As debate over sheltered workshops heats up, MO doubles down on paying people with disabilities less [View all]

A new Missouri law allowing employers to continue paying some people with disabilities less than minimum wage has positioned the state at the forefront of a national debate over disability rights in the workplace.

Part of a wide-ranging piece of legislation signed by Gov. Mike Parson in July, the rule directs the state to develop its own version of a federal program that allows wages as low as pennies per hour.

Roughly 5,000 employees work at facilities with subminimum wage certificates in Missouri – called sheltered workshops because workers are kept separate from others. Missouri has the second-highest number of sheltered workshops in the country, with 95 operating locations.

Though the New Deal-era law that governs such employment was considered progressive when it was enacted, it has come under increasing criticism in recent years.

Read more: https://thebeacon.media/stories/2021/11/24/sheltered-workshops-missouri-bill/
(Kansas City Beacon)