YourVoice.Now Summary
Workers & JobsCivil LibertiesWorkers with disabilities 18 to 24 could be paid below minimum wage just by agreeing to the job.
Workers & Jobs
Schools cannot now sign up anyone 24 or younger for work programs that pay below minimum wage. The bill would drop that age limit to 17, so students 18 to 24 could join.
Today a worker 24 or younger must first get job help and apply for state rehab services. The bill would let anyone 18 or older skip those steps by choosing the job.
State agencies must give these workers career counseling twice in year one, then yearly. Under the bill, an employer that logs failed calls to the agency has met the rule.
Civil Liberties
The state agency keeps proof that a worker did the needed steps. Today the worker hands it over; the bill would have the state send the employer a copy.
More about this bill
If you are a young adult with a disability, your pay protection would change. Some employers hold a special federal certificate. It lets them pay workers with disabilities less than the federal minimum wage, which is $7.25 an hour today. Right now, workers 24 and younger must take two steps first. They must get job transition help. They must also apply for state rehab services. The bill would let a worker 18 or older qualify just by choosing to accept the job. The bill would loosen two more rules. Public schools could place students aged 18 to 24 in work programs that pay below minimum wage. Today that is barred for anyone 24 or younger. Employers would also meet the counseling rule by showing they asked the state agency for help and got none. That counseling is meant to point workers toward regular jobs. The changes would apply to work done on or after the day the bill becomes law.
Congressional Summary
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 subsequently fails to provide the counseling, information, and referrals.
Details
- Congress
- 119th
- Chamber
- House
- Status
- summarized
- Action
- Introduced in House
- Action Date
- 2026-05-12
- Date Added
- 2026-06-08
- Source
- Congress.gov →
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