Sub-Minimum Wage Battle Heating Up

The continuing controversy regarding using sub-minimum wage for workers with disabilities (using special worker certificates under Section 14(c) of the Fair Labor Standards Act) rages on. Use of this provision since 1938 has led to far too many examples of exploitation, artificially lowered wages, and poor employment outcomes. It needs to be phased out; review [...]

By |2017-05-18T15:42:52-04:00September 5th, 2014|minimum wage, sheltered workshops, supported employment|0 Comments

The Bad Wages Stew: The Sub-minimum Pay Exposé Includes at Least 8 Critical Issues We Need to Face

Earlier this summer, the NBC's news show, Rock Center, aired a critical examination of some Goodwill agencies paying workers with disabilities wages as low as 22 cents per hour. Some viewers responded with outrage; others defended the practice as necessary. Readers of this blog will know that I have presented several arguments as to why [...]

By |2017-05-18T15:42:58-04:00July 30th, 2013|exploitation, minimum wage|7 Comments

Low Productivity: More of An Excuse than Obstacle to Real Work

Several issues reside in the heated discussions over the need to change the traditional day service model for people with disabilities. But the defining one relates to competing beliefs about productivity: Can individuals with the most significant disabilities be productive in the workplace, such that sub-minimum wage is unnecessary? Those in the individualized community employment sector, myself included, [...]

Pennies for Pay Must End

Recently, the Green Bay Press Gazette featured an article that reviewed the ongoing debate over the use of subminimum wages for people with disabilities. The publication found over 10,000 Wisconsin citizens with disabilities earn less than minimum wage, ranging as low as 2 cents per hour. The article also reviews a local sheltered workshop where 96% [...]

By |2017-05-18T15:43:13-04:00August 25th, 2011|minimum wage|1 Comment

Update to the Subminimum Wage Issue

Here is an interesting development concerning the sub-minimum wage issue (see my previous post). Six states enacted measures last year to raise the minimum wage. Two of the six – Ohio and Missouri – included exemptions for workers with disabilities from the minimum wage provisions. The other four – Arizona, Nevada, Colorado and Montana – [...]

By |2015-04-02T15:26:19-04:00February 12th, 2007|minimum wage, productivity, supported employment|2 Comments

Sub-Minimum Wages: A Disability Oxymoron

Arizona state legislators recently held a hearing to review the state's new minimum-wage law, which provides $6.75 an hour and does not exempt workers with disabilities from minimum wage. The hearing was packed, with advocates for both sides of the issue. In the US, certain workers, including those with disabilities, can be paid less than [...]

By |2017-05-18T15:43:18-04:00February 5th, 2007|minimum wage, productivity, supported employment|0 Comments
Go to Top