Margo B. works diligently, sitting at her worktable at the South Valley Training Company in Sandy, Utah. Her job is to put silicone toe separators—a medical device similar to what might be used during a pedicure—into their white packaging. She repeats this process until there are no more products to be boxed. Then it’s time for her break at the soda machine. She works for four hours a day, two days a week, although she would love to work more. On another day she might load felt-tip markers into boxes, or smooth O-rings onto plumbing plugs.
For this work, she is paid 10 to 30 percent of the prevailing wage for such tasks in her state, based on her lower than standard level of productivity.
Margo, who is 31 years old, has autism and Down syndrome, which affect her coordination and fine motor skills. She would struggle to do the majority of jobs. But like most people her age, she has a deep desire to be productive and earn some extra cash. And so, since 2017, she has worked at the South Valley Training Company—a nonprofit that offers developmentally disabled adults various services, including the opportunity to work. Margo is employed under Section 14(c) of the federal Fair Labor Standards Act from 1938, a law that has long allowed certain employers—more than 90 percent of which are disability nonprofits—to pay their disabled workers less than minimum wage.
With roots in the interwar period, when Congress wished to incentivize employers to hire the blind, and later, wounded veterans, the logic of Section 14(c) is simple: Disabled people have just as much right to contribute to society via work as any American. To make this financially feasible, wages may be adjusted to reflect productivity levels. Those with disabilities who are “otherwise qualified” to perform the essentials of the job—for example, a computer coder who uses a wheelchair—ought to be fully compensated for their work. Those whose productivity is reduced by severe intellectual and developmental disorders and who might require hands-on, often intensive supervision—this is who 14(c) applies most often to today—may qualify for a subminimum wage.
As an autism advocate, I have spoken to many individuals who earn subminimum wages, and for them, the money is almost never the point. Most don’t only want to work in order to get healthcare and spending money. Their work is usually part of a broader package of benefits including on-site supervision, Social Security payments for disability, Medicaid, and housing subsidies. Rather, they’re seeking purpose and pride, and a sense of responsibility. “Her job has been a blessing,” said Margo’s mother, Anna, who declined to share her or her daughter’s last names. Although Margo uses few words, her mother tells me that she comes home from a day of work with a smile. “She has thrived so far beyond what anyone expected.”
But soon, Margo could lose her opportunity to work. That’s because federally funded disability rights organizations have been pushing for a phaseout of job programs that pay subminimum wage, arguing that they are exploitative. What’s more, advocates claim that adults with disabilities, no matter their level of impairment, should be encouraged to pursue competitive jobs that any other, nondisabled adult might have.