SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- State contractors will have to start paying any disabled workers at least the minimum wage under a new executive order.
On Monday, Governor Pritzker signed an order banning state agencies from hiring vendors that don’t pay at least the state's minimum wage of $11 an hour to workers with disabilities.
"Every contract the State of Illinois enters from now on will ensure that people with disabilities receive a wage that affirms the value of their work," Pritzker said. "Sub-minimum wages need to go away, not just because of the inequality, it's also about dignity. The dignity of being paid a fair wage."
The Democrat said 80 percent of state contracts already pay the minimum wage to disabled workers.
Karen Tamley, CEO of Access Living, hopes other companies will follow suit.
"This is critically important in addressing the high rates of unemployment and underemployment in our community to keep people with disabilities in poverty at a rate twice as high," she said.
Meanwhile, Barry Taylor, with the group Equip for Equality, took it one step further and called on the legislature to require it for the private sector.
"We hope private companies and municipalities across Illinois will follow his lead and no longer enter into contracts where people with disabilities are treated as second-class citizens," he said.
Governor Pritzker is also requiring all state agencies to renegotiate existing contracts to ensure disabled workers get what he calls “the dignity of equal pay”.
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