Did you know that in America it is perfectly legal for an employer to pay workers who have disabilities less than minimum wage? Section 14(c) of the federal Fair Labor Standards Act is an exception for people with disabilities that lets them be paid less for doing the same work as their peers. This law was passed in 1938 and most people will admit that it was a “different time,” which it was, but as of this year, 2023, only 12 states have taken action against this kind of discrimination. Georgia is not one of them, but they are taking steps toward ending subminimum wage.

Across the country, institutions called “sheltered workshops” are specifically employing people with disabilities and paying them not just less than the federal minimum wage but way less. Research in Utah and Missouri reveal some workers make 50 cents an hour. In Georgia, there are people making only 22 cents an hour. With the federal minimum wage currently sitting at $7.25 an hour, that’s roughly 1/33 of what they could be making if it weren’t for Section 14(c).

Today’s episode is about the state of employment in Georgia… what’s gone wrong and how we’re going to fix it.

The Georgia Council on Developmental Disabilities (GCDD) is driven by its Five Year Plan (2017-2021) goals of education; employment; self-advocacy; Real Communities; and formal and informal supports. The Council, charged with creating systems change for individuals with developmental disabilities and family members, will work through various advocacy and capacity building activities to build a more interdependent, self-sufficient, and integrated and included disability community across Georgia.

This project was supported, in part by grant number 2001GASCDD-03, from the U.S. Administration for Community Living, Department of Health and Human Services, Washington, D.C. 20201. Grantees undertaking projects with government sponsorship are encouraged to express freely their findings and conclusions. Points of view or opinions do not, therefore, necessarily represent official ACL policy.