Brussels,
EMPL/A/ D(2005)
EMCO/11/290605
As a follow up of the European Year of People with disabilities and as
announced in the Communication "Equal opportunities for people with
disabilities: A European action plan" , the European Commission proposed to
draft a working paper about disability mainstreaming in the European
Employment Strategy (EES). The EES has since its start in 1997 paid particular
attention to disadvantaged people who run a high risk of exclusion from the
labour market. People with disabilities are one of the groups who are
disadvantaged in most Member States as regards participation in the labour
market.
Following the launch of the first series of employment guidelines in the framework of the EES in 1997, the Commission analysed which were the main challenges with regard to raising the employment levels of people with disabilities and how Member States responded to the needs of disabled people in their National Action Plans (NAPs). The evaluation of the first five years of the EES demonstrated that active measures and anti-discrimination policies had been stimulated under the EES, but remained inconclusive as to their impact on the labour market situation of disadvantaged people. In order to effectively narrow the employment gap, there was a continued need for tailored measures and comprehensive approaches involving both the supply and the demand side of the labour market.
Meanwhile, a number of important recent developments in the area of employment and social policies, in particular the refocusing of the Lisbon Strategy and the forthcoming start of a new period of Employment Guidelines (2005-2008) give rise to take again a closer look at the relevance of the EES for disabled people. It should also be noted that the new Employment Guidelines are part of an Integrated Guidelines package also comprising macroeconomic and microeconomic guidelines. Disability mainstreaming has direct relevance for some of the microeconomic guidelines, especially those related to the use of ICT and having a fully inclusive information society.
The purpose of the present paper is to underline the importance of Member States addressing, in the context of the revised EES, the specific impediments faced by people with disabilities as regards labour market participation. It also presents a number of good practices in this field which have already been developed by Member States in this area, often with the support of the European Social Fund (ESF) or the Community Initiative EQUAL.
This could provide guidance and inspiration for other Member States on how to design more effective policies addressing the particular labour market needs of disabled people, with a view to the forthcoming ESF programming period 2007-2013 which includes a priority on reinforcing social inclusion of people at a disadvantage through the promotion of pathways to integration in employment for disabled people.
The involvement of the Social Partners in all effort to improve the integration of disabled people into the labour market is equally important. Their recent initiatives at national level in this field include i.a. the sharing of best practices in Austria, recommendations for government policy in the UK and the establishment of a percentage target of disabled employees in the public sector in Denmark.
The considerations in this paper follow the principle of mainstreaming, which can be defined as the systematic consideration of the specific needs of disabled people which have to be respected when setting up any measures in policies aimed at the promotion of employment.
In preparation of the paper, DG EMPL conducted a survey among the members of
the MISEP network, the European Social Partners and EU NGO's active in the
field of disability, asking for examples of good practices on disability
mainstreaming.
The working paper consists of two parts: the first, short, exploring in more
detail the concept of mainstreaming and highlighting its strong potential to
influence policy making and to improve the situation of people with
disabilities (chapter II), and the second, examining how the Employment
Guidelines can be concretely implemented in order to develop a mainstream
approach addressing disabled people in employment policies.
In its policies for disadvantaged groups, the Commission follows the approach of mainstreaming. Mainstreaming means that the needs of disadvantaged people need to be taken into account in the design of all policies and measures, and that action for disadvantaged people is not limited to those policies and measures which are specifically addressing their needs. As a consequence of this mainstreaming approach, the Commission's policy guidelines address the issue of policies for disadvantaged groups in a broad sense, but do not spell out detailed policy proposals addressing the needs of the different groups of disadvantaged people. It is then up to the Member States to ensure, in the setting up of their national policies responding to Commission guidelines, that these policies and the subsequent actions taken will be fully accessible to disadvantaged people.
