Cooperation with Employment Agencies
by Jean-Pierre GANTET,
Secretary General of CNPSAA
I am delighted to be hosting this round table devoted to " accompaniment towards employment in the ordinary environment ".
For a handicapped person to hold a job in the ordinary sector is still considered today to be a sort of consecration or solid proof of real integration in society.
There are all sorts of ways to achieve social integration, each as valid as the next, and none takes precedence over the others. However, achieving integration through meaningful employment truly confers the feeling of being " just like everyone else ". This remains the privilege of a small minority: of 2 500 000 people certified disabled people of working age (16 to 64 years) only just under a third of them work (700 to 750 000), something over one third of them are unable to work and the remaining third comprises 14% jobseekers, 5% students and 13% already retired.
If we look to see where these people work, we find that:
- 160 000 work in government jobs
- 230 000 in companies with over 20 employees
- 80 000 in companies with under than 20 employees
- 120 000 are employed under specific contracts (CIE, CEC, CES, etc.)
- 110 000 work in a supported environment.
In the final count, therefore, only 600 000 disabled people work in the ordinary sector, whereas there are almost 350 000 unemployed !!!
These figures conceal a much greater mobility than one might suppose, since more than 100 000 disabled workers find a job every year. This means that a large number of them change jobs frequently or take up jobs for a limited duration only.
How do these 100 000 disabled workers actually find their jobs?
One third of them finds work individually, through personal relations and by " word of mouth " so to speak. One third finds work in the conventional way by applying to the ANPE, our National Employment Agency, whose services are available to all jobseekers resident in France, whether handicapped or not.
And the last third finds employment through a network that specialises in finding jobs for handicapped workers. In France this network was extremely diverse in the early days, consisting of specialised teams from our National Employment Agency, corporate placement teams, most of which derive from and are funded by the body of employers: the OIP and teams originally run by agencies belonging to medical or associative circles, whose approach is oriented more towards the accompaniment of disabled workers in the workplace.
Currently, the entire network is gradually structuring around a financial backer, the Agefiph, to set up the " Cap Emploi " network. " Agefiph " is a French organisation of a very specific nature. A law enacted in 1987 made it mandatory for companies with more than 20 employees to employ at least 6% of recognised disabled among their workforce. If for any reason the company is unable to do so, it must fulfil its obligation by subcontracting work to be manufactured by the disabled in protected workshops, undertaking actions for the benefit of handicapped persons or paying a contribution to the State. Those contributions are managed by an organisation called " Agefiph ". The funds are fairly sizeable (415 million euros for 2002). The utilisation of those funds is broadly as follows:
- one million euros for assessment, remedial and professional training,
- one million for specific aids : adaptive workstations, adaptive equipment, accessibility,
- one million for placement networks, départementale co-ordination, entrepreneurial aids.
- the remaining sums are used to inform and train companies, maintain a minimum salary level for disabled workers who are unable to achieve full productivity and a plethora of small scale actions, plus the functioning of the structure itself.
The associations for the visually impaired collaborate with this network on two levels:
- in the field, filling a role of advice, expertise, guidance,
- on the national level, by taking part in the preparation of major national agreements signed with the ANPE for placement services, signed with the Agefiph for joint funding or technical aids, or with the AFPA for training.
In the field
Several of our associations have set up departments specifically to assist in the employment of the visually impaired. The Paul Guinot association has already given presentations on two of those services:
Mrs. Malika BOUBEKEUR on informing and raising the consciousness of companies and corporate physicians,
Mrs. Evelyne Moreau on departmental aid in selecting and purchasing technical aids.
The Crusade for the Blind will shortly be presenting a very complete service that provides assistance towards the employment of the visually impaired.
Methods may vary from one association to another, however all of the departments know one another well and network. The procedure is always the same:
To start with the person and their individual needs, wishes and abilities, to make or have made an objective technical and functional evaluation and from there devise a professional project that is acceptable to the person and can lead to:
1. a job with an adaptive workstation and mentoring by a third party,
2. remedial training then re-adaptation of the workstation
3. training in an ordinary environment, with all the support services that this supposes, or in a specialist environment.
The people concerned are job seekers, naturally, but also students undertaking professional training courses, apprentices or those taking some form of sandwich course, whose workstations have to be equipped but who also have to be evaluated to assess their personal independence and ability to operate in a self-sufficient manner.
On the national level
Unfortunately, in France, associations for the visually impaired have historically been very divided. Luckily, times are changing and today those associations do a great deal of work within of a National Committee, the CNPSAA (National Committee for the Social Promotion of the Blind and Visually Impaired). This is the committee responsible for organising this conference (in partnership with the UEA) and that is also the spokesperson for the visually impaired with the public authorities. Under this guise, our associations participate in quite a few large organisations, unfortunately though these are consultative bodies who merely do us the kindness of consulting us on matters that concern us.
Only in Agefiph are we included on the board of directors and are therefore considered to be a true social partner. Having said this, experience proves that the authorities never ride roughshod over the clearly expressed desires of an association and it is for that reason that the CNPSAA now plays an important role among the associations. As regards the employment aspect, its action is pivotal and hinges on two major agreements:
1. one with the National Employment Agency aimed at obtaining a rapid response on individual cases commensurate with the person’s disability and life goals so that, whenever necessary, they can seek the help of specialist organisations
2. the other on training, the aim being to demand extremely precise specifications of trainers under law, requiring that they furnish the appropriate accompaniment for the trainees accepted to their Centres.
Naturally, many other topics are dealt with in the paragovernmental work groups but for reasons of time we shall not mention them here.
Thank you for listening.
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