A new investigation by the Department of Justice has found that Utah is violating federal law because it relies on programs that are keeping people with disabilities away from the community — and often segregating them in workplaces where they have little chance to interact with people who are not disabled.
And for nearly 600 Utahns with disabilities, they are doing their work for less than $7.25 an hour, the minimum wage in Utah.
Companies here can apply for a federal exemption which lets them pay these workers below minimum wage — called “subminimum wage” — if they can show they are employing people whose disabilities affect how productive they can be.
Here is what working subminimum wage looks like in Utah.
What is ‘subminimum wage’?
Businesses across the country have been able to pay workers with disabilities subminimum wages since the 1930s — when minimum wage laws were first introduced. The goal with the exception was to encourage employers to hire those with disabilities, and it was seen at that time as a way to create jobs and training for them. Many advocates today decry the practice as exploitative.
In order to pay less than minimum wage to workers with disabilities, companies get certified with the U.S. Department of Labor, which sets the standards for when someone can be paid less when their disability impairs how productive they can be.
Part of the application process is to complete a productivity study to figure out how much a disabled worker should be paid.
EnableUtah is one of nine businesses in Utah that can pay its workers below minimum wage. CEO Gavin Hutchinson explained the process this way:
The company could run tests and determine that an experienced, nondisabled worker is able to package 10 widgets in a 50-minute period. For that work, the company could pay $10 — a dollar a package. So when a worker with disabilities later packages four items in that same time period, they would make $4.
(Trent Nelson | The Salt Lake Tribune) EnableUtah CEO Gavin Hutchinson at the company's Ogden headquarters on Tuesday, July 2, 2024.
Hutchinson said that those employed at EnableUtah who get paid below minimum wage have about 80% productivity compared to a nondisabled worker.
“It makes it really hard,” he said. “I don’t know if it’s fair to charge the company [who contracts with EnableUtah] 100% wage for 80% work.”
More than 570 Utahns work for the nine companies for subminimum wages, according to federal data. (A large portion of these workers — just over 300 — are employed by the Utah State Developmental Center, a publicly funded facility which provides residential care and other services for people with disabilities.)
Most of these programs are designated as community rehabilitation programs, meaning they are supposed to help people with disabilities gain skills with the goal of eventually helping them get jobs within the community.
What kind of work do they do?
Oftentimes, those making less than minimum wage are working in what are called “sheltered workshops” — warehouse-like settings where workers are often doing repetitive tasks.
The DOJ investigation found that, in Utah, people with disabilities are often working in these places grouped together, with limited to no interaction with anyone who doesn’t have a disability besides their supervisor. They often have little choice in how they spend their days at work. And they are often doing repetitive tasks — like shredding paper, sanitizing trays or gluing boxes together.
(Trent Nelson | The Salt Lake Tribune) At EnableUtah, workers with disabilities examine cans of soda for their expiration date. They dump out the expired product, then clean and repackage the cans that can still be sold.
And while some companies contract their workers to go out to businesses and do janitorial-like jobs, the DOJ found that workers who were disabled were still segregated and only interacted with the people on their work crew who similarly had disabilities.
This type of segregation is not allowed under the Americans with Disabilities Act, which says states need to provide employment opportunities and day services to people within their communities as much as possible.
What happens in other states?
Several states have phased out these sheltered workshop settings, and more than a dozen states have passed legislation to eliminate the practice of paying people with disabilities below the minimum wage.
Utah Rep. Brett Garner introduced legislation earlier this year that would have gotten rid of subminimum wages for those with disabilities in the state by 2026, telling a legislative committee that he believes “people have a right to work, if they want to.”
(Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) Rep. Brett Garner, D-West Valley City, at a recent legislative committee hearing.
“Subminimum wage hinges on stereotypes of ability and productivity that I don’t think are justified,” he said, adding that national statistics estimate that many disabled workers are making $3-$4 an hour for their work.
But the bill was voted down by that committee, with some lawmakers expressing concern that Utahns with disabilities won’t get the job skills or opportunities they currently have if these businesses are forced to pay them more for their work.
What do disability advocates say?
Utah advocacy groups for those with disabilities have spoken out against sheltered workshops and subminimum wages.
Andrew Riggle, who is a public policy advocate for the Disability Law Center of Utah, noted to the legislative committee who heard Garner’s bill in January that there is no time limit on how long someone can work below minimum wage.
That means workers can be paid indefinitely well below the minimum wage without any assurance they are building skills that could lead to better future job prospects.
“Quite simply,” he said, “this is discrimination.”
(Chris Detrick | The Salt Lake Tribune) Andrew Riggle speaks during a state Health Department public meeting in 2017. Riggle, who works with the Disability Law Center of Utah, spoke in favor of eliminating subminimum wages in a recent legislative hearing.
Matthew Wappett, who is the executive director of the Utah State University Institute for Disability Research, Policy & Practice, called subminimum wage “exploitation” in a recent interview.
Wappett said Utahns with disabilities are often coming out of high school and into state services where they aren’t given a choice or chance to work anywhere else but a sheltered workshop. That’s all they know — and they haven’t been able to work other jobs like most people do in their teenage years, which helps them figure out what type of work they like to do.
“If we really believe that people with disabilities are important, valuable members of our community,” he said, “then they should be compensated fairly.”