End Subminimum Wages for the Disabled

Honor the Americans with Disabilities Act

By Jim Langevin and Beth Sirull

OPINION:

Every day, tens of thousands of our brothers and sisters across America are exploited in segregated environments where some are paid as little as pennies an hour. Although this may sound like the 1800s, it is a contemporary practice, and ending it is long overdue.

Roughly 40,000 Americans with disabilities are paid well below the federal minimum wage, but Congress can end this by passing the Transformation to Competitive Integrated Employment Act.

First issued in 1938 through the passage of the Fair Labor Standards Act, the Department of Labor began giving 14(c) certificates to employers to pay workers with disabilities less than the minimum wage. At the time, 14(c) certificates gave workers with disabilities a wage floor of 75% of the federal minimum, which was reduced over time until it was eliminated.

Created during the Great Depression, 14(c) certificates were intended to draw people with disabilities into the labor force, incentivizing employers to hire them by offering a pay rate consistent with their perception of a disabled worker’s performance rather than a minimum wage.

However, as decades have passed, it has become abundantly clear that people with disabilities are just as productive in the workforce as many of their colleagues without disabilities, and often even more productive.

Studies routinely show employers who make a concerted effort to hire people with disabilities experience higher profit margins, higher employee attendance rates and a better work product.

This is in no small part a result of the creativity and perseverance people with disabilities demonstrate every day to solve problems in a world that was not built for them. Many of our country’s largest and most successful employers have taken notice, hired people with disabilities at increasing rates and improved their businesses as a result.

Despite this momentum, people with disabilities continue to be hired far less than their nondisabled peers and experience an unemployment rate twice as high.

The Transformation to Competitive Integrated Employment Act will halt the issuance of new 14(c) certificates and phase out existing 14(c) certificates over the next five years, providing plenty of time for certificate holders and workers with disabilities to adjust. Critically, the act also helps with this transition. Through meaningful support, such as financial and job coaching, the proposed legislation ensures workers with disabilities are elevated from segregated environments into competitive, fulfilling careers.

A critique of this legislation is that it could harm the workforce for people with disabilities because employers will hire fewer of them if they are required to pay the minimum wage. This argument contradicts the data.

In the past decade, 16 states have enacted legislation eliminating 14(c) certificates, and more are preparing to do so. Many states that have eliminated 14(c) are already experiencing an increase in their labor force and a rise in gross domestic product, and it’s easy to see why. People with disabilities have proved their resilience yet again, transitioning to competitive careers, earning real wages and becoming less dependent on taxpayer-funded support.

Just like having a disability, this movement away from segregated employment and into competitive careers knows no political bias. The states that have enacted such legislation include California, Delaware, South Carolina and Georgia. This politically agnostic issue sparked a bipartisan solution in Congress. The Transformation to Competitive Integrated Employment Act has been introduced by Republicans and Democratic champions in the House and Senate.

This is a rarity.

In today’s increasingly polarized and hostile political climate, it feels like we’re constantly divided into different teams. Congress should not pass up one of its few opportunities to advance a unifying and critical policy change.

This year is the 35th anniversary of the promise of the Americans with Disabilities Act, ensuring that people with disabilities have equal opportunity to dignified and fulfilling careers. Congress can honor this promise by passing the Transformation to Competitive Integrated Employment Act.

Jim Langevin was the first quadriplegic elected to Congress, serving 22 years, and Beth Sirull is president of the National Organization on Disability.