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ARTICLE · 10 DECEMBER 2024

Proposed Rule Would End Subminimum Wage For Employees With Disabilities

Jackson Lewis P.C.
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The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) has issued a proposed rule to end the practice of paying subminimum wages to certain workers with disabilities.

United StatesEmployment and HR
Justin R. Barnes
Justin R. Barnes

The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) has issued a proposed rule to end the practice of paying subminimum wages to certain workers with disabilities.

The proposed rule, announced December 3, 2024, marks the first rulemaking related to the subminimum wage in 35 years, although the regulation had been included in the DOL's long-term regulatory agenda "for many years," the DOL notes. The subminimum wage regulation saw its last substantive update in 1989.

If enacted, the rule would mostly impact community-based rehabilitation and training programs.

Subminimum Wage

The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) allows employers to pay productivity-based wages of less than the federal minimum hourly rate (currently $7.25) to certain workers with disabilities. FLSA, Section 14(c), allows the Secretary of Labor to issue certificates to employers permitting them to pay a subminimum wage "when necessary to prevent curtailment of opportunities for employment."

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