This story was originally published by The Kansas City Beacon.
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.
On one side of the debate are employers – along with many workers with disabilities and their families – who say the point of sheltered workshops isn’t pay, but rather the community and sense of purpose for people who wouldn’t succeed in the traditional workforce. They worry that without wage-law exemptions, sheltered workshops will be forced to close.
On the other side, disability rights advocates argue the practice is outdated,...
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