[Ohio-talk] HR 188 S 2001

[Jordy Stringer]

Transitioning to Integrated and Meaningful Employment Act (HR 188) (S 2001)

 

Current labor laws unjustly prohibit workers with disabilities from reaching
their full vocational and socioeconomic potential.

 

Antiquated public policy encourages workers with disabilities to rely on
government assistance such as Supplemental Security Income (SSI) and
Medicaid. Section 14(c) of the Fair Labor Standards Act, passed in 1938,
authorizes the Secretary of Labor to issue Special Wage Certificates to
certain entities, permitting them to pay workers with disabilities
subminimum wages. Ninety-five percent of 14(c)-certificate-holding entities
are nonprofit "sheltered workshops" (segregated work environments)1 that pay
over 300,000 workers with disabilities as little as pennies per hour,
leading many of those workers to seek government assistance.

 

Current training and employment strategies assist those with even the most
significant disabilities to obtain integrated and meaningful employment.
Workers in sheltered workshops often perform mundane tasks that do not use
their existing skills, interests, and talents. However, innovative
strategies such as customized and supported employment, when paired with
appropriate rehabilitative services, training, tools, and expectations allow
employees with disabilities to be as productive as their nondisabled
coworkers.

 

A growing number of former 14(c)-certificate-holding entities have
transitioned their business models into effective disability training
programs. No entities in Vermont or New Hampshire use 14(c) certificates.
Seminars such as the Vermont Conversion Institute highlight entities that
have successfully phased out reliance on Section 14(c) certificates. This
transition not only benefits employees with disabilities but the overall
productivity of the organizations that employ them.3 Research shows that
sheltered workshops cost more to society than alternatives. Moreover,
consumers who were not exposed to the low expectations of sheltered,
subminimum-wage environments earn more money than peers who were never in
those environments.4

 

Policy and public and private sentiment are moving into a new era of proven
competitive, integrated employment for people with disabilities. In August
2012 the National Council on Disability unanimously recommended that the
Department of Labor immediately stop issuing new Special Wage Certificates
and that the "Section 14(c) program be phased out."5 In September 2015 a
committee tasked by Congress to increase competitive integrated employment
opportunities for workers with disabilities recommended the phase-out of
Section 14(c).6 In addition, over eighty disability organizations support
the repeal of Section 14(c) of the Fair Labor Standards Act.

 

The Transitioning to Integrated and Meaningful Employment Act: 

 

Discontinues the issuance of new Special Wage Certificates. The Secretary of
Labor will no longer issue Special Wage Certificates to new applicants.

 

Phases out the use of Special Wage Certificates over three years. Three
years after the enactment of this Act, no 14(c)-certificate-holding entity
will pay workers with disabilities subminimum wages, allowing them to
transition to the proven model of competitive, integrated employment for all
of their employees with disabilities.

 

Repeals Section 14(c) of the Fair Labor Standards Act. Three years after the
law is enacted, the practice of paying workers with disabilities subminimum
wages will be officially abolished. This will result in the development of
integrated and meaningful employment opportunities that encourage people
with disabilities to reach their full vocational and socioeconomic
potential.

 

REMOVE BARRIERS TO REAL TRAINING AND MEANINGFUL EMPLOYMENT.

 

Cosponsor the Transitioning to Integrated and Meaningful Employment Act.

 

To cosponsor HR 188 in the House of Representatives, contact:

 

Scot Malvaney, Policy Director, Office of Congressman Gregg Harper (R-MS)

 

Phone: (202) 225-5031, Email: Scot.Malvaney at mail.house.gov

 

To cosponsor S 2001 in the Senate, contact:

 

Dan Auger, Legislative Assistant, Office of Senator Kelly Ayotte (R-NH)

 

Phone: (202) 224-3324, Email: Daniel_Auger at Ayotte.senate.gov

 

For more information, contact:

 

Rose Sloan, Government Affairs Specialist, National Federation of the Blind

 

Phone: (410) 659-9314, Extension 2441, Email: rsloan at nfb.org