Employment & Labour Market

For years now, the BDA and its member associations have been committed to breaking down the often still existing prejudice that "disabled equals underperforming" and to encouraging companies to provide more training, employment or continued employment for people with disabilities. The website provides extensive information specifically for employers. Coping with demographic change and the resulting shortage of skilled workers as well as ageing workforces offer new opportunities, especially for people with disabilities. As part of a demographically sound personnel policy, many companies are consciously dealing with : employees are deployed according to their strengths and supported in their weaknesses. In particular, the potential of people with disabilities and chronic illnesses is increasingly being focused on. The majority of disabilities are not congenital, but are the result of an accident or illness. For companies, it is in their own interest to keep their affected employees, many of whom have been with the company for many years, precisely because of their experience.

With the launched in April 2019, the Federal Employment Agency, the Federal Ministry of Labour, the Federal Association of Integration Offices and Main Welfare Centres and the BDA want to jointly address primarily employers who, to their knowledge, do not train or employ severely disabled people. The initiative is supported by and . The initiative is intended to draw attention to the potential that often exists in employees with severe disabilities and at the same time to offer employers information and support.

In the discussion about the compensatory levy and the employment quota, it must be taken into account: Already now, the number of unfilled compulsory jobs significantly exceeds the number of unemployed people with severe disabilities. So even if all unemployed people with a severe disability could be integrated, the employment rate of 5 % could still not be reached.

The structured system of rehabilitation is difficult to understand for people with disabilities as well as for employers. In many cases it is difficult to see which agency is responsible for which support measures. Coordinated, rapid, effective and company-oriented support and advice from the rehabilitation providers is crucial for success. However, there is still a lack of a competent cross-agency pilot for employers. The - which is now being continued as the "Forum Wirtschaft und INKLUSION" (Forum for Business and Inclusion) - carried out by the Bildungswerke der Wirtschaft (Business Training Organisations) has impressively shown that such a central point of contact, which guides employers to the right advice and support services offered by the rehabilitation providers, is important for employers. Therefore, the medium-term goal should be to create cross-agency pilots for employers who can quickly and unbureaucratically arrange for precisely fitting advice in the region.