What is the Transformation to Competitive Integrated Employment Act (TCIEA)?
The Transformation to Competitive Integrated Employment Act (TCIEA, bill number S. 533) is a bill. A bill is a document written by legislators that can become a law if enough legislators vote to pass it. If TCIEA becomes a law, it will help some disabled workers get better jobs.
Section 14(c) is part of an existing law called the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). Section 14(c) allows companies to get permission slips (called certificates). Companies with 14(c) certificates are allowed to pay disabled workers less than minimum wage. Minimum wage is the least amount of money an employer can pay a worker. When someone is paid less than minimum wage, it is called subminimum wage. Companies with 14(c) certificates are also allowed to pay disabled workers subminimum wage. Most companies with 14c certificates keep disabled workers away from nondisabled workers. This is segregation. Workplaces that segregate disabled workers are called sheltered workshops. Employers who get 14(c) certificates often run sheltered workshops.
It is not fair that employers are allowed to pay disabled people subminimum wage and keep them apart from nondisabled workers. TCIEA would help disabled people get jobs that are better than 14(c) jobs. These better jobs are called “competitive integrated employment” (CIE).
A job has to follow certain rules to be a CIE job:
- The job has to give fair pay to disabled workers. Fair pay means that workers make at least minimum wage. Fair pay also means that disabled workers get paid the same amount of money as nondisabled workers doing the same job.
- The job has to let disabled workers work with non-disabled workers. Right now, many disabled people only work with nondisabled people who are their bosses. CIE jobs have to let disabled people work with both disabled and nondisabled people doing the same jobs as us.
- The job has to let disabled workers access the same benefits as nondisabled workers. Benefits include things like health care, paid time off, and holidays.
- The job has to give disabled workers the same chance to improve their careers as nondisabled workers doing similar jobs. Some things that can help a worker improve their career are being promoted to a higher-level position and getting training to learn new skills.
Some disabled workers need supported employment in order to be able to do CIE. Supported employment is a way for disabled workers with higher support needs to get help at work. The services disabled workers can access through supported employment help disabled workers do their jobs by meeting their access needs. Giving disabled workers the support services we need costs less money than sheltered workshops.,
TCIEA would provide money (called grants) and other types of help (called technical assistance). TCIEA would provide $200 million over five years. There are three types of grants. One type of grant gives money to states where there are employers with 14(c) certificates. After a state uses that grant, they can apply for another one to get more money specifically to help people with higher support needs. The third type of grant is for employers in states that did not get the other two kinds of grants. Example: Let’s say that X state did not get a grant. There is a company called ABC LLC in X state that wants money to transition to make CIE jobs. ABC LLC can apply for the third type of grant, even if X state did not get other grant money.
TCIEA will help disabled workers with higher support needs. Organizations that apply for state grants must describe how the money will help and focus on disabled workers with higher support needs.
Another type of help that TCIEA would provide is called technical assistance. Technical assistance is training about how to do something. TCIEA would teach states and employers how to make sure disabled, former 14(c) workers get CIE. Together, the grants and technical assistance will help 14(c) employers start giving CIE to their workers. If an employer does not want to give their workers CIE, TCIEA would give 14(c) employers the resources to help their disabled workers find and keep CIE jobs at another workplace.
TCIEA would give 14(c) companies five years to switch to CIE. After 5 years, these companies can’t segregate disabled workers and can’t pay disabled workers less than minimum wage or less than non-disabled workers doing the same job. TCIEA would stop employers that never had a 14(c) certificate from getting a new 14(c) certificate. That means new companies couldn’t start segregating disabled workers and can’t start paying disabled people less than minimum wage or less than non-disabled workers doing the same job.
TCIEA makes something called an advisory council. The advisory council’s job is to help make sure TCIEA does what it is supposed to do. 1 in 4 people on the advisory council must be people with disabilities. TCIEA also says that the U.S. government must check to see how the law is being followed. This way, the U.S. government can tell which states and businesses are getting better, and which need more help.
We’re advocating for Congress to include TCIEA in the Senate Health, Education, Labor & Pension (HELP) Committee’s workforce package. A package is when related bills get grouped together. In this case, the Senate HELP Committee’s package has many workforce-related bills. We want TCIEA to be one of them! TCIEA is more likely to pass if it is part of a package. We also want more Senators to cosponsor TCIEA. Cosponsoring means that a legislator supports a bill. Bills with more cosponsors are thought of as more popular. We’re urging Senators who work on the HELP Committee to pass TCIEA this congressional session.
When disabled people get good CIE jobs, we can make the money we need to be financially independent. We deserve better job skills, better support services, and more chances to be an active part of both the workforce and our community. TCIEA would help to make that happen.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) about TCIEA
Would TCIEA force employers with 14(c) certificates to shut down their businesses?