The legal background for the need to apply the principle of mainstreaming in
policies is to be found in the EU directive against discrimination prohibiting
discrimination in employment and occupation on the grounds of religion and
belief, disability, age and sexual orientation. The Directive prohibits any
discrimination - be it direct or indirect on all grounds mentioned - in
employment and occupation, defined as access to employment, self-employment
and occupation, vocational guidance and training, employment and working
conditions including dismissal and pay, and membership of organisations.
With regard to disability in particular, the Directive (2000/78/EC) is in many
ways a ground-breaking piece of legislation. It has and will require major
changes to existing rules in certain Member States. Employers – public and
private – will be obliged to accommodate the needs of people with disabilities
to ensure that they have an equal opportunity to compete on the labour market.
Failure to provide a reasonable accommodation in the workplace can constitute
discrimination. In practical terms such accommodation includes measures to
adapt the workplace to people with disabilities, for example adapting premises
and equipment, patterns of working time etc. in order to facilitate their
access to employment.
The Directive expands the concept of discrimination in respect of disability in that employers must not only refrain from discriminating but also must take steps to accommodate people with disabilities in the workplace to ensure that they are treated equally. This concept of reasonable accommodation is the keystone of fighting discrimination on the grounds of disability. Reasonable accommodation is not a positive action left to the discretion of public or private operators, but an obligation whose failure can constitute unfair discrimination.
The mainstreaming approach is of course not only relevant for people with disabilities. The concept has already been applied for several decades in the field of gender equality. Also other groups such as migrants and ethnic minorities, low skilled, ex-prisoners, and other disadvantaged groups could benefit from this approach. In this context, it is particularly interesting to consider the employment rates of prime-age highly educated men (age 25-49) in the Member States . In all Member States except Sweden (87.4%), the employment rate of this group was either about, or more than, 90% in 2004. This means that, in order to achieve the Lisbon employment targets, vulnerable groups need to be better integrated into the labour market. For efficiency and equity reasons, the promotion of the mainstreaming approach should target simultaneously all relevant vulnerable groups.
Reflecting the revised Lisbon Strategy, the new Employment Guidelines identify three core objectives which Member States' policies shall foster in a balanced manner: achieving full employment, improving quality and productivity at work and strengthening social and territorial cohesion:
Guideline 16: Implement employment policies aiming at achieving full employment, improving quality and productivity at work, and strengthening social and territorial cohesion.
These core objectives are of general relevance with regard to the situation of disabled people in the labour market.
Full employment
As one in six of the EU working-age population has a disability of some sort and given the low employment rate of this group, increasing the employment rate of disabled people contributes significantly to the Lisbon objective of an employment rate of 70% by 2010. People with disabilities are a much-underused source of labour in Europe, which could contribute to overall economic growth. Raising employment and participation rates are vital for economic growth and social inclusion. This requires a good supply of labour and calls for a broad policy mix incorporating both demand and supply side measures.
Improving quality and productivity at work
Not just more jobs, but better quality jobs, as was called for by the Council of Ministers at Lisbon and reconfirmed in Brussels in April 2005 should be pursued. This includes, in particular, satisfaction with pay and working conditions, health and safety at the work place, the availability of flexible work organisation, working time arrangements and the balance between flexibility and security.
This is in particular relevant for disabled people as a survey carried out by European and national disability organisations showed that disabled workers are more likely to be in low paid jobs and are often discriminated against in access to training and career promotion.
Only 15.7% of working-age people with disabilities in the EU 15 and 11.4% of those in the New Member States, who faced work restrictions (as regards the type of work, the amount of work, or mobility to and from work), were provided with some assistance to work in 2002 . However, 43.7% of non-working persons with disabilities consider that they would need some form of assistance to work.
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Table 1: Working disabled persons with restrictions receiving assistance to
work (%) in 2002.
