Direct Employment by Organisations of the Visually Impaired

The Visually Impaired and Sheltered Employment

by Michel BRALS







Introduction

The term "protected sector" refers to the entire area in which skills relating to the care of the disabled, of whatever age, are exercised. More commonly, we differentiate between the adult disabled sector and the child disabled sector. In this context, the sector is vast. If we limit the scope to adults - i.e. individuals ranging in age from 18 to 60 years - the sector includes both those who work and those who are unable to work. Under this latter category I include those being looked after in a Specialised Residential Centre, Day Centre or Residential Home.
I would like to spend some time discussing solely the sector referred to as the protected work sector.




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What do we understand by the term " protected work sector " in France ?

The origin of the first protected work sections or workshops is unsure. At the time, the term tended to cover occupational activities with some degree of remuneration.

The law of 1957 on the reclassification of disabled workers encouraged associations with close ties to psychiatric hospitals to create structures to receive handicapped workers. These establishments developed in the years 60 and 61. They took on official status and above all came under regulation in the years 75 to 80 as a result of the guideline law 75 534 in favour of disabled persons and its decrees of application.

A new law 2002-2 was recently introduced to reform the 1975 law by focusing on the disabled person as an individual when organising the care arrangements (Institutional and individual project – contract of sojourn – reception record book – and above all advice on social life).

The protected work sector essentially consists of non-profit making associations governed by the 1901 law, some of which are recognised to be of public utility. These associations have a private status and are run either by family members or close friends of the disabled people or by the disabled themselves, which is frequently the case with associations for the blind.

The sector also contains some government-run establishments. Only a few of these exist, distributed across the territory. In addition to these establishments are firms or companies run with the purpose of making a profit. Those companies integrate teams of disabled workers into their factories. Michelin and Peugeot, to mention just two well-known companies, fall into this category.

Listing the total number of associations grouped around the protected work sector is difficult. Only a minority, approximately 750 in all, appears to be concerned by this aspect. Among those we find the larger associations such as ADAPEI, PAPILLONS BLANCS, etc., or perhaps HYGIENE MENTALE; but there are also associations that run only one structure. Barely 10% of the approximately 190 associations for the blind manage a protected work establishment.




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Why the need for protected work structures ?

The term for protected work structures has changed over time. Nowadays we call them " adapted firms ". They are places of integration where handicapped persons who are productive yet not competitive can achieve worker status. The structures come in one of 2 forms: protected workshops and Centres for Aid through Work (C.A.T. in French).

Protected workshops are production units that provide handicapped workers with the specific work conditions needed for them to exercise their profession. They also offer employment terms that are such as to facilitate the professional promotion of such workers, particularly by allowing them to access the ordinary production environment.

The disabled individuals are salaried employees subject to the work code and collective agreements. They have a production capacity of more than 30% of a salaried employee in the ordinary workplace. The remuneration is between 90% and 130% of the SMIC* (minimum guaranteed individual salary). The resources derive from invoicing of the services and also from public funding, one being the DDTEFP* which complements the remuneration* and the DRTEFP* for a grant that balances the pay, in the amount of approximately 1380 € per year and per person.

In the same administrative register there are Home work centres (CDTD) which enable handicapped individuals to receive work and perform the service in their own home. These structures allow people with great difficulty in terms of travel (because they live in a rural area, or have a physical disability or mobility problem, etc.) to work.

Centres for Aid through Work (C.A.T.s) are social and medical/social structures with a two-fold vocation:
    - To help individuals who are temporarily or permanently unable to exercise a professional activity in ordinary circumstances to achieve employment thanks to adapted work conditions.

    - To enable those among them who might later be able to do so to join the ordinary work environment.


To do this, the C.A.T. organises simultaneous production and support activities to help the user adapt to the job situation, train for new productions and blossom both socially and professionally. The C.A.T. has a medical/social supervisory system funded by the State via the departmental Health and Social Action divisions. This funding on average amounts to approximately 10 000 € per year and per person. The group comes under the family code. The production of this group is less than 30% of the SMIC and its remuneration approximately 55% to 110% of the SMIC, 50% of which comes from the ministry of labour in the form of compensatory remuneration.





