The Biden administration wants to end a Depression-era policy that allows qualified employers to hire workers with disabilities at less than the federal minimum wage of $7.25. The Labor Department proposed a new rule this week to phase out the practice.
These 14(c) certificates are given to employers to prevent limiting job opportunities for workers with disabilities. The proposed rule would immediately stop issuing new 14(c) certificates. For those employers currently paying subminimum wages, there would be a three-year phase-out period.
The public comment period on this proposed rule stretches to Jan. 17, 2025, three days before President-elect Donald Trump takes office. It would be up to the Trump administration to review the comments, issue a final rule or withdraw it and keep the program the same.
The practice is dwindling on its own. Government Accountability Office data shows that since 2001, the number of workers legally being paid this subminimum wage has gone down 90%, from more than 424,000 to around 40,000.
Pushing that decline is the fact that 15 states have already outlawed or are in the process of phasing out 14(c) certificates, according to data compiled by the Association of People Supporting Employment First.
For the approximately 40,000 workers getting paid less than minimum wage, the Labor Department says 91% have intellectual or developmental disabilities. Of that group, 93% percent of those individuals work for community rehabilitation programs, local community organizations that work with adults with disabilities.
The Labor Department said the median hourly wage is $3.46, less than half the federal minimum wage. About half the workers make less than $3.50 an hour. About 10% make less than $1 per hour.