% receiving assistance to work 15.7 EU15 / 11.4 New MS
Type of assistance provided to work
Kind of work 37.1 EU15 / 51.5 New MS
Amount of work 13.1 EU15 / 33.3 New MS
Mobility to get to and from work 6.4 EU15 / 1.6 New MS
Mobility at work 2.7 EU15 / 3.3 New MS
Support and understanding by superiors and colleagues 14.8 EU15 /
6.1 New MS
Other 26.0 EU15 / 4.2 New MS
All 100.0 EU15 / 100.0 New MS
It is important to keep in mind that most people become disabled during their
working lives and yet relatively very few return to work but go instead onto
benefits, which constitute a substantial amount in Member States' social
budgets . In order to change this practice, employers should support their
employees who become disabled in the course of their working career. Positive
actions such as a period of leave combined with further training, change of
their job descriptions or alternative assignments should be envisaged before
considering the person to be invalid. In this context, it is important to
propose these measures at an early stage.
Measures to address this issue should therefore include, among others, initiatives targeted at employers to ensure that their human resource policies also take more and better account of the needs of disabled employees.
Strengthening social and territorial cohesion
Most social expenditure on health and social policies represents an investment in human resources with positive economic effects. Social policies should have sufficient financial resources in order to contribute to an increased labour supply and to be able to alleviate the difficulties faced by disabled people in accessing or remaining in the labour market.
Access to a job, ensuring opportunities to acquire the skills necessary to
facilitate participation in the labour market and remain in the labour market
(reflecting in particular the wide use of ICT and the move towards a
knowledge-based society), and the possibility to progress in terms of pay and
qualifications are major factors for promoting social inclusion.
The Guidelines stress the need that Member States, in taking action, should
ensure good governance of employment policies. Implementing disability
mainstreaming in an effective way requires the active participation of
employers, trade unions, public authorities, civil society and other relevant
actors. This active participation should be organised in a systematic and
structural way in order to ensure continuity in the pursuit of this important
goal.
One of the most striking points from a survey among 24 Development Partnerships (DPs) under the EQUAL programme was that more than half of the DPs mentioned their composition and cooperative work as being the most important element in their achievement of good practice. The survey showed that the principle factor of success is often a very strong co-operation among public and private health and rehabilitation bodies, training organisations and enterprises' associations.
Examples Access Ability in Dublin is an EQUAL DP with the
mission to maximise employment opportunities for disabled people
by addressing the structural, attitudinal and policy issues wihich
currently prevent employers from recognising the abilities of individuals.
It has created a comprehensive package of services for employers
that enables them to take on a person with a disability without
any attendant concerns or administrative inconveniences by providing
a complete package of training and consultancy services.
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In the new guidelines, three priorities have been identified on which action
should concentrate in order to address the policy objectives:
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Attract and retain more people in employment, increase labour supply and
modernise social protection systems
Improve adaptability of workers and enterprises
Increase investment in human capital through better education and skills
The guidelines corresponding to these priorities bear a great potential for
introducing the mainstream disability approach in policies and measures that
will be formulated by Member States when addressing these guidelines.
Following is an analysis of each of the guidelines in this respect with
examples of Member States practices.
People with disabilities constitute a group which could offer extra labour supply. This becomes even more relevant since the share of the working-age population is decreasing due to demographic trends. In this context, it is important that policies target both people with disabilities looking actively for a job as well as people with disabilities who have given up the job search.
Policy makers and labour organizations should be aware that disabled women are at risk of double or multiple discriminations and therefore require special attention. Gender policies should take this element into account in order mutually to reinforce policies for disability mainstreaming.
As regards reconciliation of work and private life, the provision of care services for people with disabilities should be available in order to allow workers having a family member with a disability to continue to work. These provisions should be gender neutral in the sense that working men should also be encouraged to take advantage of these opportunities for leave or reduced working time to care for a relative with a disability.
