Section 14(c) of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) authorizes
employers, after receiving a certificate from the U.S. Department of Labor Wage
and Hour Division, to pay special minimum wageswages less than the
Federal minimum wageto workers who have disabilities for the work being
performed. The certificate also allows the payment of wages that are less than
the prevailing wage to workers who have disabilities for the work being
performed on contracts subject to the McNamara-OHara Service Contract Act
(SCA) and the Walsh-Healey Public Contracts Act (PCA). The Regulations
applicable to FLSA Section 14(c) are contained at 29 CFR Part 525.
Under FLSA Section 14(c), a worker who has a disability for the job
being performed is one whose earning or productive capacity is impaired by a
physical or mental disability, including those relating to age or injury.
Disabilities that may affect productive capacity include blindness, mental
illness, mental retardation, cerebral palsy, alcoholism, and drug addiction.
The following, taken by themselves, are not considered to be disabilities for
purposes of paying special minimum wages: educational disabilities, chronic
unemployment, receipt of welfare benefits, nonattendance at school, juvenile
delinquency, and correctional parole or probation.
The FLSA 14(c) Advisor helps employers of workers with disabilities,
employees with disabilities, and their family members understand the
circumstances under which an employer may pay wage rates that are less than the
applicable Federal minimum wage. However, the Advisor does not include every
possible situation. No conclusion should be drawn from the fact that a subject
or an illustration may not be addressed.
For a general overview of the major provisions of FLSA Section 14(c),
please read Fact Sheet No.
39, The Employment of Workers with Disabilities at Special Minimum
Wages. For detailed information about FLSA Section 14(c), please proceed
with the Advisor by selecting continue.
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