The Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938
Did you know that people with disabilities are legally allowed to be paid less than the minimum wage? The Fair Labors Standards Act of 1938 created the right to a minimum wage, overtime pay, and set the standards to curb oppressive child labor. What was also included in this act was a clause to discriminate against people with disabilities. Section 14 (c) allows employers to apply for a certificate that allows them to discriminate employee compensation based on disability status. The employer determines the rate of people with disabilities based on quality and quantity of work, the wages of other employees doing similar work in the same area, and the objective gauge which measures productivity of disabled workers. Subminimum wages are not to be given to people with disabilities unless the disability impairs worker’s earnings or productivity capacity based on the work performed. Those disabilities include blindness, mental illness, developmental disabilities, cerebral palsy, alcoholism, and drug addiction.
Which employers participate?
(Image shows different company logos like VONS, Boeing, The Home Depot, The Medicine Shoppe, Walgreens, Merriam Webster, 3M, Best Western, and Pizza Hut) Image used from Bottom Dollars Documentary.
There are hundreds of employers throughout the United States who pay people with disabilities less than the minimum wage. In Illinois there are 146 employers with active or pending 14 (C) certificates. There are 8612 employees with disabilities in Illinois that are currently being paid less than the minimum wage.
You can find all active and pending 14 (c) certificate applications under the “Certificate Holders” tab using the link below.
https://www.dol.gov/whd/specialemployment/
How does it impact people with disabilities?
Watch this snippet of how subminimum wage impacts people with disabilities straight from their voices.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g1oUKv8ji8w
What can you do?
CALL YOUR LEGISLATORS and tell them to vote YES on Raise the Wage Act which will phase out the subminimum wage practice for people with disabilities!
Illinois Senators
Tammy Duckworth – (312-886-3506)
Richard Durbin – (312-353-0150)
References
The Employment of Workers with Disabilities at Subminimum Wages (2008). In U.S. Department of Labor. Retrieved from https://www.dol.gov/whd/regs/compliance/whdfs39.htm
Wage and Hour Division (2019). In U.S. Department of Labor.
