,i #aacth ,,congress #ast ,session ,h4 ,r4 #hca ,,in ,,the ,,house ,,of ,,representatives ,february #bf1 #bjac ,mr4 ,harper 7for himself1 ,mr4 ,alexander1 ,mr4 ,bishop of ,georgia1 ,mr4 ,conyers1 ,mr4 ,ellison1 ,mr4 ,hastings of ,florida1 ,ms4 ,moore1 ,ms4 ,norton1 ,mr4 ,rush1 ,mr4 ,tonko1 ,mr4 ,young of ,alaska1 and ,mr4 ,clyburn7 introduced the following bill2 which was referred to the ,committee on ,education and the ,workforce ,a ,,bill ,to phase out special wage certificates under the ,fair ,labor ,standards ,act of #aich under which individuals with disabilities may be employed at subminimum wage rates4 #a4 ,short title ,this ,act may be cited as the ,fair ,wages for ,workers with ,disabilities ,act of #bjac4 #b4 ,findings ,congress finds the following3 7#a7 ,current ,federal law allows the ,secretary of ,labor to grant special wage certificates to entities that provide employment to workers with disabilities1 allowing such entities to pay their disabled workers at rates that are lower than the ,federal minimum wage4 7#b7 ,the practice of paying workers with disabilities less than the ,federal minimum wage dates back to the #aicjs1 when there were virtually no employment opportunities for disabled workers in the mainstream workforce4 7#c7 ,today1 advancements in vocational rehabilitation1 technology1 and training provide disabled workers with greater opportunities than in the past1 and the number of such workers in the national workforce has dramatically increased4 7#d7 ,employees with disabilities1 when provided the proper rehabilitation services1 training1 and tools1 can be as productive as nondisabled employees4 ,even those individuals that are considered most severely disabled have been able to successfully obtain employment earning minimum wage or higher4 7#e7 ,while some employers possessing special wage certificates claim to provide rehabilitation and training to disabled workers to prepare them for competitive employment1 the fact that such employers can pay their workers less than the ,federal minimum wage gives them an incentive to exploit the cheap labor provided by their disabled workers rather than to prepare those workers for integrated employment in the mainstream economy4 7#f7 ,many employers with a history of paying subminimum wages benefit from philanthropic donations and preferred status when bidding on ,federal contracts4 ,yet they claim that paying minimum wage to their employees with disabilities would result in lack of profitability and forced reduction of their workforces4 7#g7 ,other employers1 recognizing that the payment of subminimum wages is in fact exploitation of disabled workers1 are now paying the ,federal minimum wage1 or higher1 to their employees with disabilities without reducing their workforces1 while still maintaining their profitability4 ,for example1 ,national ,industries for the ,blind 7,,nib7 agencies exploited their blind employees for years through the payment of subminimum wages1 claiming they could not maintain profitability otherwise4 ,now1 ,all ,,nib associated agencies are committed to the ,,nib ,board policy to pay employees1 whose only disability is blindness1 at or above the ,federal minimum wage or their state minimum wage1 whichever is highest4 7#h7 ,the ,wage and ,hour ,division of the ,department of ,labor is charged with the responsibility for oversight of these special wage certificates4 ,the results from thorough investigations conducted by the ,government ,accountability ,office--,stronger ,federal ,efforts ,needed for ,providing ,employment ,opportunities and ,enforcing ,labor ,standards in ,sheltered ,workshops1 ,report to the ,congress1 ,comptroller ,general of the ,united ,states 7,,hrd-#ha-ii7 and ,report to ,congressional ,requesters1 ,special ,wage ,program3 ,centers ,offer ,employment and ,support ,services to ,workers ,with ,disabilities1 ,but ,labor ,should ,improve ,oversight 7,,gao-#ja-hhf7--;explain that due to lack of capacity1 training1 and resources1 the ,wage and ,hour ,division is incapable of enforcing compliance with the subminimum wage provision4 ,furthermore1 the significant appropriation that would be required to improve oversight of the regulation would be better spent improving employment outcomes for people with disabilities4 7#i7 ,according to the rules established under section #ad7;c7 of the ,fair ,labor ,standards ,act of #aich1 employers are to determine the special wage to be paid to a disabled employee through a complicated method that unfairly establishes a productivity benchmark that would be difficult for anyone to maintain4 ,the inability of many employers to correctly establish the wage pursuant to the rule has regularly resulted in disabled employees receiving even less than the special minimum wage 7below the federally established minimum wage7 that they should have received under the regulation4 #c4 ,transition to fair wages 7#a7 ,discontinuance ,effective on the date of enactment of this ,act1 the ,secretary of ,labor shall discontinue issuing special wage certificates under section #ad7;c7 of the ,fair ,labor ,standards ,act of #aich 7#bi ,u4,s4,c4 #bad7;c77 to any new entities not currently holding a certificate4 7#b7 ,transition ,all special wage certificates held on the date of enactment of this ,act-- 7,a7 by private for profit entities shall be revoked #a year after such date of enactment2 7,b7 by public or governmental entities shall be revoked #b years after such date of enactment2 and 7,c7 by non-profit entities shall be revoked #c years after such date of enactment4 7#c7 ,repeal ,effective #c years from the date of enactment of this ,act1 section #ad7;c7 of the ,fair ,labor ,standards ,act of #aich 7#bi ,u4,s4,c4 #bad7;c77 is repealed and any remaining special wage certificates issued under such section shall be revoked4