Congress Proposes Ending Subminimum Wages for Thousands of Workers with Disabilities
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No action since July 2025
This bill’s path across every version that has carried it.
Scores run from -100 (strongly harmful) to +100 (strongly beneficial) for each group, combining impact, certainty, scope, and duration ratings of 1-5. How impact scoring works
Small businesses that currently hold Section 14(c) certificates and employ workers with disabilities at subminimum wages would need to transform their entire business model within five years. While grants of $200,000 to $750,000 are available to help with the transition, some small sheltered workshops may struggle to remain financially viable when required to pay full minimum wage. The ban on new certificates also prevents any new businesses from using this model.
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
Sent to a congressional committee for expert review. The committee decides whether this bill moves forward.
Introduced in Senate
The bill was officially filed and given a number. It now enters the legislative queue.
The Trump administration withdrew a Biden-era rule that would have phased out the practice of paying workers with disabilities below the federal minimum wage. The decision preserves Section 14(c) certificates, which currently allow roughly 35,000 workers to be paid based on productivity.
Following the Department of Labor's withdrawal of a phase-out rule, disability advocates are shifting focus to the bipartisan Transformation to Competitive Integrated Employment Act. The bill would provide grants to help employers transition to models paying at least the full minimum wage.
The Labor Department is pulling a proposed rule that sought to phase out subminimum wage employment, citing a lack of statutory authority. In response, lawmakers reintroduced the Transformation to Competitive Integrated Employment Act to end the practice through legislation over five years.
No votes recorded for this bill yet.
Document Type
Congressional Bill
Official Title
Transformation to Competitive Integrated Employment Act
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