have the opportunity to do so in an integrated workplace, as well as end the subminimum wage for people with disabilities.

Please join us in this effort by contacting your members of Congress today to let them know that you support the Transformation to Competitive Employment Act.

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