Recent International Trends and Practices in Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment of People with Disabilities

Sam Niwa
Chair, R I Vocational Sub-Commission for Asia and the Pacific

Abstract
Work is regarded as the basic human rights of people with disabilities. With advocacy of the ILO, various developments with regard to employment of people with disabilities are witnessed. This paper therefore attempts to describe the recent international trends and practices in vocational rehabilitation and employment of people with disabilities. The quota system, supported employment, sheltered and open employment as well as community-based rehabilitation which are now practising in different parts of the world are introduced. Besides, the major constraints are also listed.

Introduction

We all know that people with disabilities have the same rights, hopes and aspirations as everyone else. This fundamental principle, however, is not yet appreciated universally as evidenced by the fact that no country in the world has yet solved the problem of integrating all its disabled citizens into active social and econmic life. Economic and social problems have seriously limited the employment opportunities for disabled people. Even if jobs are available, many disabled people are working below the level of their potential. In many developing countries the situation is even worse and job prospects for them in the open labour market are minimal or non-existent. Cynics will say that this is merely a question of lack of opportunity and such a problem should be tackled when economic and social conditions are improved. This is indeed a prejudice and discrimination. In this period of economic and social difficulties, I feel, it is even more important to ensure that some senses of social justice should prevail among social planners, to stress that the most vulnerable members of the population, including the disabled, should not suffer an unfair treatment, and to insist that the principles of "participation and equality" are not a luxury, but the basic rights of people with disabilities.

ILO Standards

The International Labour Organisation (ILO) adopted in 1983, international standards, ILO Convention 159 and Recommendation 168, concerning vocational rehabilitation and employment of the disabled persons. The Convention stresses that "the government policy should aim at ensuring that appropriate to all categories of the disabled persons, and at promoting employment opportunities for disabled persons in the open labour market". The ILO Recommendation also states that "disabled persons should enjoy equality of opportunity and treatment in respect of access to, retention of and advancement in employment which, wherever possible, corresponds to their own choice and takes account of their individual suitability for such employment".

Why is employment in the open labour market an essential goal for persons with disabilities? There are three main reasons :

1. Most adult disabled individuals need the reasonable income that can be obtained from gainful employment in the open labour market. Work provides economic rewards.

2. Work in the open market satisfies fundamental human needs of developing and enriching life. Work is the right, duty and a matter of human dignity of every citizen.

3. Open employment provides opportunities to integrate disabled persons in the normal flow of life, in which social relationships are formed, social skills are developed and social status is confirmed.

Quota Scheme

In Japan, the Law for Employment Promotion for Disabled Persons, etc. introduced a system for promoting employment opportunities of disabled workers in the open labour market. This system, broadly speaking, consists of two major components: firstly, an employment quota system which obligates employers to employ disabled workers by a quota or a certain percentage of their workforce. Secondly, a grant system which provides financial subsidies for those employers who have employed many disabled workers to compensate their financial burdens. The current quota for private-sector employers is 1.6 percent, while the quota for national and local government agencies is 1.9 or 2.0 percent depending on the type of work activities. An employer who fails to meet the legally set quota must pay a "levy" based upon the difference between the number of disabled workers he is mandated to employ and the actual number of disabled workers employed. Currently, the levy is a monthly amount of 50,000 yen (approximately US $440) per disabled person not employed. On the other hand, those employers who employ more than the legally mandated ratio are paid an "adjustment grant" based upon the number of disabled persons employed above the quota. Currently this adjustment grant is 25,000 yen (about US$ 220) per such disabled employee per month.

There are many different types of grants or incentive schemes to employers introduced in Japan to promote employment of disabled persons in the open labour market. These are:

1. employers receive grants for improvement of facilities and equipment installation for employing disabled worker (as a rule, 2/3 of necessary expenses are subsidised);

2. grants are provided to business establishments hiring a large number of severely disabled persons (10 or more, as a rule) to improve facilities and install special equipment;

3. employers providing special housing for severely disabled employees, providng buses for transportation of disabled workers, providing sign language interpreters, special physicians, vocational counsellors or workplace assistants for the visually impaired will receive grants to help cover such extra expenditure;

4. grants are provided also to cover costs of guidance and training for severely disabled workers to help them adapt to their workplace (the amount of 30,000 yen per disabled person monthly for three years, as a rule) and

5. grants are provided to private-sector organisations which are providing educational and training programmes for disabled employees, for the necessary facilities and operational costs, etc.

