People with disabilities in Alaska can no longer be paid less than the minimum wage.

Courtesy of Think Progress: 

As of Friday, Alaskan businesses will no longer be allowed to pay disabled workers less than the minimum wage, which is currently $9.84 an hour. 

“Workers who experience disabilities are valued members of Alaska’s workforce,” said the state’s Department of Labor and Workforce Development Acting Commissioner Greg Cashen, in a press release. “They deserve minimum wage protections as much as any other Alaskan worker.” 

The state announced last week it would repeal the regulation first put in place in 1978. Alaska joins New Hampshire and Maryland as the first states to get rid of sub-minimum wage for employees with disabilities, an act which is entirely legal under federal law, and has been since 1938 when the Fair Labor Standards Act was implemented. 

The minimum wage exception was initially created to help those with disabilities get jobs, but despite its intentions, the legislation still fell short. Disability advocates argue the law is outdated and that many disabled individuals can succeed in jobs earning minimum wage or more, and that no other class of people faces this kind of government-sanctioned wage discrimination. In addition to being paid a sub-minimum wage, employees with disabilities often perform their jobs in what are called “sheltered workshops.” This term is generally used to describe facilities that employ people with disabilities exclusively or primarily, but has been interpreted by disability advocates as a form of segregation in the workplace.

I think this is a very positive step forward for Alaskans with disabilities.

However I do understand why the law was likely implemented in the first place.

After all many of the people diagnosed with a disability require more supervision, and supports, than the average minimum wage worker. 

There is also the fact that many of them cannot make too much money or risk losing their social security payments.

But times are changing and with new workplace modifications, and more reliance on machines doing much of the work, there are increased opportunities for these individuals to find employment that may seem repetitive to some or not intellectually stimulating to others.