Disability Enterprises in the Republic of Slovenia

People with disabilities, as a harder-to-employ group, are exposed to inequality and marginalisation in the labour market. Numerous national and international documents contain provisions that enable people with disabilities to integrate equally into the labour market. To encourage the employment of people with disabilities, Slovenia adopted many laws and proposals that were largely ineffective and did not produce results. Only in 2005 did Slovenia adopt the Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment of Disabled Persons Act, the so-called quota system, which means mandatory employment of a certain number of people with disabilities, concluding business contracts in the prescribed amount, or paying contributions for the purposes of promoting the employment of people with disabilities.

Problem

People with disabilities, as a harder-to-employ group, are exposed to inequality and marginalisation in the labour market. Numerous national and international documents contain provisions that enable people with disabilities to integrate equally into the labour market. In Slovenia, there are several institutions that, on different legal bases, grant people with disabilities disability status and rights, and encourage their employment.

Results

To encourage the employment of people with disabilities, Slovenia adopted many laws and proposals that were largely ineffective and did not produce results. Only in 2005 did Slovenia adopt the Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment of Disabled Persons Act, the so-called quota system, which means mandatory employment of a certain number of people with disabilities, concluding business contracts in the prescribed amount, or paying contributions for the purposes of promoting the employment of people with disabilities. Such an employment model, which has a decade-long tradition in Europe, has changed the attitude and policy of employment.

In a short time, it has shown positive results, from which everyone benefits: people with disabilities, employers, and the entire economy. Disability enterprises are an important institution for the employment of people with disabilities, so it is essential that they retain an important role in the new ZZRZI (Ur. l. RS No. 16/2007), in which the concept of disability enterprises as companies operating under special conditions should be more refined. From 1990 to 2004, Slovenia had several legal and subordinate acts that defined the rights of people with disabilities in the field of employment. Among them are, for example, the Training and Employment of Disabled Persons Act (ZUZIO Ur. l. RS 8/1990), ZDR (Ur. l. RS No. 103/2007), the Employment and Unemployment Insurance Act (Ur. l. RS No. 79/2006), the Rules on the Implementation of Active Employment Policy Programmes (Ur. l. RS, No. 80-3543/2004), the Rules on Criteria for Reimbursement of Part of the Costs of Disability Enterprises (Url. RS No. 54/97), and finally ZZRZI (Ur. l. RS No. 16/2007-UPB2). With the adoption of ZZRZI, all previous laws that regulated the issues of people with disabilities, from disability status, employment, and receipt of benefits, were replaced.

The purpose of ZZRZI is to increase the employability of people with disabilities and establish conditions for their equal participation in the labour market by removing barriers and creating new opportunities. Disability enterprises began to be established before 1976, namely with the establishment of disability workshops. These workshops were maintained until 1988, when they were transformed into disability enterprises.

In Slovenia, after independence and with the transition to a market economy, the number of disability enterprises and the number of people with disabilities employed in these companies increased sharply. The largest increase was in the period from 1993-1994, which can be attributed to easier conditions for establishing disability enterprises and subsidies. Disability enterprises are distributed differently across municipalities.

Most of them are in urban centres, namely in Ljubljana, Velenje, Celje, and Maribor. In 122 municipalities, disability enterprises are not represented. The number of employees in disability enterprises is increasing, but in the period from 2000-2004 mainly at the expense of non-disabled persons, because disability enterprises also employed other labour.

From the data of MDDSZ, it can be seen that in the structure of employed people with disabilities in the period from 2003-2004, male disabled persons predominate, whilst in the period 2005-2006, female disabled persons predominate. This means that in the period from 2005-2006, companies newly employed more women with disabilities. In these companies, those over 45 years of age predominate, both among disabled and non-disabled persons.

The age group from 35-44 years is more represented among non-disabled persons. The educational structure in these companies is very low. Among people with disabilities, most have completed primary or vocational school.

Among non-disabled persons, the educational structure is better, as those who have completed vocational or secondary school predominate. The activity of disability enterprises is mainly in the fields of cleaning, security, assembly, wood, graphic, and footwear industries. The largest share of represented people with disabilities is in the field of wood and textile activities.

In the period from 1995-2000, the number of unemployed people with disabilities was increasing, precisely in the period of favourable economic conditions in the market. In the period from 2000-2005, the number of unemployed people with disabilities decreased, but not due to employment, but due to a changed method of keeping records at ZZRS. The management of disability enterprises is accompanied by difficulties; business efforts are mostly directed towards survival in the market.

Disability enterprises are not export-oriented and are largely dependent on the parent company. In their operations, they face personnel problems, low educational structure of employees, high age of employees, as well as lack of motivation for work and high absence due to sick leave. Likewise, some people with disabilities do not meet the prescribed norm.

Disability enterprises in most cases deal with auxiliary work that does not bring great added value. Because disability enterprises have exceptional social importance, as they employ and maintain jobs for harder-to-employ people with disabilities, they receive special state aid. They do not pay contributions for pension and disability insurance and contributions for health care into the budget of the Republic of Slovenia, but record them in a special account in their accounting.

Disability enterprises also do not pay tax on paid wages, the wages of employed people with disabilities are subsidised, disability enterprises receive co-financing of investments and development programmes. Waived contributions and taxes can only be used for the expansion of activities in the training and employment of people with disabilities, for the purchase of equipment, adaptation of machines and devices, and work premises to the abilities of people with disabilities so that they can perform their work unhindered. Financial resources are provided from the fund for the employment of people with disabilities.

The fund allocates resources for technological development, workplace equipment, and the launch of new employment projects in areas that are not covered. In the European Union, they face the problem of a low employment rate of people with disabilities. Work activities of people with disabilities take place in two ways, namely as sheltered employment, that is, in special organisations, and the other in ordinary companies.

In many countries, employment is not linked to work productivity, but greater emphasis is placed on the inclusion of people with disabilities in society. The new labour law legislation with the introduction of the quota system follows the trend in the European Union, where they already have decades of experience. Data from the Fund of the Republic of Slovenia for Promoting the Employment of Disabled Persons show an increase in newly employed disabled persons in the open labour market and no longer only in disability enterprises.

Based on the data from the report of the supervisory body of the Fund for the Employment of Disabled Persons, I find that the Fund financed 107 employments of people with disabilities through tenders in 2005, and as many as 495 in 2006. In times of unpredictable and highly competitive conditions in the labour market, such incentives are a very important factor for the inclusion of people with disabilities, who are considered harder-to-employ labour. On the other hand, the new legislation, which is more flexible (possibility of dismissing disabled persons), has enabled employers to readily decide to employ a person with disability.

The reward for employing a person with disability is also various financial incentives, which are not negligible for the employer. I believe that the state has finally succeeded and found the right way to solve such a risk group of unemployed as people with disabilities, who, according to the latest analysis, have shown that they are sought-after labour in the market.