This Monday begins the week dedicated to promoting the employment of disabled people in companies. The figures show that the law is far from being respected. Gwenaël Dupuis, deputy director of Cap Emploi Calvados, is the guest of the France Bleu Normandie morning show.
This Monday begins a week dedicated to promoting the employment of disabled people in companies. And the numbers show there is a need. All companies, far from it, do not respect the law on the employment of disabled people in Calvados?
In Calvados and more generally throughout the country, there are only about a third of companies that meet this employment obligation. And so 70% who don't respect it is enormous.
How can we explain this enormous gap between companies that comply and those that do not?
It is very often a problem of representations of disability, of clichés where we imagine disability as being as significant as possible, with the wheelchair, or the person who is completely blind, the person who is completely deaf. In reality, people in wheelchairs make up 3% of disabled people. But this slows down employers.
Precisely, the goal of this week for promoting the employment of disabled people in companies is to show that disability can also be a strength for a company?
Yes, it is a strength. And you also need to review your management style. The population is aging. We are asked to work longer and longer hours. You should know that the vast majority of disabled people, almost eight out of ten, have suffered a disability during their lifetime. With professional wear and tear, illnesses, musculoskeletal disorders, psychological problems linked to the professional environment. As a result, people have health problems. For some of them, they move towards recognition, but others stay with it, hiding these problems.
What does the law provide in this matter?
It provides that the employer, whether public or private, in establishments with more than 20 employees, companies must hire 6% of their workforce with disabilities.
We understand that many people don’t do it. What can encourage them to do so?
Well, the only need to do is to repeat again that a person with a disability is also a person who has skills. And then there are levers to encourage companies that are a little cautious. There is plenty of help. They still remain significant for private or public companies.
How is it possible, if aid exists, that companies ultimately prefer to pay the fines than employ disabled people?
It's a problem of representation. A disabled person means health problems, repeated work stoppages. Employers fear absenteeism while job design can help avoid this type of problem.
Could we instead imagine a heavier sanction?
I am in favor of penalizing a little more heavily companies that do not play the game. Knowing that we have an unemployment rate which is relatively low now in France and so much the better, but the unemployment rate of disabled people remains double that of able-bodied people. And there is also a lot of awareness-raising work to continue.
And in fact, one of the highlights of this week is the duo Days. It takes place next Thursday. It is the reception in companies of disabled people who will try out a job. Is it paying off?
Yes in the sense that there are great stories at the end of the duo days. Often people do a trial day and everyone is satisfied. This can be extended into an internship. And sometimes people end up getting hired. A position that the person dreamed of and employers realized that this person with a motor disability is also a person who has skills and who is available.
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