Restoration of Employment Choice for Adults with Disabilities Act
Key claim: This bill would eliminate pre-employment training prerequisites for disabled workers aged 24 and younger to take subminimum-wage jobs and ease employer compliance requirements for state-provided career counseling.
Abstract
(HR1296 · 118th Congress) Restoration of Employment Choice for Adults with Disabilities Act This bill relaxes requirements that allow entities with a special wage certificate to pay subminimum wages to individuals with disabilities. Specifically, the bill eliminates a requirement that an individual with a disability who is age 24 or younger receive pre-employment transition services and meet specified vocational rehabilitation criteria before beginning subminimum wage work. The bill also relaxes career counseling and service referral requirements that apply to an individual with a disability who is paid at a subminimum wage. Current law requires an entity to ensure that an individual employed at subminimum wage receives periodic career counseling, information, and referrals to other services from the designated state agency. Under the bill, this requirement is met if the employer makes a documented effort to contact the state agency for those resources on behalf of the employee, and the state agency fails to provide the counseling, information, and referrals. Latest action (2023-03-01): Referred to the House Committee on Education and the Workforce.
Why this matters
For workers with disabilities aged 24 and younger, the proposal would remove training prerequisites for entering subminimum-wage jobs, while easing employers’ compliance requirements concerning state-provided career counseling. The policy question balances access to these employment options against safeguards intended to support access to competitive employment. The bill remains introduced, so it has not changed existing requirements.