Wednesday, Jan. 1, 2025 | 2 a.m.
A Nevada law going into effect today that phases out subminimum wage payments to employees with disabilities is being celebrated by advocates.
The change is the result of Assembly Bill 259, which prohibits Nevada job and day-training service providers from entering a contract that pays employees less than the state minimum wage.
Allowing subminimum wages — some workers with disabilities across the country earn less than $1 hourly — could leave them vulnerable in the employment process, advocates said.
The bill was proposed by Assemblywoman Tracy Brown-May, D-Las Vegas, who also serves as chief administrative officer for Opportunity Village — a nearly 70-year-old Las Vegas nonprofit serving thousands of people with disabilities.
“We were trying to create long-term solutions that were both paid and unpaid activities as a result of this continuing headwind for inclusion, equity, fairness and pay,” Brown-May said. “So if you’re employed — and I truly believe this — if you’re employed, you should earn a fair wage. Employment is employment. You should get minimum wage.”
Those opposing the idea of raising pay argued the subminimum wages provided a means for people with disabilities to be employed and receive training. A similar measure was proposed in 2019 but never came to a vote.
The phasing-out period allows for people with disabilities to continue accessing job training as service providers remodel their businesses, with the goal of barring payment below state minimum wage for jobs and day training services as of Jan. 1, 2028. Nevada’s minimum wage is $12 per hour.
“There’s a lot of feelings around this, a lot of powerful advocates on both sides of this conversation,” said Chuck Neuwohner, the chief programs officer at Opportunity Village. “And the truth is, there was a legacy of experiences that a lot of people with disabilities had that was going to be changed, and so we wanted to do it thoughtfully.”
Four Nevada employers hold or applied for a certificate under section 14(c) of the Fair Labor Standards Act authorizing them to pay subminimum wages to workers with disabilities “that impair their productivity for the work they perform,” according to the U.S. Department of Labor.
That data shows 154 workers earning below $12, with the earliest certificate set to expire in February and the latest in September of this year.
The organizations — Alpha Production Technologies Inc., Progressive Choices Inc., Ruby Mountain Resource Center and United Cerebral Palsy of Nevada — additionally provide rehabilitation services, day treatment, training, and/or employment opportunities to individuals with disabilities.
About 32.5% of Nevadans have disabilities, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s disability and data health system.
“It’s important that we continue to break down barriers so that we just become more familiar with interacting with folks who have all different types of ability levels,” Brown-May said. “That’s how we’re going to increase employment and encourage people with disabilities to want to consider employment while they’re still in school as an outcome.”
Advocates have said the subminimum wages served as a path for individuals with disabilities not yet ready for employment but receiving coaching and practice so they can prepare for a job.
“It’s the endurance, time on task, the navigation and being super creative with accommodations,” Neuwohner said. “How does all that take place when you’ve never worked? You don’t know what you need and, more than likely, your employer doesn’t either.”
Brown-May said the law gave employers a time frame to transition to where they could hold on to that subminimum wage certificate while seeking a solution to serve people who now are not being paid.
“This bill in particular, is a very complicated issue that we tried to quell down to ensure that we were creating the transition plan for the entire network, as well as the state oversight submissions,” Brown-May said.
Opportunity Village has four campuses working with people who have disabilities as they navigate workforce development, community employment, day services, housing, arts and social recreation.
Opportunity Village officials said it began paying minimum wage for people undergoing training — not yet on staff — in 2021. Employees have always been paid at least the minimum wage , they said.
Inside the organization’s Engelstad campus is a warehouse where members in the community dedicate hours to tasks such as envelope stuffing or linen reclamation — sometimes led by a person who has been with the organization for 47 years. And for Neuwohner, that’s the target mission: getting people jobs.
“We tell people they have rights, but how do you exercise them without a paycheck? Many times, it’s linked to money,” Neuwohner said. “In our society, that’s an unfortunate byproduct, and folks with disabilities need that opportunity to earn paychecks as well. What they get to do with it now, it’s theirs. That’s part of freedom. It’s part of self-expression.”
Alysa Marquez, an intern with the Nevada Governor’s Council on Developmental Disabilities, provided testimony when the bill was up for consideration in March 2023. Marquez has Down syndrome and was born with atrial ventricular septal defect, a heart condition.
“When I worked at a day care in 2019, I did not get paid to help the younger children. I was told I was a volunteer,” Marquez said in her testimony. “There was another worker who got paid regular wages and I did her job.” She added that earning money made her feel good, especially if it meant saving up for her own apartment or not being financially dependent on her mother.
No one testified entirely opposing the legislation at that hearing.
Nate Waynert has been in the Opportunity Village community for 12 years, currently working as a custodian with the in-house janitorial team. When he was living with his parents, he came across the community online and thought he might like living there.
Waynert was right. Still, he’s faced some challenges since he’s been living alone. He’s responsible for addressing something that breaks down, like if the television or washing machine isn’t working.
“It’s been a little tough living by myself, but I’m used to it now,” Waynert said.
He added: “I just like living there.”
The law also enables a person with a disability earning below minimum wage to elect an advocate on their behalf at any meeting concerning employment.
The employer paying those wages is also expected to annually submit an approval plan for the transition away from the current payments and assist the recipient “in participating in unpaid activities that are not related to employment.”
“We have a lot of work to do with regard to employment of people with disabilities in our general workforce,” Brown-May added.
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