Example:The project "Developing entrepreneurship among women with disabilities in the Baltic States" managed by the Latvian Association of Disabled Women aims to promote the economic empowerment of women with disabilities in the Baltic States through the development of a small enterprise development strategy which specifically targets this group. The preliminary phase of the project involves the commissioning of a situation analysis on women with disabilities in small enterprises or those who wish to enter small enterprises in the selected countries. In addition to the situation analysis, case studies of successful women entrepreneurs with disabilities will be compiled.
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In many Members States the benefit system provides few incentives for people
with disabilities to start working due to the benefit trap and/or the risk of
being excluded from the benefit system if they are not able to continue
working. Therefore disability benefit systems should be reformed to make work
attractive by for example continuing the payment of (reduced) benefits in case
of work uptake. In addition, the disability benefit system should allow
disabled people to return to disability pensions after a trial work period.
People with disabilities should also be able to receive accurate information
about the implications on their benefits status if they pick up a job.
Examples:Under the Irish "Back to Work Scheme" managed by the Irish Department of Social and Family Affairs, people on long-term illness and disability payments are allowed to retain a portion of their social security payment, in addition to their wages, when they move into full-time employment. The scheme is designed to provide a financial cushion to people getting long-term illness and disability payments who return to work for a minimum of 20 hours a week. In addition to their wage, participants can retain a percentage of their weekly social security payment for up to 3 years (75% in the first year, 50% in the second year and 25% in the third year). Secondary benefits may also be retained, subject to certain conditions. People taking up self-employment can retain their social security payment for a 4-year period (starting at 100% for the first year). The UK has two particular programmes: the New Deal for Disabled People (NDDP) and a complementary programme called 'Pathways to Work'. Reforms have been introduced to provide more advice to incapacity benefits (IncapB) recipients with mandatory interviews and the appointment of personal advisors. The related pilot exercise 'Pathways to Work' is being rigorously evaluated and early indications are that in the pilot areas, there is improved job entry performance. New Jobcentre Plus offices are coming on line thus strengthening the capacity of the New Deal for Disabled People (NDDP). The Danish 'Flex jobs' scheme permits disabled employees with reduced capacity
to work to integrate into the labour market on a equal basis with non-disabled
workers. |
Although the disability perspective should be mainstreamed in employment
policy and other relevant policy fields, complementary disability-specific
measures are still needed to prevent any forms of discrimination and to break
down barriers to the regular labour market as well as to provide support for
people with disabilities who take part in mainstream programmes.
In addition to the transposition of the EU directive on equal treatment in employment and training, Member States should consider the opportunity to introduce more favourable provisions than those imposed by the Directive in order to eradicate discrimination. An example of more favourable provisions is the obligation for large organisations to draft an equality plan.
Awareness raising actions underlining the benefits of a diversified society and workplace should be intensively developed in order to reach all relevant actors.
Example:As part of the activities of the Austrian Federal Ministry of Education,
Science and Culture (BMBWK) for the EU Year of Persons with Disabilities
(2003), department II conducted a survey in November 2003 on the topic of
“vocational training for young people”. The aim of this survey is to hold a
public discussion between school and extra-school partners on the existing
possibilities in educational establishments and enterprises for providing
disabled young people with the skills they need in order to exercise an
occupation. A panel discussion will give social partners, representatives of
schools and school authorities, organisations representing disabled people and
ministries the opportunity to air their views on how models of choosing an
occupation, vocational training and placement can help to improve the chances
of disabled young people on the labour market. These models will be presented
in more detail and discussed with a group of experts from education and
business circles in the ensuing study groups. |
Employment services should in a proactive way take into account the heterogeneous needs of people with disabilities and be accessible for them. This means that employment offices and services should be fully accessible and moreover that their information and communication actions should be adapted to disabled jobseekers. When necessary, personal support should be available. In addition, in order to ensure that these services take into account the needs of people with disabilities, it is necessary to develop disability awareness training for both staff and managers.
It is also important that employment measures are regularly assessed from a disability perspective and that the impact of the measure on the situation of disabled workers is evaluated.
