Resolution 2015-03 Regarding prohibiting the payment of subminimum wages

Regarding Urging the Maryland Legislature to pass legislation prohibiting the payment of subminimum wages to workers with disabilities

WHEREAS, special wage certificates, as authorized under Section 14(c) of the Fair Labor Standards Act, unjustly allow certain employers to pay workers with disabilities subminimum (less than the minimum wage) and sub prevailing (less than the prescribed rate for contract workers) wages; and

WHEREAS, Section 14(c) was written in an era in which expectations and opportunities for Americans with disabilities were vastly different than those in the year 2015; and

WHEREAS, Maryland entities such as Melwood and Blind Industries and Services of Maryland demonstrate that with the proper training, support, and expectations, workers with disabilities can be productive employees who earn at least the minimum wage; and

WHEREAS, states such as New Hampshire have recently passed state legislation that “prohibits employers from employing individuals with disabilities at an hourly rate lower than the federal minimum wage”; and

WHEREAS, workers with disabilities in all states deserve to be paid equal wages to their colleagues without disabilities: Now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the National Federation of the Blind of Maryland in Convention assembled this fifteenth day of November, 2015, in the city of Ocean City, Maryland, that this organization urge the Maryland General Assembly and Governor Hogan to expeditiously enact legislation that will ensure that Maryland workers with disabilities will be paid the same wages that their colleagues without disabilities are being paid and will also ensure that the minimum wage (or prevailing wage when referring to contracts) that applies to nondisabled workers also applies to workers with disabilities.