In a different world (the matter of Disabled people at the job market)

READY FOR OUR LIVESInternational Erasmus Plus Project

2015-2018Kèdainiai 8° -15° february 2017

I.I.S. A. VoltaNicosia- Italy

Work placement and economic autonomy are very important factors for social integration of people with disabilities.The situation of disabled people in Italy.According to ISTAT (National Statistical Institute) data, 3.000.000 units are disabled people, that is 5% of the entire population. In particular 40% of them are male and 60% women.

Disabled people may be listed as follows: A) by typology:Motors (most of them live in wheel-chair)Sight Hearing (most of them are deaf-and-dumb)Mental

B) by age: < 6 years of age6 – 14 years of age15 – 64 years of age> 64 years of age

The art. 3.2 of the Italian Costitution says: “It is the duty of the republic to remove all economic and social obstacles that, by limiting the freedom and equality of citizens, prevent full individual development and the participation of all workers in the political, economic, and social organisation of the country”.

Notwithstanding the remarkable legislative action aiming to improve social integration of disabled people, it is estimated that only 16% of disabled people in working age has a proper job compared to54% of people with their same age but without any disability.

People with sensory disabilities have a higher employment level than people with other disabilities.61% of people with disabilities are very or quite satisfied with their job, while 47% are little or not at all satisfied.

The greater number of people with disabilities is employed in tertiary sector with a percentage of 60% for people with a continuous limited autonomy; industry hosts 30% of people with a continuous limited autonomy; finally the percentage of the agricultural sector is of 9%.

Italian law has had a significant development in that field, in fact the 68/99 Act “Norme per il diritto al lavoro dei disabili” (Law for right of working disabled people), promotes work placement and work integration of disabled people. This law embodies some fundamental principles such as compulsory employment quota system.Based on the size of the workforce, both private and public sector employers are required to hire a certain percentage of disabled workers:• Employers with more than 50 employees must meet a 7% disability employment quota;• At least two disabled workers must be hired in workplaces with 36 to 50 employees;• Workplaces of 15 to 35 employees must hire at least one disabled worker if they operate new intake.

The placement of the disabled people must respect the working capacities of the workers without penalizing the expectations of the employing company.The 68/99 Act foresees an incentive for the enterprises which conform their behaviour to the law: exempting the companies from social security taxes up to 100% and up to eight years proportionally to the disability of the workers to be employed.

Employers who do not meet the disability employment target must pay a compensation fee to a specific fund (Fondo regionale per l’occupazione dei disabili). Moreover the law provides some services in order to facilitate the access to work of Disabled by the Public Employment Services, through special sections of the Job Centres.

In Italy there is a good trend to create positive conditions for the access to the work of the disabled people. All the above quoted laws and acts confirm such trend, even if sometimes the practical implementation of these rules is very difficult and disabled people can not really exert and enjoy their rights concretely.

THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION !