Employers are now allowed by law to pay workers with disabilities half or even one-third of the minimum wage, based on their work ability.

The new regulations, which will go into effect on Wednesday, were intended to encourage the employment of disabled people, but leaders of disabled groups are objecting to the changes.

"It's saying we're worth less than other people," says the disabled organization's campaign spokesman, Yoav Krime. "There are also people without disabilities whose productivity is low yet nobody suggests reducing their minimum wage."

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Approved by the Knesset four years ago, the regulations stipulate that a disabled person may ask the Industry, Trade and Employment Ministry for a permit to earn less than the legal minimum pay of NIS 19.28 per hour.

The disabled person's pay would be determined according to his work ability and be set at a third, half, three-quarters or all of the minimum wage.

The program will be operated by Taldor, the company that won the tender, and work ability diagnosis will be held at Beit Levenstein.

The companies will be obliged to provide information about the workers' progress, and the ministry intends to add professional training to the program to improve their earning ability.

"Our goal is to reduce the gap between their wages and minimum wage as much as possible," says Benny Pepperman, head of the Manpower Planning Authority at the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Employment. He is also in charge of integrating handicapped people into the work force.

"I hope we succeed to match the handicapped people's abilities with the work requirements, among other things, by enforcing the regulations," he says.

Occupational psychologists and occupational therapists will carry out the diagnoses at the work place.

The program targets some 75 percent of the severely disabled who are unemployed and those employed at an average of NIS 12 per hour.

Pepperman, who is authorized to approve or reject the wage change requests, estimates that 10,000 to 15,000 people will apply.

He believes that 10 percent to 15 percent of the disabled workers will receive a wage increase, but a few may be dismissed, since they are paid even less than a third of the minimum wage, and their employers refuse to raise their pay.

At the disabled people's organizations' request, the regulations were formulated to protect the workers. For example, they stipulate that only the disabled person can ask for reduced minimum pay.

The program's opponents such as the disabled groups leaders say it is easy to manipulate workers who are afraid to lose their jobs, especially those who are mentally retarded, particularly when there are so few jobs available for disabled people.

Bizchut - The Israel Human Rights Center for People With Disabilities, which supported the ordinances at the time, fear that employers will use the loophole in the minimum wage law.

They promise to help anyone who feels discriminated against by the new arrangement, or whose employer forces him to ask for a lower wage.