Tell Congress It’s Time To End the Subminimum Wage for People with Disabilities

Support H.R. 831—the Fair Wages for Workers with Disabilities Act of 2013

Under current federal law,  employers are able to obtain “special wage certificates” that allow them to pay workers with disabilities less that the federal minimum wage (referred to as subminimum wage).   The subminimum wage law gives employers an incentive to exploit the  cheap labor provided by workers with disabilities.  It also works as a disincentive to employers to prepare people with disabilities for integrated employment in the community that will pay them a competitive wage.

It is clear that with the appropriate services, training and tools, workers with disabilities can be as productive as workers without disabilities.  Right now, there are employers who pay the federal minimum wage or higher to their employees with disabilities — without affecting their profitability.  As a result, even individuals with significant disabilities have been able to successfully obtain employment that pays at least minimum wage if not more.   H.R. 831, which creates the Fair Wages for Workers with Disabilities Act of 2013, prohibits any new special wage certificates from being issued and requires existing special wage certificates to be phased out over a three-year period (after one year for private for profit entities; after two years for public or governmental entities; and after three years for non-profit entities).

The time for action is now

Contact your U.S. Representative  today to urge him or her to sign-on as a cosponsor and vote “yes” on H.R 831.  If your representative is already a cosponsor of the bill, please contact your representative  to thank him or her for their support.

• If you know your representative’s name, go to the Directory of Representatives page on the U.S. House of Representatives website and click on the  name to get his/her contact information.
• If you do not know your representative’s name, go to the Find Your Representative page on the U.S. House of Representatives website  and enter your zip code under the heading “Find Your Representative”.

For more information about this Action Alert, contact:

Cheryl Jansen
Legislative Director
cherylj2@equipforequality.org
217-544-0464, ext. 6013

• Read the full text of H.R. 831
• See current sponsors of H.R. 831
• Sign up to receive our Action Alerts & Legislative Updates

Last updated: April 14, 2014