Disability Rights Florida joins 96 other disability advocacy organizations in its support of the Transformation to Competitive Integrated Employment Act (TCIEA).
TCIEA is the rare kind of legislation that is a win-win-win-win for legislators, state providers, businesses, and disabled people because it would enable employers to provide good, cost-effective jobs for people with disabilities, thereby increasing disabled people's participation in the workforce and financial independence.
Disabled people want to work. TCIEA will help that goal come to fruition because it provides the grants and technical assistance necessary to both advance opportunities for competitive integrated employment (CIE), as well as to gradually sunset the Section 14(c) program over five years in the Senate bill and four years in the House Bill. Since the 1930s, employers have been able to acquire certificates under Section 14(c) of the Fair Labor Standards Act that legally allow them to pay employees with disabilities considerably less than the federal minimum wage. The process outlined in this legislation will not harm businesses and state agencies, but as a matter of fact, will help them.
The End Subminimum Wage Coalition includes the American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD), the Autistic Self Advocacy Network (ASAN), the National Council on Independent Living (NCIL), and the National Association of Councils on Developmental Disabilities (NACDD) along with 90+ supporting organizations.
Learn more:
- Read the End Subminimum Wage Coalition Letter to Congress.
- Use the Autistic Self Advocacy Network's toolkit to contact your representatives.
- Watch 'An End to Sheltered Work' to hear Carrie's story about working in a 14(c) sheltered workshop. She tells the story of how she got out of the system and now enjoys a thriving life.