Workers with disabilities eligible for minimum wage

Six states acted last year to raise the minimum wage. Although two of the six, Ohio and Missouri, exempted workers with disabilities, the other four, Arizona, Nevada, Colorado and Montana, did not. Certain U.S. workers, including those with disabilities, can be paid less than the minimum wage, unless state law provides for a higher minimum.

The federal Fair Labor Standards Act includes a provision for special wages for workers with disabilities “to prevent the curtailment of employment opportunities.” Wages must be commensurate with those paid to “experienced workers without disabilities employed in the vicinity for essentially the same type, quality, and quantity of work.” The wage must be tied to the workers’ productivity.

At hearings at the Arizona legislature, arguments revolved around the fairness of a minimum applicable to all people versus the need for less than minimum wage to provide people with disabilities access to employment despite their lower productivity.

To reach a compromise, Arizona is considering designating workers with disabilities as trainees. The Arizona attorney general issued an an opinion stating that workers with developmental disabilities are not exempt from that state’s new minimum wage. Click here for a copy of the opinion.

Wal-Mart must prove hire applicant with cerebral palsy posed threat

For the first time, a court has ruled that an employer's claim that an applicant with a disability wasn't hired because he or she posed a threat to the safety of others or him or herself, must be proven by the employer rather than the applicant.

A U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in February that the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission can proceed with a lawsuit against Wal-Mart Stores that alleges it violated the Americans with Disabilities Act at a Missouri Wal-Mart that refused to hire a man with cerebral palsy as a greeter or a cashier.

According to the Training Resource Network Disability, standing for more than 10 or 15 minutes was difficult for the applicant, but he could climb stairs and get on and off a stool. He could write, hold things and lift heavy objects from his wheelchair. After he arrived for an interview in his wheelchair, he was turned down for the job.

Although a medical expert for Wal-Mart testified that the applicant wasn’t qualified to perform the essential functions of either greeter or cashier, an expert for the EEOC found that he could do either with reasonable accommodation. Click here for more information about this case.