The Daily Show: Ears Edition - The Sub-Minimum Wage Loophole

Episode Date: July 16, 2022

Thanks to a loophole, disabled employees can legally be paid less than their non-disabled counterparts. Here’s a look at the debate over subminimum wage. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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attention right now about how much disabled people get paid. Minimum wage isn't the same for everyone. Businesses can take advantage of a section of a federal act that allows them to pay people with disabilities less. Employers can apply for a Section 14C certification of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938. That grants them the ability to pay workers with disabilities less than the federal minimum wage of 725.

This program was established under the Roosevelt administration with arguably good intentions. War veterans who developed physical and mental disabilities from combat, came home from abroad and struggled to find employment. There's no limit to how low an employer can pay so employers could legally pay pennies per hour. There are even places in America where workers earn as little as 22 cents an hour. It's all perfectly legal. Yeah, 22 cents an hour. I mean, I don't know about you, but I was shocked when I heard that because I don't think any human being should be earning less than a gumball machine.

Even in Africa, we'd see this and be like, what? That's not even enough for a cup of coffee a day. And it doesn't even make sense in terms of just language. How can a wage be lower than the minimum wage? Minimum is supposed to be the minimum. It's like when the weatherman says, it's below freezing out there. the weatherman says, thi. th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. tho, tho, thi. thi. thi. tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. th. th. th. And, th. And, th. And, th. And, th. And, th. And, th. And, th. And, th. And, th. And, th. And, th. And, thi. And, thi. And, thi. And, thi. And, the. And t t t t t together. together. together. toda. toda. thae. thae. And thau. And tha. And too. So it's no surprise that there is a movement to get rid of sub-minimum pay. More and more states have been passing laws to close the loophole, and President Biden recently called on Congress to phase it out completely. And this seems like one of those things that everyone should agree on.

You know, like Freeing Brittany, or the first the thio'n't is TLC's No Scrubs. But it's actually more complicated than you might think. Because some argue that this wage loophole is actually a good thing for the disabled. Employers that can pay below $7.25 an hour are typically agencies that work directly with people with disabilities to help them find jobs. What's called a sheltered workshop. Here the disabled get virtually guaranteed employment, But they are not guaranteed minimum wage. These job programs are designed to develop skills, create social groups, and instill a sense

of value for their clients. If 14C certificates cannot be applied for, some are worried about the unintended consequences. They say people with profound disabilities may lose a chance to be employed. If sub-minimum wage goes away, the biggest impact will be on our folks who have severe disabilities. The handicap, the disabled worker, is not going to be given an employment opportunity. Rory Rowland says his son's tried other jobs, but sheltered workshops provide gainful employment and purpose for his son.

If we forced him to go out and try to find a minimum wage job, he would be unemployed. Yeah, you see? That's what makes this so complicated. Many of the places that use this loophole are called sheltered workshops, which exist to provide these jobs to disabled people. So there's a legitimate concern that losing this wage loophole might end up hurting the very people they're trying to help.. to to to to to to to to to to to to to the to to their to their their their to to their their their their job. their job. their job. their job. their job. their job. their job. their job. their job. their work work work work work work work work work work work work work work work work work work work work work work work work work work work work work work work work work work work work work work work work work work work work work work work work work work work work work work, their job, their job, their job, their job, their job, their their job. their job. their jobs. their jobs. their jobs. their jobs. to to their job. their jobs. to their job. their job. their job. their job. their job. their job. their jobs. their job. their job. their job. their job. their job. their job. their job. legitimate concern that losing this wage loophole might end up hurting the very people they're trying to help. Because if they close down, some disabled people won't be able to get jobs at all. And having a job is important. I mean it gives you structure, it gives you a community, gives you a sense of purpose, and an ID badge with the worst picture you've ever taken, keeps you humble. So you could see how this arrangement, as messed up as it seems, might be better than nothing.

At the same time, many advocates say that by providing a safety net for the disabled, these sheltered workshops could actually be doing more harm than good. Whether it's legal to pay people less than the minimum wage, often as little as 20 or 30 cents an hour, raises serious questions about exploitation and whether people are really be giving an opportunity to reach their full potential. The sheltered workshop system takes people and systematically tells them they're not as good as the rest of the workforce.

To me, it's not right that we're getting the pay that we get, because we work hard over there. We work very hard. It's not like they're just helping them get any job. They help them get only the kinds of jobs that this place has available. Ken Capone attended Johns Hopkins University. Ken also has cerebral palsy.

Finding a job was difficult, he ended up in a sheltered workshop. Do you know how to meaning it was going to a sheltered workshop after completing a difficult programming class? He left after one day. But what if I did go back and work there? I probably would have still been there working for pennies on the dollar, not having the opportunities I have today. Yeah you see, this makes sense too. If society pushes disabled people into these low-wage workshops, it tells them that this is

where they're supposed to be, and it limits their potential. Because we know that disabled people are capable of doing great things. I mean, Stephen Hawking was an astrophysicist even with ALS. Franklin Roosevelt, he ran the country from a wheelchair. Stevie Wonder is the reason that happy birthday is better at black birthday parties than white birthday parties. And look, this whole idea that disabled people shouldn't be paid the same as able-bodied people because they're not as productive. But I don't know about that argument, guys. Because it's not like every able-bodied person is great at their job either.

If you ask me, disabled people should have the right to be as shit to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be the right to be as shitty at their jobs as everyone else. Yeah, they should also be able to show up late, just do enough work to not get fired, play Fruit Ninja in the bathroom, and then leave at 4.30 on the dot. That, my friends, is equality. The Daily Show with Trevor Noa, Ears Edition. Subscribe to the Daily Show on YouTube for exclusive content and stream full episodes anytime on Paramount Plus. This has been a Comedy Central podcast.