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Dignified and meaningful employment
for people with disabilities

Question No. 1:

How many times a year do I have to evaluate my employees in the workshop?

Answer:  If your certified employees are paid piece rates, you will not have to evaluate them, but you will still need to pay them commensurate wages.

If you have certified employees that are paid hourly rates, you must:

1. W hen the employee first starts work, an initial evaluation of the worker’s productivity shall be made within the first month after employment begins in order to determine the worker’s commensurate wage rate.  The results of the evaluation shall be recorded and the worker’s wages shall be adjusted accordingly no later than the first complete pay period following the initial evaluation.  Each worker is entitled to commensurate wags for all hours worked.  Where the wages paid to the worker during pay periods prior to the initial evaluation were less than the commensurate wage indicated by the evaluation, the employer must compensate the worker for any such difference unless it can be demonstrated that the initial payments reflected the commensurate wage due at that time.

2. Upon completion of not more than six months of employment, a review shall be made with respect to the quantity and quality of work of each hourly-rated worker with a disability as compared to that of non-disabled workers engaged in similar work or work requiring similar skills and the findings shall be recorded.  The worker’s productivity shall then be reviewed and the findings recorded at least every 6 months thereafter.  A review and recording of productivity shall also be made after a worker changes jobs and at least every 6 months thereafter.  The worker’s wages shall be adjusted accordingly no later than the first complete pay period following each review.  Conducting reviews at six-month intervals should be viewed as a minimum requirement since workers with disabilities are entitled to commensurate wages for all hours worked.  Reviews must be conducted in a manner and frequency to insure payment of commensurate wages.  For example, evaluations should not be conducted before a worker has had an opportunity to become familiar with the job or at a time when the worker is fatigued or subject to conditions that result in less than normal productivity.

Each review should contain, as a minimum and in addition to the data cited above, the following:  Name of the individual being reviewed

Date and time of the review

Name and position of the individual doing the review

Reference: Employment of Workers with Disabilities Under Special Certificates
Regulations:  Part 525, Section 525.12

Question #2: If I conduct a prevailing wage survey, can I wait until my year is up to adjusting the piece rates?

Answer: If a prevailing wage survey is completed, it must be implemented as soon as it is completed. If not, there would be a back wage liability from the time of the complete prevailing wage survey.

Question #3: When is my annual audit due? What happens if I don’t get it to DESE in the appropriate time?

Answer: A workshop’s annual audit is due in the Jefferson City office no later than 4 months after their fiscal year ends.

For example, if XYZ Workshop’s fiscal year ends on Dec. 31, 2006; then their annual audit is due no later than April 30,2007. If it is not received, the workshop is not a proper agency of the state and State Aid cannot and will not be paid. 

Question #4: How often is my D.O.L. certificate due?

Answer: Your D.O.L. certificate is due every 2 years. It is the workshop’s responsibility to apply for this certificate at that time and not the D.O.L. Wage and Hour’s responsibility to send out notification of the expiring certificate.

Question #5: Can my certified employees be used in a time study?

Answer: Yes, if the employee is not disabled for the type of work to be time studied, he or she can be used to set the production standards for the job. “If stop watch time studies are made, they shall be made with a person or persons whose productivity represents normal or near normal performance. If their productivity does not represent normal or near normal performance, adjustments of performance shall be made.” (p.3, 525.12, 2, i)