Notice to Workers with Disabilities
This
establishment has a certificate authorizing the payment of special minimum
wages to workers who are disabled for the work they are performing. Authority
to pay special minimum wages to workers with disabilities applies to work
covered by the Fair Labor Standards Act
(FLSA), McNamara-O’Hara Service Contract Act (SCA), and/or Walsh-Healey Public
Contracts Act (PCA). Such special minimum wages are referred to as “commensurate wage rates” and are less
than the basic hourly rates stated in an SCA wage determination and less than
the FLSA minimum wage of $4.75 per hour
beginning October 1, 1996 and $5.15 per hour beginning September 1, 1997. A
“commensurate wage rate” is based on the worker’s individual productivity, no
matter how limited, in proportion to the wage and productivity of experienced
nondisabled workers performing essentially the same type, quality, and quantity
of work in the geographic area from which the labor force of the community is
drawn.
Workers
With Disabilities
For
purposes of payment of commensurate wage rates under a certificate, a worker
with a disability is defined as:
· An individual whose
earnings or productivity capacity is impaired by a physical or mental
disability, including those related to age or injury, for the work to be
performed.
· Disabilities which may
affect productive capacity include blindness, mental illness, mental
retardation, cerebral palsy, alcoholism, and drug addiction. The following do
not ordinarily affect productive capacity for purposes of paying commensurate
wage rates: educational disabilities; chronic unemployment; receipt of welfare
benefits; nonattendance at school; juvenile delinquency; and correctional
parole or probation.
Key
Elements of Commensurate Wage Rates
· Non-disabled worker standard—The objective gauge (usually a time
study of the production of workers who are not disabled for the job) against
which the productivity of a worker with a disability is measured.
· Prevailing wage rate—The wage paid to experienced workers who are
not disabled for the same or similar work and who are performing such work in
the area. Most SCA contracts include a wage determination specifying the
prevailing wage rates to be paid for SCA covered work.
· Evaluation of the productivity of the worker with a disability—Documented
measurement of the production of the worker with a disability (quantity and
quality). The wages of all workers paid commensurate wages must be reviewed and
adjusted, if appropriate, at periodic intervals. At a minimum, the productivity
of hourly paid workers must be reevaluated every six months and a new
prevailing wage survey must be conducted at least once every twelve months.
Overtime
Generally, if you are performing work subject to the FLSA,
SCA, and/or PCA, you must be paid at least 1 1 / 2 times your regular rate of
pay for all hours worked over 40 in a workweek.
Child
Labor
Minors
younger than 18 years old must be
employed in accordance with the child labor provisions of FLSA. No persons
under 16 may be employed in manufacturing or on a PCA contract.
Fringe Benefits
Neither
the FLSA nor the PCA have provisions requiring vacation, holiday, or sick pay
nor other fringe benefits such as health insurance or pension plans. SCA wage
determinations may require such fringe benefit payments (or a cash equivalent).
Workers paid under a certificate
authorizing commensurate wage rates must receive the full fringe benefits listed
on the wage determination.
Worker Notification
Each
worker with a disability and, where appropriate, the parent or guardian of such
worker, shall be informed orally and in writing by the employer of the terms of
the certificate under which such worker is employed.
Petition Process
Workers
with disabilities paid at special minimum wages may petition the Administrator
of the Wage and Hour Division of the Department of Labor for a review of their
wage rates by an Administrative Law Judge. No particular form of petition is
required, except that it must be signed by the worker with a disability or his
or her parent or guardian and should contain the name and address of the
employer. Petitions should be mailed to: Administrator, Wage and Hour Division,
U.S. Department of Labor, Room S-3502, 200 Constitution Avenue, N.W.,
Washington, D.C. 20210.
Employers shall display this poster where
employees and the parents and guardians of workers with disabilities can
readily see it. Complaints or questions regarding the terms and conditions of
employment under a certificate may be directed to the Wage and Hour Division
office nearest you — listed in your telephone directory under United States
Government, Labor.
For this document and other Wage-Hour information,
visit our web site at this address: http://www.dol.gov/dol/esa/public/whd_org.
htm.
U.S. Department of Labor
Employment Standards
Administration
Wage and Hour Division
Washington, D.C. 20210
WH Publication 1284
Revised October 1996