Needless to say, Japan is not the only country that has introduced the quota system for the employment of disabled persons in the open labour market. Many European countries also have similar legislative measures with a quota of disabled workers ranging from two percent to 15 percent. In Asian region, the Republic of Korea, Thailand and the Philippines have recently introduced quota arrangements for the employment of disabled workers.

Supported Employment

Whilst the quota system for the employment of disabled persons seeks to establish "equalisation as the result", a recently intorduced "supported employment scheme", in the United States, Canada, Australia and some European countries, emphasises "equalisation in the process or at the starting point". Supported employment is defined as competitive work in an integrated setting for individuals who, because of their disabilities, need on-going support services to perform that work. Supported employment begins when the work of an individual with a disability is marketed to an employer. The services to the workers and/or the employer are not time-limited but continue throughout the working life of that person or as long as necessary. The scheme is limited to individuals with severe disabilities for whom competitive employment does not traditionally occur. Each employment opportunity is developed to include all aspects of a positive work environment, e.g. income, integration, benefits, working conditions, etc.. Other types of support include a service provider or a job coach to work alongside the new employee for several days offering training or feedback, to monitor performance via weekly or monthly visits, and to solve any problems periodically as necessary.

One model of supported employment is called "enclave" which is defined as a group of severely disabled persons working together under special supervision in an otherwise ordinary working environment. In the United Kingdom, the "enclave" approach to providing employment for severely disabled workers is developed in the mainstream placement services.

Hong Kong recognises the importance of mainstreaming and integration of disabled people and has adopted this concept as the principle of their service provisions. They also recognise that positive public attitudes are the key to successful integration. They regard public education programmes to enhance public awareness and acceptance of disabled people as very important. This philosophy is well reflected in their recent training and employment programmes for disabled people. Selected courses in ordinary technical institutes are now open to disabled people and a supported employment programme has been introduced to help capable disabled people lead a normal independent working life. Through this supported employment programme, disabled people can be gainfully employed in an open and ordinary working environment with minimal support. Such an approach to the training and employment of disabled people gives participating disabled persons meaningful opportunities and also educates the general public through their contact with these disabled people about the ability of disabled people and their potential in contributing to society.

Sheltered Employment

It is perhaps in the field of sheltered employment that the greatest possibility still exists for the employment of disabled persons particularly in developing countries. The concept of sheltered employment was originally based on the need to provide occupational activities for severely disabled people who could not compete on equal terms with other workers in the open labour market. Such sheltered workshops often required heavy subsidies from the public funds to meet costs of maintenance and operational losses. However, this old concept of providing heavily subsidised work for specific groups of disabled people is gradually being replaced by so-called "production workshop" schemes. The essential difference between production workshops and traditional sheltered workshops is that the emphasis is placed on the production of saleable articles of much wider variety and its operation is carried out on commercial lines, and the employees generally include many categories of disabled people and sometime able-bodied workers as well.

The establishment of production workshops in a small-scale industrial setting would create excellent employment opportunities for severely disabled persons. Relatively little capital is needed to launch them; existing buildings can be readily converted or adapted for such a scheme; if the product is carefully selected -- or, better still -- if subcontract work from industry is obtained, thus eliminating an expensive sales organisation, chances of success are relatively high.

In China, at present, more than 70 percent of disabled persons with working abilities are employed in large and medium-sized cities and the average employment rate of disabled people in urban areas is about 60 percent. In rural areas, training and employment opportunities of disabled people are primarily in farm work. Along with the current economic development in the country, spceial "welfare factories" for disabled people have gained a rapid growth in recent years. It is reported that there are about 40,000 special welfare factories employing some 700,000 disabled workers. Some 1,500 varieties of the factory products are for export earning US$ 240 million. Apart from the welfare factories, ordinary enterprises also employ about one million disabled workers. The annual average growth of disabled workes is about 60,000. The reason for this rapid development is due to the preferential policy of the government. For enterprises with more than 35 percent of the employees as disabled workers, their income taxes are exempted; those below 35 percent and above ten percent with disabled employees, their income taxes are reduced by 50 percent. Those enterprises with more than a half of their employees filled by disabled workers, all their taxes are exempted.

Community-Based Rehabilitation (CBR)

In recent years, it has been recognised in many countries that vocational rehabilitation and employment services for the disabled should be developed with the fullest possible community participation, in particular with that of the representatives of employers, workers and disabled persons organisations. Community participation in the organisation of vocational rehabilitation services for disabled persons should be facilitated by carefully planned public information measures with the aim of: -

1. informing disabled persons, and if necessary their families, about their rights and opportunities in the employment field; and

2. overcoming prejudice, misinformation and attitudes unfavourable to the employment of disabled persons and their integration or reintegration into society.

