The Department of Labor wants to do away with a system that allows some workers with disabilities to make less than $7.25 per hour, which is the current federal minimum wage.
Under a proposed rule by the Biden administration, the Department of Labor would eliminate certificates that employers can apply for under Section 14(c) of the Fair Labor Standards Act. It allows employers to pay certain workers with disabilities sub-minimum wages.
The acting Secretary of Labor Julie Su says the proposal will allow workers to move into jobs that pay full wages, ultimately improving their economic well-being. If a final rule is enacted, the department would phase out certificates over the next three years.
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“One of the guiding principles of the American workplace is that a hard day’s work deserves a fair day’s pay, and this proposal ensures that principle includes workers with disabilities,” said the Department of Labor's wage and hour administrator Jessica Looman. “Since the enactment of the Fair Labor Standards Act in 1938, opportunities and training have dramatically expanded to help people with disabilities obtain and maintain employment at or above the full federal minimum wage. Similarly, employers today have more resources and training available to recruit, hire and retain workers with disabilities in employment at or above the full minimum wage, and this proposed rule aligns with that reality.”
A U.S. Government Accountability Office report found that as of 2023, about 120,000 disabled workers make less than the federal minimum wage. The report also said that nearly 60,000 people were making below $3.50 an hour.
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Of disabled workers making a sub-minimum wage, nearly 90% had an intellectual or developmental disability.
A proposed rule would need to be finalized by the Trump administration.
