Employment

A major federal program that facilitates jobs for people with disabilities working on government contracts will soon no longer allow them to be paid less than minimum wage. Read the full story HERE

Nine federal agencies are coming together to encourage state and local governments to do more to ensure that people with disabilities can access and succeed in competitive integrated employment. Read the full story HERE

BATON ROUGE, La. — Benson Capital Partners, the venture capital firm created in 2019 by New Orleans Saints and Pelicans Owner Gayle Benson, is helping to grow a New Orleans-based startup designed to make it easier for the disability community to find employment. The startup, called Inclusively, is an online platform that matches job seekers with job openings. What’s unique about Inclusively is that it enables users with disabilities to filter for specific workplace accommodat

Disability advocacy groups are calling on the federal government to stop issuing any new certificates authorizing employers to pay people with disabilities less than minimum wage. Under a law dating back to the 1930s, employers can obtain special certificates from the U.S. Department of Labor allowing them to pay workers with disabilities less than the federal minimum of $7.25 per hour. As a result, some individuals earn just pennies per hour. Read the full story HERE

ST. PAUL, Minn. — Amanda Athman helped pick up the mobile chicken coop at 21 Roots Farm in Grant and move it to a fresh patch of grass just south of the farm’s apple orchard. Athman knew just how fast to push the coop so that the squawking chickens could keep up. She then found a spot for the chickens’ “dust bath” — a blue plastic tub full of dirt. A regular dust bath, she explained, helps keep their feathers clean by controlling parasites and preventing oil buildup. Athman,

With big changes under consideration, federal officials want to hear from workers with disabilities about their experiences with a program that allows employers to pay them less than minimum wage. The U.S. Department of Labor is launching a “series of stakeholder engagement sessions” as it embarks on a “comprehensive review” of what’s known as the Section 14(c) program. Read the full story HERE