The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) recently announced its intent to move forward with a rule designed to protect employees with disabilities from receiving substandard wages. The Employment of Workers With Disabilities Under Section 14(c) of the Fair Labor Standards Act would end the practice of issuing new Section 14(c) certificates. These certificates allow employers to legally pay workers with disabilities less than the federal minimum wage.
Under the proposed rule, employers with existing Section 14(c) certificates could continue paying disabled workers less than minimum wage for up to three years. The DOL is seeking public comments on the length of this period and whether employers may request an extension.
Advocates for people with disabilities have long waited for the proposed rule's publication. The DOL stated that it had been reviewing the Section 14(c) program since September 2023. The White House has been reviewing the proposed rule since July 2024. Earlier that year, a regulatory agenda predicted that the proposed rule would be published in September.
Previous attempts to remove Section 14(c) through Democratic-led legislation have stalled in Congress. Removal of Section 14(c) was also a part of the Democratic Party platform in 2020 and 2024.
In the proposed rule, the DOL points out that opportunities for workers with disabilities to obtain employment at the minimum wage have grown tremendously since the last update to Section 14(c) in 1989. Furthermore, individuals with disabilities have more legal rights and protections than ever before.
Ultimately, however, it will be up to the incoming administration to finalize the rule. Whether the Trump administration will back the rule is unclear. Republican Rep. Virginia Foxx, chair of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce, called the proposed rule "misguided and irresponsible." Foxx claims that Section 14(c) protects jobs for workers with disabilities, and in states that have eliminated or restricted the program, these workers have ended up without jobs.
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