Companies can pay people with disabilities a wage that is below the minimum wage. The Ministry of Labor wants to change that. – Mother Jones

A worker at an ice cream shop in Kansas that employs people with intellectual and developmental disabilities and pays them more than minimum wage.Heather Hollingsworth/AP

On Tuesday, The Labor Department has filed a proposed rule that could eliminate the subminimum wage for disabled people – starting the process of closing a loophole that can allow companies to pay disabled employees less than a dollar an hour.

When the federal minimum wage was established in 1938, it included an exemption that allowed companies to obtain certifications and pay disabled people less than non-disabled people. The argument for this sub-minimum wage is that disabled people represent a lower value to the workforce.

As of January 2023, half of the people – primarily people with intellectual and developmental disabilities – working through this certificate program earned less than $3.50 an hour. These employees mostly work in workshops for the disabled, which are also criticized by disability representatives for the exclusion of disabled workers.

The new proposal recommends that the Department of Labor stop issuing new certificates and allow current certificates to expire. Prior to the implementation of this rule, 25 states either began phasing out, abolished it entirely, or introduced legislation to eliminate subminimum wages for people with disabilities.

Mia Ives-Rublee, senior director of the Disability Justice Initiative at the Center for American Progress, said ending the certificate program “is one of the first steps toward reducing poverty within the disability community and ending the exploitation of disabled people.”

This proposed rule has been in the works for a long time. In 2014, an advisory committee was assembled that included attorneys with intellectual and developmental disabilities. The committee concluded that “the current widespread practice of paying workers wages below the minimum wage based on the assumption that people with disabilities cannot work in typical occupations…” contrary to the intent of modern federal policy and federal law.”

The key question, of course, is whether the new Trump administration will support an end to this type of subminimum wage. Donald Trump has not yet expressed his opposition or support for the certificate program; Likewise, Project 2025 has not impacted this certificate program.

Members of the public may submit written comments on this proposed rule until January 17, 2025.