§ 525.21 Lowering of wage rates.

(a) No employer may reduce the minimum hourly wage rate, guaranteed by a special minimum wage certificate in effect on June 1, 1986, of any worker with disabilities from June 1, 1986 until May 31, 1988, without prior authorization of the Secretary.

(b) This provision applies to those workers with disabilities who were:

(1) Employed during the pay period which included June 1, 1986, even if no work was performed during that pay period; and

(2) Employed under a group or individual special minimum wage certificate which specified a minimum guaranteed rate, i.e., a special certificate issued under former section 14(c) (1) or (2)(b) of FLSA.

(c) In order to obtain authority to lower the wage rate of a worker with a disability to whom this provision applies to a rate below the certificate rate, the employer must submit information as prescribed under this section to the appropriate Regional Office. The burden of establishing the necessity of lowering the wage of a worker with a disability rests with the employer.

(d) In reviewing a request to lower a wage rate of a worker with a disability, documented evidence of the following will be considered:

(1) Any change in the worker's disabling condition which has a substantially negative impact on productive capacity;

(2) Any change in the type of work being performed in the facility which would affect the productivity of the worker with a disability or which would result in the application of a lower prevailing wage rate;

(3) Any change in general economic conditions in the locality in which the work is performed which results in lower prevailing wage rates.

(e) A wage rate may not be lowered until authorization is obtained.