A national effort must be undertaken to improve the overall quality of community employment outcomes both in terms of individual outcomes and proper funding of services and long-term supports. The movement of individuals into non-work day facilities, instead of into community employment, is not an acceptable outcome of the phase out of subminimum wage.

AtWork! has for some time been working towards eliminating subminimum wages. Each year more and more clients are finding opportunities in the community to work at labor market wages, and those who are on a pathway to employment through exploration, volunteering and job trials, are participating in AtWork!’s enterprises for fewer days. Ultimately, those who work in our enterprises will be those for whom landscaping, packaging and assembly and work in our recycle enterprise is an appropriate vocation. There will be no need to pay subminimum wages. AtWork! is moving forward toward this goal before there is a Federal mandate to do so and is three years ahead of the national movement.

Since establishment of the Federal minimum wage in 1938, a special minimum wage generally known as the “subminimum wage” has existed for individuals with disabilities. This provision allows employers, holding a 14(c) certificate from the US Department of Labor (DOL), to pay individuals with disabilities less than the federal or state minimum wage that is generally mandated for all other workers. Pay is related to the individual’s level of productivity, with the intent of paying individuals in proportion or commensurate to their productivity compared to workers without disabilities.

Currently there are approximately 5,600 employers who hold 14(c) certificates, employing approximately 425,000 individuals with disabilities at workshops and in group employment settings. Approximately 95% of these individuals are employed in sheltered workshops. Approximately ¾ of all workers receiving subminimum wages in sheltered workshops have an intellectual or developmental disability. More than half (54%) of workers in sheltered workshops earn less than $2.50 per hour, with 23% earning less than $1.00 per hour.

AtWork! supports the national movement calling for a phase out of this special subminimum wage provision. It should occur over time. No other minority group experiences this kind of discrimination. It needs to be gradual so that people aren’t harmed and alternative employment options can be developed or the businesses that employ them at subminimum and so they can figure out how to keep them working at minimum wage.

Last in a series of excerpts from a speech delivered by AtWork! CEO, Chris Brandt, at the AtWork! 2010 fundraising breakfast, March 25th, 2010.

This week on the radio I listened to President Obama say: “It’s a new season in America”. Let’s make it a new season for people with disabilities, too. Citizens with disabilities should have the support they need to find and keep a job and to contribute to the productivity of a sustainable culture. Hundreds of young people with disabilities between the ages of 21 and 35 sit at home with nothing to do because the system has failed them. They were not one of the lucky ones to graduate with a job and a service provider. Their stories are much different than Darwin’s. They are stories of isolation, disappointment and dwindling hope. Our state legislature will provide funding for only ¼ of the students with disabilities who will graduate from high school in the next 2 years. Who will sustain the investment we have made in these talented young people? Will you?

One final sustainability question that didn’t get on the radio: How many breakfasts does it take to sustain a nonprofit? Just like your body needs the sustenance of a good breakfast everyday, AtWork! needs the on-going contributions of our circle of support and our cohorts in the movement, to sustain the vital work we do on behalf of people with disabilities everyday. Enjoy your breakfast; it will fuel you for the work of the day. Contribute generously; it will fuel AtWork! to sustain the jobs, the hopes, and the dreams of the people with disabilities you have met and heard about today. And who knows, one person, one job at a time, you just might help create a sustainable culture here in Bellevue, Issaquah, Seattle, King County, and beyond.

Together we can make our vision of a sustainable culture a reality.