SUPPLEMENTAL MATERIAL FOR GAO-25-106471: Employment Outcomes and Views of Former Subminimum Wage Workers
Government Accountability Office04/29/2025
Fast Facts
Federal law lets some employers pay people with disabilities less than minimum wage. Some states stopped allowing this. We looked at 2 states to find out what happened next. The states could track what happened to about 1,000 people. Almost half got new jobs.
This is an "Easy Read" version of our report. Easy Read is a way some groups make their written information easier to understand. For example, Easy Read documents use short sentences and plain language. They also put difficult words in bold and define them.
We published this version to make our report more accessible to certain people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
An Employee Uses a Grinding Machine for Less Than Minimum Wage
Highlights
This supplement is a companion to GAO's report entitled Subminimum Wage Program: Employment Outcomes and Views of Former Workers in Two States, GAO-25-106471. The purpose of this supplement is to provide an "Easy Read" version of the report. Easy Read reports are one way some groups make their written information easier to understand. For example, Easy Read documents use short sentences and plain language.
Some employers are allowed to pay wages below the federal minimum to people with disabilities. These jobs are called subminimum wage jobs. GAO found that 16 states have passed laws to end subminimum wage jobs. GAO looked at what happened in two of these states, Colorado and Oregon. GAO found that the states could not track what happened to all people who used to work in subminimum wage jobs. Of the people they could track, about half went to community or other jobs. The remaining people the states could track went to unpaid programs like day services or programs that offered job skills training.
GAO asked people and their caregivers in these two states about their experiences working in subminimum wage jobs and after subminimum wage jobs ended. They told GAO about both positive and challenging experiences they had in their subminimum wage jobs, as well as in community jobs. For both kinds of jobs, more people talked about positive experiences than challenges they had.
For more information, contact Elizabeth Curda at EWISInquiry@gao.gov.