ASAN welcomes the announced reevaluation of the 14(c) program and calls on the Department of Labor (DOL) to completely eliminate subminimum wage for disabled people. On September 28, 2023, DOL announced its plan to review the 14(c) program, which allows some employers to pay disabled workers less than minimum wage, typically in a segregated workplace. DOL has said they will prioritize competitive, integrated employment for workers with disabilities. The review should only be the beginning of the process that results in the complete elimination of the 14(c) program. As we celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Rehabilitation Act and National Disability Employment Awareness Month, we hope to see the Department take action to start the long-overdue process of phasing out sheltered workshops and subminimum wage.
DOL is aware that the 14(c) subminimum wage program has created unfair and abusive conditions for disabled workers. A report released earlier this year from the Government Accountability Office, the agency that monitors government programs and spending for Congress, found that most people working under the program earn less than $3.50 per hour- less than half the Federal minimum wage. The report also said that 14(c) programs were often found to violate labor laws: DOL has found labor violations in two-thirds of its investigations of 14(c) employers. These violations have required employers to pay a total $15 million in wages owed to more than 70,000 underpaid workers.
DOL seeks stakeholder input as part of the Section 14(c) review process. ASAN is ready to engage with the Office of Disability Employment Policy, the Wage and Hour Division and other offices at DOL as a key stakeholder in the disability community. ASAN also looks forward to submitting our comments in support of competitive, integrated employment and the end of the 14(c) program. ASAN encourages other disability organizations and our community to submit comments highlighting the importance of competitive, integrated employment to people with disabilities.
We call on Congress to take further necessary steps to promote competitive, integrated employment for workers with disabilities and pass the Transition to Competitive Integrated Employment Act (TCIEA). TCIEA would end subminimum wages under 14(c); give states, service providers, and employers the money they need to make these changes; and give more money for supported competitive employment in states that phase out 14(c). Together, these measures would protect access to competitive, integrated employment for years to come.
People with disabilities deserve competitive, integrated employment and to be paid a living wage. ASAN will continue to advocate for the end of the 14(c) program and for the passage of legislation that will protect the rights of workers with disabilities.
The Autistic Self Advocacy Network seeks to advance the principles of the disability rights movement with regard to autism. ASAN believes that the goal of autism advocacy should be a world in which autistic people enjoy equal access, rights, and opportunities. We work to empower autistic people across the world to take control of our own lives and the future of our common community, and seek to organize the autistic community to ensure our voices are heard in the national conversation about us. Nothing About Us, Without Us!