The Exceptions to the Minimum Wage

For Marketplace, I'm Sabri Benicor and for David Brunkaccio.

In many parts of the U.S., it is still legal to pay people with disabilities less than the minimum wage.

It's called a sub-minimum wage.

And the Department of Labor said this week that it is planning a comprehensive review

of the policy. Marketplace's Kimberly Adams has more.

Federal regulations permit companies to apply for special certificates that permit them to hire disabled

workers and pay them an average of less than $4 an hour.

But some states have banned the practice under pressure from those in the disability advocacy

community who chafe at the unequal pay standards, says Kelly Nylingerman, director of the Institute

on Disability at the University of New Hampshire.

We've seen the numbers of sub-minimum wage certificate holders shrink over the last five,

10, 20 years, but there still are thousands of people with disabilities that are paid sub-minimum wage

in the United States today. The Department of Labor is calling for stakeholders to weigh in on the

program, especially those within the disabled community. Kimberly Knox-Dead is director of the

Disability Economic Justice Collaborative at the Century Foundation.

What this is expected to actually mean is that the Department of Labor is going to use everything

in their power to see if they need to actually continue issuing in certificates.

Changes are likely to get pushback from those who say the sub-minimum wage is necessary

to provide sustainable employment for people facing discrimination by traditional employers.

In Washington, I'm Kimberly Adams from Marketplace.

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