JEFFERSON CITY — Missouri's sheltered workshops are getting a pay raise from the state.
Under a 2007 law, the state's reimbursement rate to sheltered workshops rose by $5 this past week to $90 per worker each week. The rate is scheduled to go up again next summer as the final part of a four-year increase.
About 5,600 mentally disabled Missourians are employed in dozens of sheltered workshops around the state. They're paid below minimum wage to perform basic tasks such as shredding documents or packaging products for other companies.
The state's higher reimbursement rate is paid to the workshop owners. It does not necessarily mean workers will receive a similarly sized pay raise.