Indicators to assess the impact on disabled people should be put in place. A good indicator could be the percentage of disabled participants in a particular employment scheme as well as the inflow rate into employment compared to inflow rate of non-disabled participants after finishing an employment scheme. The data collection should be done in a systematic way.
Examples:A 9-day course for training employment consultants in the Czech Union for supported employment organized by the Training and Information Centre of the Czech Union for supported employment aims at improving the skills and competences of employment consultants in counselling disabled people. The Irish public employment service FAS manages a grant scheme for job seekers who are deaf or who have a speech impairment and are attending job interviews. These job seekers may apply for funding to have a sign language interpreter to attend the interview.
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Mobilisation of local communities in increasing employment is crucial. Local
authorities and organizations operating at the local level are best placed to
translate national and regional strategies into action on the ground. Local
actors can also best understand local conditions, aspirations and needs
regarding the situation of people with disabilities. Moreover, it is at the
local level that most services are provided to help integrate people with
disabilities into the labour market and into society. Therefore the principle
of mainstreaming should be considered as a key priority for organizations
active at the local level.
The social economy is an important generator of employment and can provide many employment opportunities for people with disabilities. Employment in the social economy often allows greater flexibility and individualised support, which contribute to eliminating barriers to employment for disabled persons.
Examples:Hungarian labour centres can launch so-called integrated labour market programmes based on local needs and promoting the employment of disadvantaged groups, including people with disabilities. These programmes build upon a synergy of employment services and other active measures, and allow for a flexible combination of training, subsidised employment and psycho-social support services adapted to the needs of the target group. The recently adopted Lithuanian law on social enterprises aims to improve employment opportunities for persons from disadvantaged groups. 40% of employed workers in social enterprises should be persons from disadvantaged groups such as lone parents, older people, disabled people, long-term unemployed, etc. The wage compensation is 50% of the gross salary and 60% for people with severe disabilities. This support is limited to one year except for people with disabilities who may receive it for longer periods. Social enterprises with no less than 50% of disabled workers can have the status "social enterprise for disabled" and in this case can receive additional State financial support, notably for the adaptation of work premises, for administrative expenditures and transport costs and for personal assistance. |
Guideline 20: Promote flexibility combined with employment security and
reduce labour market segmentation, having due regard to the role of social
partners
Guideline 21: Ensure employment-friendly labour cost developments and
wage-setting mechanisms
Initiatives at workplace level for flexible, individual based solutions in terms of working hours, work place adaptation and access to technological assistance, all facilitate employment for disabled people. In many cases, these adaptations lead to no or only few additional costs.
It should be underlined that the EU directive on equal treatment in Employment and Training obliges employers to provide reasonable accommodation. Taking into account the disability perspective as from the conception of a project, will reduce the need for further adjustments. Training measures on accessibility targeted at architects and engineers would in this perspective be very useful.
The above-mentioned initiatives should be implemented in cooperation between the employers and employees. The social partners have therefore a crucial role to play in increasing the adaptability of the workplace.
Corporate social responsibility often includes actions in favour of disabled people and provides a positive contribution to breaking down barriers in access to the labour market for people with disabilities and in changing the attitudes of employers and co-workers. CSR initiatives should receive the necessary attention and be followed on a large scale in order to use their full potential.
The fight against accidents at work should be further increased. It is also important to pay more attention to situations where the safety of a person may be in danger due to her/his disability.
Job retention schemes are important for people who become disabled during their working life. Innovative and flexible forms of work organisation can contribute to achieve this goal.
Examples:A special grant is available from the Irish public employment services FAS for employers in the private sector to re-train workers who acquire a disability in the course of their working lives so that they can continue to work in the same company. The grant is supported by a significant national media advertising campaign. In Spain, income tax credits are granted to disabled workers. |
Many disabled people are helped to work by other people in their daily life.
