Many members of the general public are unaware that it’s legal to pay disabled people subminimum wage. Indeed, a loophole in the Fair Labor Standards Act enables employers to offer people pennies on the dollar just because they’re disabled.
Thanks to the Transformation to Competitive Employment Act, introduced in the House by Rep. Bobby Scott (D-IA) and the Senate by Bob Casey (D-PA), that’s about to change. This legislation would eliminate this exception in the law, requiring fair pay for disabled people — an estimated 420,000 of whom are being underpaid on the job.
This legal shortcut to unfair pay originated at the turn of the 20th century, when service organizations and the disability community began promoting sheltered workshops to offer disabled people basic job training and employment. People could get jobs performing tasks like tuning pianos, caning chairs and engaging in basic manufacturing assembly.
At their outset, these offerings seemed to be a positive development — a change from being locked up at home or in institutions. But they didn’t employ disabled people side by side with nondisabled people in the regular workforce. As the name implies, disabled people were “sheltered” in purpose-built, segregated facilities.
When Congress passed the FLSA, advocates ensured that a section allowed sheltered workshops to get permission to underpay workers. They could apply for 14(c) certificates, named for the section of the law that allowed them to do so — and by law, they could pay workers on the basis of their productivity in comparison to nondisabled workers. If it took someone twice as long to assemble a widget, for example, they could be paid half as much.
Over the course of the 20th century, opposition to sheltered workshops began to grow in the disability community and among those working in solidarity with them. Disabled people argued that they should get fair pay and work in the general community, not in segregated environments.
This is known as competitive integrated employment, and it acknowledges that disabled people can and should be able to work in the general community, even if some individuals need extra job training or assistance.
As a result, service organizations slowly began shuttering sheltered workshops — in part due to state pressures to close them — and they often refused to fund new enrollees. Those same groups began working on placing disabled people out in the community so they could lead more fulfilling lives.
There’s been some resistance to this effort, especially among older parents of adult disabled children. They fear that the change for people who’ve been in sheltered workshops their whole lives is too stressful, or that their children will be exposed to harassment or abuse.
Evidence from programs making the change, however, suggests that they may not have as much to worry about as they think they do; many people are settling into new jobs very well, and they find them incredibly rewarding. Talking to people who have transitioned out of sheltered workshops is a powerful illustration of how valuable autonomy can be.
Now, Congress is catching up with this bill, which would get rid of 14(c) certificates. The legislation would also provide funding supports for this transition, ensuring that disabled people have access to the services they need to thrive. In the process, it will also ensure that disabled people are protected by other provisions of the FLSA — including measures designed to protect people from abuse, harassment and unfair treatment on the job.
Interested in supporting fair pay for disabled people? Call your lawmakers, and ask them to sign on to, and support, these bills. It’s the 21st century. Everyone deserves equal pay for equal work.
Help us Prepare for Trump’s Day One
Trump is busy getting ready for Day One of his presidency – but so is Truthout.
Trump has made it no secret that he is planning a demolition-style attack on both specific communities and democracy as a whole, beginning on his first day in office. With over 25 executive orders and directives queued up for January 20, he’s promised to “launch the largest deportation program in American history,” roll back anti-discrimination protections for transgender students, and implement a “drill, drill, drill” approach to ramp up oil and gas extraction.
Organizations like Truthout are also being threatened by legislation like HR 9495, the “nonprofit killer bill” that would allow the Treasury Secretary to declare any nonprofit a “terrorist-supporting organization” and strip its tax-exempt status without due process. Progressive media like Truthout that has courageously focused on reporting on Israel’s genocide in Gaza are in the bill’s crosshairs.
As journalists, we have a responsibility to look at hard realities and communicate them to you. We hope that you, like us, can use this information to prepare for what’s to come.
And if you feel uncertain about what to do in the face of a second Trump administration, we invite you to be an indispensable part of Truthout’s preparations.
In addition to covering the widespread onslaught of draconian policy, we’re shoring up our resources for what might come next for progressive media: bad-faith lawsuits from far-right ghouls, legislation that seeks to strip us of our ability to receive tax-deductible donations, and further throttling of our reach on social media platforms owned by Trump’s sycophants.
We’re preparing right now for Trump’s Day One: building a brave coalition of movement media; reaching out to the activists, academics, and thinkers we trust to shine a light on the inner workings of authoritarianism; and planning to use journalism as a tool to equip movements to protect the people, lands, and principles most vulnerable to Trump’s destruction.
We urgently need your help to prepare. As you know, our December fundraiser is our most important of the year and will determine the scale of work we’ll be able to do in 2025. We’ve set two goals: to raise $100,000 in one-time donations and to add 1300 new monthly donors by midnight on December 31.
Today, we’re asking all of our readers to start a monthly donation or make a one-time donation – as a commitment to stand with us on day one of Trump’s presidency, and every day after that, as we produce journalism that combats authoritarianism, censorship, injustice, and misinformation. You’re an essential part of our future – please join the movement by making a tax-deductible donation today.
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