Sponsors (6)
The bill preserves choice and employer continuity for some workers with disabilities by allowing continued subminimum‑wage employment and easing procedural requirements for employers, at the cost of weakening wage protections, reducing incentives and support for integrated employment, and limiting worker access to documentation and timely vocational services.
People with disabilities who prefer to stay in their current 14(c) jobs can continue working under existing pay arrangements because employers may lawfully pay subminimum wages when the worker chooses that employment.
Employers (and workers whose placements depend on employer continuity) face fewer administrative interruptions because employers can document outreach to state vocational units and rely on that documentation to meet counseling/referral requirements when the unit does not respond.
People with disabilities (age 18 and older) are more likely to receive lower, subminimum wages because the bill changes a prohibition into a permissive rule allowing more employers to pay subminimum wages.
Lower wages for disabled workers could entrench segregated, sheltered, or subminimum‑wage settings and reduce incentives and movement toward competitive, integrated employment.
State vocational units may face reduced pressure to provide timely counseling and referral services, since employers can certify outreach and proceed when units fail to respond, potentially limiting disabled workers' access to services that help find better-paying jobs.
Based on analysis of 3 sections of legislative text.
Broadens when employers with 14(c) certificates may pay subminimum wages to adults 18+, adds employer documentation duties and an exception if a State vocational unit fails to respond.
Official title: To amend the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 to ensure workplace choice and opportunity for young adults with disabilities.
Introduced May 12, 2026 by Glenn Grothman · Last progress May 12, 2026
Changes to the Rehabilitation Act would make it easier for employers holding 14(c) certificates to pay subminimum wages to adults with disabilities. The amendment shifts eligibility from a youth-based rule to adults 18 and older, centers the individual’s choice to accept such work, adds employer documentation duties, and creates an exception when the State vocational unit does not provide counseling/referrals despite employer outreach. The changes apply only to jobs begun on or after the law’s enactment.