How is it legal to pay substandard wages in 21st century America?
A Depression-era loophole in federal law, Section 14 (c) of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, allows employers to obtain a special wage certificate (designed to bypass the federal minimum wage). This affects 300,000 workers nationwide. The certificate grants the employer, mostly nonprofit organizations, the right to pay people with disabilities less than the federal minimum wage. Instead of the current wage floor set at $7.25 per hour, workers with disabilities are paid a commensurate wage based on their performance.
Recently, it was discovered that these wages can be as low as 22 cents per hour for some Goodwill employees.
We need to make it clear that this is not fair or acceptable in the USA!