[nfbmi-talk] obama weighing wage options?

[joe harcz Comcast]

Obama Administration Weighing Subminimum Wage Options

By

Michelle Diament

 

February 7, 2014 Text Size

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The Obama administration may be rethinking its

decision to exclude

many workers with disabilities from a plan requiring federal contractors to be paid at least $10.10 per hour.

 

President Barack Obama said last week in his State of the Union address that he would issue an executive order mandating an increased minimum wage for companies

doing business with the government.

 

However, U.S. Secretary of Labor Tom Perez told disability advocates that federal contractors would still be allowed to employ individuals with disabilities

at less than the federal minimum.

 

Now the administration appears to be reconsidering.

 

In an interview on “The Diane Rehm Show” this week, Perez said that the issue is one the administration is “examining right now as we prepare to finalize

the executive order.”

 

“We’re actively looking at what our legal authorities are and what our abilities are,” Perez said.

 

The comments represent a change in tone from the administration, with White House officials initially saying that congressional action would be needed in

order to make any change to the law that allows those with disabilities to earn less than minimum wage.

 

The apparent shift comes after an outcry from several disability advocacy organizations.

 

“All employees of federal contractors should mean all employees, regardless of disability status,” reads a letter to the administration from the Collaboration

to Promote Self Determination that was signed by 25 groups including the Autism Society, the National Down Syndrome Congress and the National Disability

Rights Network.

 

Similar correspondence also came from the National Council on Disability and the National Federation of the Blind.

 

Under a provision that’s been in place since the 1930s, employers can obtain special permission from the Labor Department to pay individuals with disabilities

less than the federal minimum. Thousands of workers with disabilities are believed to be employed by government contractors earning so-called subminimum

wage.

 

The practice has come under fire from many advocacy groups in recent years as being outdated, though others in the community insist that it remains necessary

in order to ensure that work opportunities exist for those with even the most severe disabilities.

 

For his part, Perez told Rehm that he believes the subminimum wage provision “really has worked to the detriment of people with disabilities.”

 

Source:

 

 

http://www.disabilityscoop.com/2014/02/07/obama-subminimum-wage/19091/