Wage and Hour Division (WHD)

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Instructions for Form WH-226: The Payment of Special Minimum Wages to Workers with Disabilities Under Section 14(c) of the Fair Labor Standards Act

Section 14(c) of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) authorizes the payment of special minimum wages - wages less than the Federal minimum wage - to workers with disabilities whose productivity is impaired by their disabilities after the employer has applied for and received an authorizing certificate from the U. S. Department of Labor. The special minimum wage paid a worker with a disability must be commensurate with that worker’s individual productivity as compared to the wage and productivity of experienced workers who do not have disabilities performing essentially the same type, quality, and quantity of work in the vicinity where the worker with a disability is employed.

The term worker with a disability is defined in FLSA section 14(c)(1) as an individual “whose earning or productive capacity is impaired by age, physical or mental deficiency, or injury.” Some examples of disabilities that may affect a worker’s earning or productive capacity include blindness, mental illness, mental retardation, cerebral palsy, alcoholism, drug addiction and age. Age may be considered to be an impairment to earning or productive capacity only when the individual is at least 70 years old and age impairs his or her productivity for the work to be performed. The fact that a worker is over 70 years of age does not, in and of itself, constitute a disability under section 14(c). Vocational, social, cultural, or educational disabilities, standing alone, are not disabilities under section 14(c). Examples include chronic unemployment, receipt of welfare benefits, nonattendance at school, juvenile delinquency, and correctional parole or probation. However, these conditions could meet the section 14(c) definition of a disability if they exist in conjunction with some other physical/mental deficiency or injury.

For more detailed information about section 14(c), you may wish to review Regulations 29 CFR Part 525 (Employment of Workers With Disabilities Under Special Certificates) or read a series of fact sheets developed on this topic which are located at http://www.dol.gov/esa/sec14c/index.htm.

Employers apply for subminimum wage certificates using form WH-226 and supplemental form WH-226A.

Completed applications should be forwarded to:

U. S. Department of Labor
Employment Standards Administration
Wage and Hour Division
230 South Dearborn Street, Room 514
Chicago, Illinois 60604

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