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What group of people is admitted into the protected work sector ?

As mentioned earlier, the protected work sector is subject to regulations. To be included in this sector, individuals have to be recognised as having a handicap. A classification is made depending on the seriousness of the handicap, the extent of impairment or degree of inability. The COTOREP (technical commission for the professional orientation and reclassification), at the departmental level, decides the status of the handicapped worker, his or her right to the various allocations and the professional orientation, either to the ordinary workplace or to the protected sector.

To be admitted into the protected sector, the disabled individuals must belong to category B or C. These are generally people who are temporarily or permanently unable to exercise an activity in the ordinary workplace. Generally, this group of people presents severe impairment which may be intellectual (mental delay, with an IQ of 35 to 70), communication-related (autism, etc.), psychic (infantile psychosis, schizophrenia, etc.) or perhaps subsequent to lesions (brain damage, tumours, etc.), or they may suffer personality or behavioural disorders. Along with these are persons with motor or sensory deficiencies (visual or auditory).

A number of them have associated handicaps too, justifying their placement in an institution so that they can be looked after in the way best suited to their particular set of problems. Thus a person with a motor or sensory handicap yet with full use of their intellectual faculties, and/or an adapted environment, may not be admitted into the protected milieu.

To give a few figures, in 1998 there were approximately 108,000 disabled workers working in protected work establishments, including 92000 in a Centre for Aid through Work (C.A.T.). In 2002 almost 120,000 places were open in C.A.T.s, of which almost 19,000 were in a protected Workshop.

Overall, the visually impaired in this group count for a little more than 1% of the total headcount.

Across the territory, we surveyed some twenty structures that receive approximately 1,200 visually impaired individuals. Of those structures, 11 are specifically intended for the visually handicapped; 5 establishments include others with a different handicap and 3 Centres for Aid through Work for the mentally handicapped, at the other end of the scale offer a few places for the visually impaired.

The geographical location shows that a majority of C.A.T.s are generally located in industrial regions such as Aquitaine, Alsace, Brittany, Franche Comté, Lorraine, Nord-Pas de Calais, Paris and its suburbs, P.A.C.A., Picardy, Rhône-Alps.

Only a few of the structures appear in a so-called " rural " area such as the Auvergne, Burgundy and the Centre. Additionally, many regions have no structure whatsoever, particularly in Champagne, Corsica, Languedoc Roussillon, the Limoges region, the Southern Pyrenees, Lower and Upper Normandy, Poitou Charentes, and Pays de Loire.

The establishments are diverse in nature and differ in size. With the exception of two protected workshops, they are generally Centres for Aid through Work dependent either on a foundation, or on the public function and, for the majority, on non profit-making associations governed by the 1901 law of which some have been recognised as being of public utility.

The capacities of the establishments vary from 14 to 94 places (if we ignore the C.A.T. with 150 places, only 10 of which are reserved for the visually impaired.

- 3 very small structures, with 14 to 16 places
- 4 small structures of 20 to 45 places
- 3 medium-sized structures with 70 to 85 places
- 1 structure, by far the largest, with 94 places.

We note that the other establishments that welcome other handicaps are situated between 62 and 150 places. The average capacity of the CATs in France is approximately 70 authorised places.

The population is composed approximately 40% of women. We also found that, among the 1200 workers surveyed, approximately 28% are blind.




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What types of employment are open to the visually impaired in the protected work sector ?

The vocations or trades practised, mostly in workshops where the visually impaired work, can generally be divided into 4 main categories:

- Craft work, including basket-making (rattan, willow), chair caning and brush-making.

- Office automation, including keyboard entry, shaping and folding, reprographics, binding and printing in black or Braille.

- Subcontracting with manual conditioning and small assembly work.

