Pandemic relief bill would jeopardize jobs for people with developmental disabilities by eliminating subminimum wages
President Biden’s $1.9 trillion economic stimulus bill now being negotiated in Congress contains vital economic relief for individuals, businesses, and state and local governments.
But it is also the latest vehicle for continuing efforts to eliminate both subminimum wages and congregate or vocational work centers for persons with disabilities.
In an email we sent yesterday (February 8) to Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren, we noted that the elimination in the COVID pandemic relief bill of subminimum wages would reduce or eliminate employment opportunities for thousands of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD) in Massachusetts and other states.
Warren has, in the past, taken a lead role in calling for the elimination of the Section 14(c) wage certificates that allow the payment of subminimum wages to persons with disabilities.
We previously contacted Senator Warren about this issue, hoping she might reverse her position on it. We’re still hoping for such a reversal from Warren and many other members of Congress, but that may be an uphill battle.
Myths about paying subminimum wages
The claim that vocational work centers and 14(c) certificates promote exploitation or segregation of people with I/DD is misinformed. First of all, vocational work centers, which were formerly known as sheltered workshops, have always been a choice available to disabled persons and their families and guardians. No one has been forced to work in those centers in order to support themselves financially.
Our national affiliate, the VOR, notes that the vocational centers and 14(c) certificates “afford workers opportunities to build self-esteem, develop friendships, and engage in their communities.” As the VOR points out, people who work at these centers “do so without fear of being fired or of having to live up to competitive standards of productivity in order to show their worth. Earned wages, though appreciated, are not the substantive reward for these individuals.”
Among the other myths that have led to the movement to eliminate the 14(c) certificates is that paying low wages to people with disabilities will harm their economic potential and will force them to remain reliant on state and federal support.
What that myth overlooks is the reality that people with I/DD have chronic and lifelong disabilities that will not change for them. The fact that they are reliant on state and federal support is not a failure on their part, but rather an indication that for some members of society, public assistance will always be needed.
But whether legislators agree or disagree with the concept of subminimum wages for the disabled, we don’t think emergency economic stimulus legislation is a proper vehicle for that debate. We are asking lawmakers and their staffs to take time to consider this issue before moving ahead with the elimination of these critically important wage certificates and vocational programs.
We are also asking you to call your members of the U.S. House and Senate to urge them to remove the provision in the stimulus bill that would eliminate the 14(c) certificates.
A contact link for your senators and representatives is here. You can copy and paste in this text on the legislators’ website contact forms.
The linked text asks lawmakers to listen to family members and guardians, such as yourself, who know what is best for their loved ones.
COFAR blog 
Every summer while I was in high school and college I worked at the Charles River Arc’s “workshop” in Needham, along with a bunch of “summer hires”. We got to see first hand the valuable work that individuals with ID did every day doing contract jobs for local companies. These jobs were possible due to federal 14(c) certificates, which allowed individuals with disabilities to be paid a “subminimum hourly wage” – below the federal minimum wage. This exception was made so that these folks could have meaningful work without jeopardizing their federal social security disability payments. Very few of the people I worked with could have supported themselves. They either lived with their families or in local group homes. Some were former residents of the Wrentham Developmental Center, where my sister still lives. So even though they could not earn enough to be fully self-supporting, they still had the dignity and the camaraderie of work. They got a weekly paycheck and made decisions about how to spend it. They brought lunches and had colleagues. They had a huge social life as part of the workshop, with dances, and parties, and swimming at the lake after work.
But now, because some disability “advocates” have decided to lump all disabilities together, it has been decided that these “workshops” are no longer appropriate. Nor is it apparently appropriate to pay people a sub-minimum wage. Instead, all people with ID are expected to work in a “mainstream” job. But of course, the reality is far different. There are not enough mainstream companies that will hire people with individual disabilities who may struggle to work at the pace and complexity required. And for those who can’t cut it, the workshops are no longer an option. So instead, our folks now either stay at home or go to “day programs”, where they don’t earn money, and their days are often boring and without the purpose offered by doing meaningful work. They don’t earn a paycheck. They don’t feel independent.
Please contact your US Congressional representatives and ask them to retain the 14(c) certificates. It’s time for some common sense.
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