Indonesia has developed a community-based approach to the training and employment of disabled persons especially in rural areas. Since the great majority of Indonesians, well over 80 percent, live in rural areas, it is expected that a similar proportion of the disabled population also lives in rural communities. The main factors preventing disabled villagers from obtaining training services are :

1. the fact that almost all of the training institutions are located in urban cities;

2. the training system and methods used in the urban-based training institutions are not usually suited to the conditions, requirements and life style of rural community;

3. the general lack of educational facilities and high degree of illiteracy in rural communities.

Experiences have also shown that a disabled person, his family and his community usually prefer training services to be provided right in the disabled person's own community so that he would not be isolated from his accustomed environment. Against this background, a non-institutional training programme for the disabled is started and developed by the Ministry of Social Affairs. The programme is based on a community-oriented service approach in the sense that the community should be encouraged to participate technically in the provision of training and employment services to their own disabled members. Basically, the services to the disabled are to be carried out by community voluntary workers, e.g. school teachers, social workers, rural craftsmen, farmers, etc. who have been trained in the basic knowledge and techniques of training disabled people. Usually a community workshop (LBK-Loka Bina Karya) is established as a base of operation for the delivery of training services for the disabled. Today, more than 300 such community workshops are operating throughout Indonesia and training at least 8,000 disabled persons annually. These community-based training schemes are further encouraged by the establishment of a Disabled Business Group Scheme which is assisting disabled people in their own business and shops.

Self-employment

For some disabled persons who live in an area where open and/or sheltered employment opportunities are limited, or for those who have difficulties in travelling to a workplace, self-employment may be the only practical option.

In economic terms, self-employment may be the most cost-effective way of creating jobs. The capital requirements are usually very small. Perhaps, the commonest form of self-employment is the market vendor whose capital may no more than a basket or a sheet of plastic on which to display whatever is sold, and sales worth no more than a day. Such enterprises are often performed on roadsides or open ground without using any costly infrastructure.

Self-employment is not necessarily limited to an individual activity undertaken by one person. There are many examples of successful co-operatives or group business enterprises where a number of disabled persons have come together in order to pool their resources and their skills and to start a business together. This form of self-employment has many advantages:

1. people can share the numerous responsibilities of business;

2. they can take advantage of the economies in purchasing raw materials and operations that arise from the larger scale of their business; and

3. they can also benefit from the mutual support and encouragement of their fellow members rather than having to labour alone.

Disabled people, like other marginalized groups, are particularly, likely to be able to work together more effectively because they share a common problem and feel that they must stick together in order to show the rest of the world that they can succeed.

A recent ILO survey indicated certain problems experienced by the self-employed disabled entrepreneurs. Shortage of capital was the most commonly mentioned problem by the self-employed disabled, as was expected in every survey of this type. The second most common problem was a lack of customers; when they were asked to state to whom they sold their products or services, and their answers were: firstly, direct to the general public; secondly, to other disabled people; thirdly, to other business, and then to institutions and lastly to foreign customers. Other problems reported included inadequate locations, poor quality or design of their products, lack of business skills and management training, etc..

Conclusion

We must, however, realise that despite all these programmes and the legislation, administration, technical assistance and funds devoted to them, there still remain, in every country of the world, large numbers of people with disabilities who have not yet found working opportunities that meet their basic social and economic needs. In Japan, for example, it has been estimated that out of the three million potentially employable disabled persons, only one-third, or one million, are actually working at present.

We will not solve the problems of employment for disabled people in an acceptable fashion, unless and until we find ways to create significantly large numbers of work opportunities that are accessible to them and that are socially and economically viable. The methods we have used until now have given some good results, but they have not opened the way for the multitudes who remain unemployed or under-employed. We may anticipate that the numbers of disabled people needing jobs will increase in the future, that there will be greater competition for available work, and that it will become more and more difficult for the society to subsidise either special employment projects or disability pensions.

It would be a mistake to assume that there is a simple solution to the problems. While employer attitudes are without doubt an important factor in many cases and there is much room for improvement in this area, other considerations are also decisive to many disabled individuals. Among those problems frequently observed are - insufficient or inappropriate education and training or experience, transportation problems in reaching the place of work, demands or constraints imposed by family members, unrealistic job aspirations, social and cultural problems, and personality complications. In short, people with disabilities are liable to all of the problems that affect everyone.

ASIA & PACIFIC JOURNAL ON DISABILITY

Vol.1, No. 1, September 1997

Published by the Asia and Pacific Regional Committee of Rehabilitation International (RI) and the Regional NGO Network (RNN)