2023-11-24 04:10:35
Belgium is one of the worst performers in Europe in terms of the employment rate of people with disabilities. The PS is calling for quotas for the private sector.
The presence of people with disabilities on the labor market remains abnormally low in Belgium. Their employment rate barely reaches 35%, compared to 50% on average in the rest of the European Union.. Belgium is penultimate in the continental class. The dunce cap or almost.
Whose fault is it? To many brakes existing on access to employment for these people. These obstacles lie in the lack of “reasonable accommodations” (transport, buildings, workstations, etc.). They are also found on the administrative level, where complexity can discourage them.
All this resulting from a “cultural” context. If many adapted employment companies (ETA) work to integrate disabled people into the “classic” job market, the presence of those who might qualify for it is not self-evident. Distrust reigns.
A labor pool
People with disabilities nevertheless constitute a very real labor pool for businesses and administrations, in a context of shortages workforce and given the objective of raising the national employment rate to 80% by 2030.
From 600,000 people with recognized disability in Belgium, many people have a diploma, various skills and who want to work.
“The current situation is unacceptable. We must remove as many obstacles as possible”, believes Karine Lalieux. In charge of people with disabilities, the socialist minister considers Vivaldi’s results in this area positive, although it has perhaps gone unnoticed by the general public and by disabled people themselves as well.
It lists the measures taken by the executive.
Remove job pitfalls
Firstly, the income replacement allowance has been significantly increased, with a gain in purchasing power of up to nearly 500 euros per month for a head of household. This variable allowance must compensate for the loss of income suffered by the person due to their disability.
Furthermore, several employment traps have been removed. We think of the possibility of combine a replacement allowance with a complementary self-employed statusmeasure carried out jointly with David Clarinval (MR).
Or even the increase in the exemption ceiling for the integration allowance (AI). “Before, the income ceiling was 23,000 euros, which in fact amounted to sanctioning the person who found work. However, this allowance is used to relieve them of health care costs linked to their disability, which does not disappear with finding a job!”, explains Karine Lalieux. Especially since the loss of this AI also meant the loss of derived rights (social tariff, BIM status, etc.). Now the ceiling is set at 70,000 euros gross per year.
Rant
Minister Lalieux believes, however, that the government missed an opportunity to go further during the last Council of Ministers: “We missed the boat! I wanted to guarantee the maintenance of rights derived from AI when a person becomes unemployed or disabled. But the liberal party blocked it for budgetary reasons. It’s unfortunate!”
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To increase the presence of disabled people in the labor market, Ministers De Sutter (Groen) and Lalieux also gave the federal administrations a boost. THE 3% quota which is normally the rule is far from being reached. In 2022, we barely reached 1.09%. Plans have been developed across all jurisdictions to achieve this. Five million euros have been committed for recruitment. From now on, the SPF Social Security reaches 3%.
Quotas in the private sector
“Belgium is one of the only countries that does not have quotas. To unblock the situation, some will be needed. This will be a priority for the PS if we negotiate the next government agreement.”
In the private sector, however, there are no quotas. The PS wants to change that, announces Karine Lalieux. They are found in Germany. Or in France, where the quota is 6% in companies with more than 20 people, under penalty of sanctions. And it works: the objective has been achieved, illustrates the minister.
“We must make the world of private work more responsible. Belgium is one of the only countries that does not have quotas. To unblock the situation, they will be needed. This will be a priority for the PS if we negotiate the next government agreement.”
To prepare the file, Minister Lalieux will quickly convene a round table with social partners, field stakeholders and businesses which will feed into a report with a view to defining the subject for the next legislature.
The summary
- The employment rate of people with disabilities is only 35% in Belgium, i.e. one of the worst in the EU.
- The minister in charge, Karine Lalieux (PS), believes that it is nevertheless a question ofan essential issue both for the social integration of these people and with regard to the employment rate objective.
- If a series of positive measures have been taken under this government, the socialist minister believes thatwe will not escape the establishment of quotas in companiesas is already done in France or Germany, with significant results.
- The PS will make it a priority for the next legislature.
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