Did you know that there are more than 320,000 people who are legally paid a wage less than the minimum. These people are disabled and working for organizations using a section of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). This section, referred to as 14(c), says that workers “whose earning or productive capacity is impaired by age, physical or mental deficiency, or injury” can be paid based on their “productivity” or on the “quality and quantity” of their labor.
There are over 1,400 firms - tiny companies and large companies - holding 14(c) certificates in the US. They are referred to as Community Rehabilitation Programs, or more commonly, sheltered workshops. These organizations seek and receive contracts from large corporations to generate products and services that fund their operations. In Nevada one of these 1400 firms is accused of paying its workers 36 cents an hour.
Some of these firms do pay their executives well. PRIDE Industries, a Sacramento-based sheltered workshop, pays its CEO a salary of $792,132, while 906 workers are employed at subminimum wages.
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