Alaskan employers will no longer be able to pay less than the minimum wage to employees who experience disabilities, following the repeal of a decades-old regulation.

The Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development said the repeal came into effect Friday and made Alaska one of three states to eliminate payment of sub-minimum wages for persons with disabilities.

“Workers who experience disabilities are valued members of Alaska’s workforce,” said Department of Labor and Workforce Development Acting Commissioner Greg Cashen.

The exemption from paying the minimum wage to persons with disabilities has existed across the country since the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 and in Alaska, since 1978.