Last December, WMRA reported on the end of Virginia's subminimum wage program. WMRA's Randi B. Hagi now brings you an interview with one family who's been affected by this change.
The federal 14(c) program authorizes certain employers to pay their workers less than the minimum wage. It's primarily applied to those with disabilities, those whom an employer can document perform piecemeal tasks at a lower productivity rate than a so-called 'average worker.' Virginia is sunsetting this program – no longer issuing new 14(c) certificates, and requiring the six remaining companies that hold them to pay at least minimum wage by 2030.
As we reported previously, some employers have chosen to leave the program voluntarily over the past few years. Representatives from two of these facilities, Friendship Industries in Harrisonburg and Vector Industries in Waynesboro, both said that while the program was no longer right for them, its elimination creates a void for people who have a disability that impedes their getting a job paying minimum wage.
That's what happened to one Rockingham County family that spoke with WMRA. Al and Susan Clague are in their 70s, both retired. Al was the director of plating and surface finishing, environmental manager, and safety coordinator at Virginia Panel Corporation. Susan was a learning disability specialist with Rockingham County Public Schools. Their son, Allen, is 38, and previously worked for Friendship Industries. Allen lives with his parents and gave them permission to speak with me about his work.
SUSAN CLAGUE: He started working while he was in high school … and then as soon as he graduated, he just transitioned into full time work at Friendship. … He worked on these kits that they put in airplanes … some kind of a safety kit. … They used to do stuff with books, and he's very strong so he would lift all the books.
Allen started out making around three or four dollars an hour, and earned raises up to five-and-a-half dollars an hour. His parents watched his work hours so he wouldn't make so much money that he jeopardized his social security benefits or Medicaid.
AL CLAGUE: The exact number was, for Allen, that we were in bad territory if he was grossing over $850 a month.
Medicaid covers both his health insurance and a developmental disability waiver. According to the local Community Services Board, these waivers are available to people who have a diagnosis such as autism spectrum disorder, cerebral palsy, vision impairment, and traumatic brain injury, to name a few.
SUSAN CLAGUE: So, we got on the list when he was 16, and we waited until he was 26 to get a waiver. And what a waiver does is it opens funding sources. … Allen has a fellow that comes to our house three times a week and works with him, takes him out into the community, and supervises him here doing things in the house.
They said working at Friendship Industries wasn't about making a living for Allen.
SUSAN CLAGUE: It was the socialization and the community there – that was the most important to Allen. Not the money that he made. … In a regular job, people will be nice to Allen, but he's different, and so he doesn't establish those friendships like he did at Friendship Industries. Those are people that he considers his peer group. His friends.
Allen was first separated from that community during the COVID pandemic. His parents pulled him out of work when the disease started spreading locally in 2020. Then, Friendship Industries shut down operations during part of quarantine.
AL CLAGUE: They lost some of their contracts during that COVID period, so they were looking for new contracts. So the hold factor was, well, "when we get tasks that are suited to this employee or that employee, we will call you back in and train you." And it just, for Allen, it didn't really materialize.
Friendship sent letters to Allen in 2021, citing supply chain limitations for the delay in bringing everyone back to work. Then, in March of 2022, they sent a separation letter, saying, "at this point in the pandemic we were hoping to be able to recall furloughed employees. Unfortunately, we have lost work contracts. We do not have work to bring you back to and do not see this condition changing."
Allen has five or six close friends from work, none of whom returned to Friendship Industries after quarantine. They stay in touch on social media and through Special Olympics, but Al and Susan have been discussing –
AL CLAGUE: … what we might do to fill that social vacuum up a little bit. I think probably the best situation might actually be a volunteer job. … It would be very nice if he had contacts there that were on the same level, or people that he could relate to, or people that would not just be friendly, but really, a friend.
They believe Virginia should bring back something like the subminimum wage program.
SUSAN CLAGUE: Definitely.
AL CLAGUE: Absolutely.
SUSAN CLAGUE: There are a lot of people out there that would love a job, and love that interaction of the community.
The Virginia Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services reports that, as of last June, about one out of four people ages 18-64 with DD waivers (or on the waitlist) are employed. That figure is only now back to pre-pandemic levels after dropping to 17% in 2020.
