News
The End of Subminimum Wage in SC
February 9, 2023
This week our Executive Director, Beth Franco, was excited to attend the ceremonial signing of bill s.533, the Joint Resolution that is bringing subminimum wage in SC to an end. Since 1938, employers have been allowed to pay people with disabilities less than the minimum wage of $7.25 an hour, sometimes as little as $1 an hour. It is estimated that 1,800 people with disabilities in the state are currently being paid a subminimum wage. People with disabilities and advocates have been working for years to end this practice and ensure that everyone in the state is paid a fair wage for the work they do. Now that the bill has been signed into law, a plan to phase out the subminimum wage by August 2024 will go into effect immediately. This law, combined with the Employment First Act that passed alongside it, is a major victory for people with disabilities seeking competitive and integrated employment in South Carolina.