No. If TCIEA passes, employers who once had 14(c) certificates can get money and help from the government to turn segregated, subminimum wage jobs into competitive integrated employment (CIE). Employers can keep running their businesses, employ people with disabilities, and get Medicaid funding for job coaching and other support that their workers need.
Will getting rid of subminimum wage make it harder for disabled people to get jobs?
No, getting rid of subminimum wage will not make it harder for disabled people to get jobs. We know this because even though the number of employers paying subminimum wage went down between 2010 and 2019, the number of disabled people who have jobs did not go down. More disabled people are employed now than at any time before.,
Seventeen states have either already gotten rid of subminimum wage for workers with disabilities or are working on getting rid of it. The number of people with disabilities who are employed in these states keeps going up. For example: Alaska, Maine, Maryland, New Hampshire, Oregon, and Vermont phased out subminimum wage and transitioned to competitive integrated employment. All of those states showed higher employment rates for working-age disabled people after they got rid of segregated workplaces and subminimum wage. People with cognitive disabilities experienced bigger increases in employment rates than people with other kinds of disabilities or no disabilities. For example: Maryland got rid of segregated workplaces and subminimum wage between 2016 and 2022. During that time, disability employment increased by seven percent and employment for people with cognitive disabilities increased by 10 percent.
How will TCIEA make sure that people with higher support needs can transition to CIE?
TCIEA has specific rules that help people with higher support needs. TCIEA calls this population “people with significant disabilities”. States and organizations that apply to the TCIEA State Grant Program have to say how the money they get will be used to help people with higher support needs. States and organizations that apply to the TCIEA State Grant Program also have to pay special attention to meeting the needs of people with higher support needs. If a state does everything they’re supposed to with the grant money it gets from TCIEA, the state can apply to get even more money to help people with the highest support needs transition to CIE.
If TCIEA passes, will current 14(c) employees lose their benefits?
Many programs that help disabled people will not allow them to earn or save more than a certain amount of money. This is called an income limit and an asset limit. Some people are concerned that if TCIEA passes and disabled workers make more money, they won’t be able to use the programs that help them because they will go over the income or asset limit. There are many ways to solve this with existing programs.
There are several programs that can help disabled people keep their benefits while working, including ABLE Accounts, Medicaid “buy-in” programs, and programs within Social Security, such as Ticket to Work, Earned Income Exclusion, and Work Incentives and Planning Assistance (WIPA).,
ABLE accounts are savings accounts that allow disabled people to save money without it counting toward the income and asset limits for SSI, Medicaid, SNAP, and other government assistance programs. Unfortunately, 93% of disabled people are unfamiliar with ABLE accounts. TCIEA would require states to share more educational information about ABLE accounts so more people can learn about them and sign up.
Medicaid “buy-in” programs allow disabled workers to get home and community based services that they can’t get through their other insurance coverage. Sometimes, disabled people pay money to get those services. The money they pay for those services is called a premium. Forty-seven states and D.C. have Medicaid “buy-in” programs. No one should have to choose between keeping a job and keeping their healthcare, and Medicaid “buy-in” programs make it possible for disabled people to have both.
Sources
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Young, Jonathan M., et al. (2012). Report on Subminimum Wage and Supported Employment. National Council on Disability (NCD). https://www.ncd.gov/report/national-council-on-disability-report-on-subminimum-wage-and-supported-employment/
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Andara, K., Neal, A., & Khatta, R. (2024, February 22). Disabled Workers Saw Record Employment Gains in 2023, But Gaps Remain. Center for American Progress (CAP). https://www.americanprogress.org/article/disabled-workers-saw-record-employment-gains-in-2023-but-gaps-remain/
Heigl, L., Knackstedt, K., & Silva, E. (2024, February 14). Pennies on the Dollar: The Use of Subminimum Wage for Disabled Workers Across the United States. New America. https://www.newamerica.org/education-policy/reports/the-use-of-subminimum-wage-for-disabled-workers-across-the-us/momentum-to-change-the-subminimum-wage/
Association of People Supporting Employment First (2024, July). Trends and Current Status of 14(c). https://apse.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/APSE-14c-Update-REV-Jul24.pdf
U.S. Census Bureau. (2022). Any disability, Cognitive disability, and No disability,: Percent of Working-Age People Who Are Employed in Alaska, Maine, Maryland, New Hampshire, Oregon, Vermont, 2015-2022 American Community Survey. U.S. Department of Commerce. Retrieved from https://www.thinkwork.org/statedata/build-a-chart?report=comparison
Transformation to Competitive Integrated Employment Act (TCIEA), S.533 and H.R.1263, SEC. 102, 118th Congress, (2023), https://www.congress.gov/bill/118th-congress/senate-bill/533 and https://www.congress.gov/bill/118th-congress/house-bill/1263