The aim of disability and employment policies is to integrate persons with disabilities
on the open labour market. The action programme for labour policy adopted in 1997 includes
concrete measures to promote the access of persons with disabilities to employment. Labour
administration, social welfare and health care, the Social Insurance Institution and
insurance institutions are assigned their own tasks in this respect. The goal is to
co-ordinate rehabilitation, education and social and health services and employment
measures so as to better support the employment of persons with disabilities. This demands
a closer co-operation of the different authorities and strengthening the opportunities for
participation and influence of disabled persons. Attitudes towards disabled employees
should also be made more positive. Discrimination of employees and job applicants, for
example on the basis of health, is prohibited in job advertising, when selecting an
employee to a job and at work.
The labour administration provides occupational rehabilitation services through 120
employment offices all over the country. Disabled clients have access to vocational
guidance and guidance relating to job placement and training, employment counselling,
employment-promoting training and work and training try-outs at workplaces and vocational
education institutions. They can also be provided with various examinations concerning
their health and suitability for a job.
An employer can be granted compensation for employing a disabled person or for
safeguarding that the person can remain in employment. Support for arranging working
conditions is payable to employers for altering a workplace suitable for a disabled
person. In the case of a seriously disabled employee, the assistance given by another
employee at the workplace can be compensated for a maximum of two years (maximum FIM
1500/month). This form of support can also be used so that a disabled employee buys
assistance services from fellow employees.
The employment office draws up in collaboration with an unemployed job seeker a job
application plan, which includes employment promoting measures. A disabled person outside
the labour market, such as a person receiving a disability pension, can report as a client
of the employment service, in which case he or she uses the service in support of
occupational development and job placement. The entitlement to a job application plan
under the Employment Service Act applies only to unemployed job seekers. The job
application plan of a disabled client may include services pertaining to vocational
rehabilitation and, if necessary, other support measures to promote access to employment.
The purpose of work try-outs is to acquaint disabled persons with working life over six
months. During a try-out period the employer does not pay the disabled person wages, but
the person receives a remuneration either from the labour administration or the Social
Insurance Institution. Work try-outs can be arranged at the same workplace for a maximum
of six months. Persons with disabilities also have access to job application training,
employment-promoting training or vocational education with the support of, for instance,
the Social Insurance Institution. The employment-promoting training provided by labour
administration is mainly vocational education meant for adult population, during which
students are entitled to various benefits ensuring income security.
In order to support the access of disabled job seekers to the labour market the
employer can receive an employment subsidy for a maximum of two years (FIM 4,500/month).
The majority of disabled persons who obtain jobs through this support are employed either
by municipalities or the state. Employment subsidy is also payable to companies that
improve the vocational facilities of disabled persons and employ them provisionally.
Employment subsidy is granted to companies on the basis of an employment contract
concluded for a fixed period, if the company provides employment counselling and
employment-promoting rehabilitation in the context of supported employment. Such a
combination of supported employment, education and rehabilitation is valid for a maximum
of two years. In this case employment subsidy is paid to the company for a maximum of ten
months.
In 1997 some 2 billion FIM (over 0.3 % of GDP) was used for the vocational
rehabilitation of disabled people, sheltered work included.