BILL ANALYSIS �
AJR 36
Page 1
ASSEMBLY THIRD READING
AJR 36 (Gonzalez)
As Amended March 25, 2014
Majority vote
LABOR & EMPLOYMENT 5-0
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|Ayes:|Roger Hern�ndez, Alejo, | | |
| |Chau, Holden, | | |
| |Ridley-Thomas | | |
|-----+--------------------------+-----+--------------------------|
| | | | |
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SUMMARY : Urges Congress to phase out the use of the Special
Minimum Wage Certificate provision and eventually repeal Section
14(c) of the 1938 federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) to
support the goal of competitive integrated employment of people
with disabilities through the use of modern practices of
vocational training, improved technology, and innovative
rehabilitation and employment strategies. Specifically, this
resolution makes the following legislative findings and
declarations:
1)Meaningful employment, and the wages associated with it, can
be an integral part of enabling human dignity and creating
more meaningful lives for disabled persons.
2)The 1938 federal FLSA sets out in Section 14(c) the ability
for entities that employ disabled persons to obtain special
minimum wage certificates from the United States Department of
Labor's Wage and Hour Division which entitle them to pay a
disabled worker less than the legislated minimum wage rate.
3)The 1938 federal FLSAs subminimum wage provisions were created
in the era of the Great Depression with the intent of
subsidizing sheltered workshops which could not afford to pay
their workers full wages and, some may argue, incentivizing
private companies to employ disabled persons.
4)These special wage rates are calculated according to
productivity with no specified wage floor.
5)The productivity-based calculation of a special minimum wage
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is generally done by a complicated "time study" which entails
an administrator comparing how fast a disabled worker is able
to complete a certain task compared to nondisabled workers.
6)There are differing work and equipment conditions beyond the
worker's control, a lack of oversight and enforcement by the
Wage and Hour Division for the special minimum wage
certificates, a lack of consistency in the time study tests
done by employers, and a singling out of disabled workers
given that the general workforce is not subjected to standards
of timed productivity.
7)Time study practices used to determine special wage rates are
both inconsistent and unfair and the subminimum wages they
produce have been described by disabled workers throughout the
media as humiliating, degrading, and making them feel like
"second-class citizens."
8)Some entities have claimed that the special minimum wage
certificates are an essential stepping stone to permanent and
fully paid employment in the general workforce. The
Psychiatric Rehabilitation Journal published empirical
evidence in 2004 which suggested that sheltered workshops are
generally ineffective at progressing the disabled workers,
while for other employers the special minimum wage
certificates serve as an incentive to exploit disabled workers
rather than integrate them into the mainstream economy.
9)It has been widely documented that many of the organizations
which employ disabled persons are in financial situations that
would enable them to pay minimum wage to all of their disabled
employees, evident in the high compensation packages paid to
their executives.
10)Some employers, such as the National Industries for the
Blind, have already recognized the exploitive nature of paying
disabled workers subminimum wage and have been able to
transition to the payment of federal minimum wage, or higher,
to their disabled employees without a significant change in
profitability or a reduction in their workforce.
FISCAL EFFECT : None
COMMENTS : This resolution urges Congress to phase out and
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eventually repeal Section 14(c) of the 1938 federal FLSA, also
known as the Special Minimum Wage Certificate program.
Supporters of the resolution argue that this section of the law
authorizes the outrageous practice of paying people with
disabilities less than the minimum wage. They argue that as
long as Section 14(c) of the 1938 federal FLSA is law, people
with disabilities will be trapped in segregated subminimum wage
work environments. They believe that competitive integrated
employment should be the goal for all individuals, with or
without disabilities. With the use of modern technology,
vocational rehabilitation, and high expectations people with
disabilities are able to reach their full vocational potential.
Opponents argue that this resolution is a well-meaning but very
damaging effort to improve employment outcomes for people with
significant disabilities. They contend that this resolution
implies that all workers, regardless of their disability, should
be able to compete with workers without disabilities. They
argue that if this resolution passes, it would lead to the
elimination of the tool of productivity-based wages and these
workers' jobs would be at risk.
Analysis Prepared by : Ben Ebbink / L. & E. / (916) 319-2091
FN: 0003208