Balance opportunity, protection

It's time to review a federal law that allows employers to pay workers with disabilities less than minimum wage.

But lawmakers must tread carefully, protecting supportive work environments that ensure workers' dignity and affirm their self-worth.

Providing more, not fewer, opportunities that offer workers with disabilities the satisfaction of a job well done and the pride of contributing to their own self-sufficiency - that should be lawmakers' first consideration in reviewing sub-minimum wage law.

Labor law allows employers with a special certificate to pay some disabled employees wages that are commensurate with their productivity. It's intended to help provide jobs to workers who otherwise wouldn't be competitive.

The Association for Persons in Supported Employment estimates there are about 5,600 employers nationwide with permission to pay sub-minimum wages, employing about 425,000 individuals.

But serious questions have been raised about the program's oversight and the potential for its abuse, especially in the wake of last year's Henry's Turkey Service labor scandal. We learned then that 21 cognitively disabled men had been working for meager wages in an area turkey processing plant, turning over much of their income in exchange for room and board in a rundown Atalissa bunkhouse.

Now Sen. Tom Harkin wants Congress to review sub-minimum wage law to better protect workers with disabilities from exploitation.

We think a review is justified, but lawmakers must be careful. Many employers certified to pay less than minimum wage provide appropriate and much-needed opportunities for workers with severe disabilities. Their efforts should be supported, not punished.

Nationally, the APSE has called for lawmakers to phase out sub-minimum wage certificates for individuals with disabilities by 2014.

But they warn against unintended consequences that would damage efforts to include and support workers with disabilities into the greater work landscape. We agree.

Already, there are more willing workers with disabilities than there are jobs - the Iowa APSE estimates the unemployment rate for Iowans with disabilities is greater than 50 percent.

Eighty-one Iowa employers are authorized to pay less than minimum wage. That number includes worthy non-profit organizations - such Goodwill Industries and Options of Linn County - which offer job training, support and meaningful work for people who otherwise might not be employable.

Representatives from those organizations have said some of those opportunities could disappear if their wage exemption does.

Lawmakers must find the balance between protecting jobs and protecting workers from exploitation.

-- The Gazette Editorial Board