Given the tax and benefits structure, these jobs are often not declared. Tax
and benefit systems should therefore provide incentives to transform these
jobs into regular employment. Regular employment does not only provide an
increased social protection, but often leads also to more training
opportunities for the employees concerned, which would also be beneficial for
disabled people.
Sheltered work and other employment aids can create more and better job opportunities for disabled people. Nevertheless, it is important that at the same time measures facilitating the transition from sheltered employment to mainstream employment are also developed.
Some disabled people prefer setting up their own company given the difficulties of finding a job. Although entrepreneurship grants for disadvantaged groups to create their own businesses are available in most Member States to disabled people, these do not always take into account the specific needs of disabled people, and in particular the extra costs linked to their disability (transport, accessibility of ICT equipment…).
Example:The Greek public employment service OAED provides subsidies for new self employed persons. The amount of the subsidy is increased for persons with disabilities. |
People with disabilities should have better access to education and special measures should be taken to enable disabled children to attend mainstream education.
Life long learning initiatives should systematically include a special focus on the needs of people with disabilities and training providers should look proactively for potentially interested disabled people and widely advertise their activities to them. In some cases, greater flexibility in the organisation of training activities should be provided. Furthermore, the EU directive on equal treatment in employment and training is relevant in this context and obliges training providers to foresee reasonable accommodation for people with disabilities.
Distance learning can be useful for people with disabilities, but should
complement and not replace initiatives to make training accessible. Making
transport and buildings accessible to people with disabilities would be a
better option in most cases and makes the people concerned more familiar with
the labour market environment and increases their social inclusion.
Equal development partnerships have shown that 90% of people underestimate
their own competences upon initial assessment. Validation of existing skills
including non-formal and workplace learning can also be a good tool to empower
people with disabilities and promote their integration into society.
Examples:In Germany, the joint initiative "JOB – Jobs ohne Barrieren" ("jobs without barriers") has been launched. The German Government, employers, trade unions, disability associations and organizations, institutions responsible for rehabilitation and other institutions and authorities at the regional and national level cooperate to promote the training and employment of people with disabilities. In Sweden, 'folk high schools' arranged 'adjustment courses' to provide social and practical skills training for disabled adults and 'activation courses' in cooperation with disability organisations. The Swedish National Agency for Special Educational Support provides annual funding for the folk high schools and higher educational establishments. This is supplemented by grants for disabled students and a special programme 'Added Value' which is a Development Partnership with EQUAL funding: it deals with all disadvantaged groups but gives particular attention to disabled people Under this scheme, social enterprise workplaces are created to provide work-related experience to enhance employability. In Hungary, the normative state support of adult training for people with
disabilities is twice as high as the general normative support. Accredited
training institutions that design and organise training courses for disabled
persons can apply and receive this state support. The Ministry of Education
organises each year a communication campaign to increase the number of
students with disabilities taking part in higher education. |
It has been demonstrated that almost all employment policies and measures are relevant for the situation of people with disabilities. A systematic incorporation of a disability perspective is therefore a very powerful approach to improve the integration of disabled people in the labour market.
However, mainstreaming is still rarely applied. Many responses to the questionnaire pointed out measures and small-scale projects which target in a rather isolated manner disabled persons, but which are not linked to larger employment policy strategies. It seems that the concept of disability mainstreaming is still not yet well enough known to key policy makers and that consequently it is not applied. . It might therefore be important to stress the link between mainstreaming and anti-discrimination, the latter being a legal obligation, and to increase guidance in this respect for policy making institutions in order to ensure a genuine implementation of the mainstreaming principle.
The new Employment Guidelines give to Member States and Social Partners the
opportunity to take a fresh look at these issues and to improve disability
mainstreaming. Member States should ensure that their policy priorities
identified in relation to the Employment Guidelines addressing the integration
of disabled people into the labour markets will be reflected in their future
strategic orientations for the use of the European Social Fund. The reinforced
process of mutual learning will allow them to learn best practice from each
other, in continuation of the exchange of best practices in previous peer
reviews at EU level .