Pushing Employment

I had a fantastic meeting with Nancy Webster, Vice President of The Arc of the United States. Did you know that The Arc just created a National Advisory Council for Siblings? The also this week created a national Advisory Council for Self-Advocates. This organization is really moving! Nancy will be a featured speaker at our annual Leadership Conference, February 2-3, 2012 at the Lisle Hilton. Plan on joining us!Director Casey sent me the following report challenging the use of sub-minimum wages in the post-ADA world. The we need to re-look the way we provide supports in Illinois as our system begins to go through major changes in the coming years.

On my way to Chicago to meet with Director Casey and Mark Doyle, Special Project Director for the Governor.

Tony

The Case Against the Section 14(c) Subminimum Wage Program
Prepared for the National Federation of the Blind
By Samuel R. Bagenstos*
 
Introduction
          When Congress adopted the Americans with Disabilities Act in 1990, it found that “individuals with disabilities continually encounter various forms of discrimination,” including “overprotective rules and policies,” “segregation,” and “relegation to lesser services, programs, activities, benefits, jobs, and other opportunities.”[1]  This discrimination, Congress found, results “from stereotypic assumptions not truly indicative of the individual ability of such individuals to participate in, and contribute to, society.”[2]  More than twenty years later, the statute books still contain a federal law that itself discriminates against people with disabilities, reflects an overprotective policy toward them, and encourages segregation and relegation to lesser jobs.  That law is Section 14(c) of the Fair Labor Standards Act, which authorizes employers to pay less than the minimum wage to certain employees with disabilities.[3]  In the post-ADA world, Section 14(c) is an anomaly in the law, and it is one that should be eliminated. Click here to read the entire report.