For Immediate Release: July 10, 2025
Contact: Jess Davidson, jdavidson@aapd.com; 202-465-5528
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Between July 1 and 7, 2025, the US Department of Labor (DOL) announced a series of actions that, taken together, reveal an attempt to dismantle significant parts of the federal government’s disability employment infrastructure. AAPD is deeply concerned by and condemns these deliberate and dangerous efforts to roll back essential federal progress that ensures employment opportunities for people with disabilities.
On July 1, DOL proposed rescinding requirements within Section 503 of the Rehabilitation Act for federal contractors and subcontractors to strengthen their recruiting, hiring, and accommodating of disabled people. Finalized in 2014, the rule establishes an aspirational utilization goal of 7% for disability hiring so that federal contractors have a benchmark to measure their disability hiring against. DOL also proposed removing a requirement for federal contractors to encourage voluntary disclosure of disability amongst their employees and job applicants. Federal contractors include any business that contracts with the federal government to provide or administer goods or services. Federal contractors employ close to 4 million people, making this one of the largest workforces in the country. Also, on July 2, DOL proposed ending a similar 7% utilization goal and voluntary disability self-disclosure requirement in apprenticeship programs. These requirements are within the Equal Employment Opportunity regulations. Registered apprenticeships have been consistently shown to be pathways to jobs that provide high degrees of economic security and help employers develop the skilled talent they need. Over a billion dollars have been invested in registered apprenticeships in recent years, more than doubling the number of apprentices in the workforce over the past decade.
On July 7, DOL formally withdrew a proposed regulation that would have ended its program to allow employers to pay people with disabilities less than the federal minimum wage, also known as subminimum wage. Currently, Section 14(c) of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) of 1938 allows employers to apply for certificates that permit them to pay employees with disabilities subminimum wage. The certificates are referred to as “14(c) certificates” and are issued by the Department of Labor.
Disabled employees of 14(c) certificate holders complete the same workplace tasks as their nondisabled peers but are not paid equally for their work. As of 2019, a majority of 14(c) employees earned less than $3.40 an hour, $53.44 per week, and only $213.76 per month. Many are paid as little as $0.25 an hour. These workers are often segregated from their nondisabled colleagues and do not receive opportunities for career advancement or development. AAPD strongly supported the Biden-era proposal to end subminimum wage and organized comments and stories from the disability community highlighting the ways in which people with disabilities experienced discrimination as a result of 14c and sharing examples of successful transitions into competitive, integrated employment opportunities. AAPD’s petition in support of ending subminimum wage received thousands of signatures.
“While directing Congress to cut $1 trillion from Medicaid at the President’s behest, the Trump Administration has committed three additional devastating blows to disability employment in the United States,” said Maria Town, AAPD President and CEO. “Disabled people are better positioned to reach our highest potential when we are granted the opportunity to compete for employment and given the fair wages, accommodations, and support services we need. The Department of Labor’s new regulatory proposals make it far harder for disabled workers in the United States to access those very equal employment opportunity tools.”
Town explained: “Apprenticeship programs are one of the most effective tools for bridging the disability employment gap, and the voluntary self-disclosure efforts established since the creation of these rules have significantly increased the number of disabled workers in apprenticeship programs. By ending voluntary self-disclosure affirmative action requirements in apprenticeship programs, the Department of Labor is tearing apart a critical piece of disabled Americans’ career development pipeline.
By taking action to end the Section 503 disability hiring 7% utilization goal for federal contractors, the Department of Labor is limiting disabled Americans’ employment opportunities.
Working-age adults with disabilities are twice as likely to live in poverty. There is no minimum wage requirement for 14(c) certificate holders, meaning participating employers can pay their disabled employees as little as the employer wants, even though the disabled usually complete the exact same tasks as their non-disabled peers. By halting the proposed rule to end subminimum wage, the Department of Labor is maintaining wage inequity and exploitation for disabled people working under 14(c) certificates.”
Town continued, “It is especially insulting that the Trump administration has justified removing the 7% disability hiring aspirational goal for apprenticeships and federal contractors by claiming such requirements may violate the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). These requirements were created to strengthen ADA enforcement. Among the ADA’s primary goals are disability nondiscrimination and equal opportunity in employment. This administration is marking the 35th Anniversary of the ADA by weaponizing the landmark disability rights achievement against disabled Americans to justify state-sanctioned denial of opportunity.”
“When combined, the Trump administration is taking significant action to make it harder for disabled people to work and achieve economic self-sufficiency. For many disabled workers, ableist underestimations of their capacity and sheltered workshops are the very things preventing career advancement. What we need to improve disabled people’s economic self-sufficiency and security is not charity, it is greater enforcement of our civil rights and advancement of fair labor practices,” Town concluded.
AAPD calls on Congress to reintroduce and pass the Transformation to Competitive Integrated Employment Act, which would phase out the sub-minimum wage and support states and employers in transitioning their programs.
AAPD also calls on disabled people and our allies to submit comments urging the Trump Administration not to move forward with proposals to end voluntary self-disclosure affirmative action requirements in apprenticeship programs and federal contracts.