- Agriculture, with stock breeding, market gardening and horticulture

A few establishments have their own productions in a wide variety of fields such as the manufacture of white canes, breakfast trays, pallets, pillowcases, without forgetting exterior services provision in linen work, laundries and landscaping.

Even if the visually impaired distributed across all of the sites are employed indifferently in all of the activities listed above, they can be found, in almost 16 establishments, in traditional professions such as caning and straw bottoming. Their work is reputedly of good quality, however two important points should be stressed:

- Caning or straw-bottoming of chairs sometimes also requires the work of a cabinet maker (to repair a frame, renovate a damaged chair, to inspect the appearance of the finished item) and therefore necessarily requires the involvement of a sighted person.

- The time taken for the individuals to cover the chair varies greatly (from 8 hours to 2 or 3 days sometimes). Knowing that a good cane-worker, for instance, can do a chair in something like 4 to 6 hours; it is easy to understand therefore how difficult it is for this group to compete in the ordinary environment.

These traditional activities, still in demand today, can only survive in the protected sector alongside and ancillary to other, more lucrative, activities.

Subcontracting in small assembly work and conditioning is the other main activity found in 15 establishments. A large portion of non-sighted individuals have access to these activities because of the great diversity of the tasks and the repetitiveness of the professional gestures involved which, although simple at times, require great dexterity.

Next there is what we can call work involving paper, via shaping and folding that can be compared to subcontracting activities. Blind people are employed more particularly in the folding, assembling and putting into envelope phases. With templates for assistance, they can be entrusted with stamping work, for instance.

The visually impaired are employed in reprographic and franking work. This is a developing sector of activity and well suited to work in office automation. Keyboard entry work performed on computer hardware, and therefore more technical, is performed more particularly in protected workshops; the people doing this work are more skilled and often have qualifications. 8 establishments are concerned here, and 3 of them have an office automation activity.

Although conventional printing is more suited to the partially sighted, Braille printing is an occupation for the blind. Whatever the process (ELECUL printing or printing press) the entry workstations for the first process or the positions of assembly, quality controls and binding are held by non-sighted individuals.

Weaving with rattan or willow is listed in only 3 establishments. They employ approximately 15 blind people. Brush making, one of the traditional activities for non-sighted persons, on a single site employs some ten or so blind people.




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To conclude on work in the protected milieu, we must:

Remember that individuals welcomed into protected work structures have been oriented in that direction by the COTOREP. The majority of blind people working in this environment are not recognised as having the ability to evolve in the ordinary production environment. They perform trades and tasks that are certainly limited in number, but just as worthwhile as if they were working in the ordinary workplace.

The types of work proposed in the establishments are closely tied to market needs. The types of work mentioned are not the only ones available; it is possible that new outlets will appear at sometime in the future. Opportunity is often what makes feasible a more particular work option that lies outside of the usual realm of activities.

We should also remember that one of the missions of these institutions is to promote access to the ordinary production environment. Pathways and networks have been put in place, such as CAP EMPLOI with 118 structures relayed by 17 EPSR. These networks in the year 2000 facilitated the placement of almost 42,100 people in CDDs and CDIs. They are funded by the AGEFIPH, an organisation that arose out of the 1987 law on the obligation for companies with more than 20 salaried employees to employ the disabled.

This agency is involved in the 4 aspects of
    1. information, diagnosis and advice,
    2. help with training and apprenticeship,
    3. technical and human aid for access to or maintenance in employment,
    4. and financial aid (with innovations, premiums paid on appointment, guarantee of resources, etc.).


Assisted employment such as is seen in the Scandinavian countries is developing. French companies can receive direct financial aid when they appoint disabled individuals.

With regard to the available resources, disabled people in France have at their disposal various solutions and accompaniment appropriate to their impairment and incapacity. Despite that, resources continue to lag behind the needs, infrastructures are not always adapted and peoples’ attitude towards disability, even if matters are gradually improving, is not such as to inspire trust in individuals caught in a situation of handicap. Much progress remains to be made.




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