Report on the employment of disabled people in European countries
Focusing on Poland, this is one of a series of reports reviewing national implementation of the European Employment Strategy from a disability equality perspective. It provides an update as at November 2009 to a first report published in 2008. Evidence is summarised, along with a comment on the current economic crisis. It is then reviewed in a standardised format under the following headings: academic publications and research reports; employment statistics and trends; laws and policies, type and quality of jobs; specific examples of good practice; and conclusions and recommendations.
The overall disability rate in Poland is 11.8%. Both the employment rate and the activity rate of disabled people increased in 2008; 13.7% and 15.6% respectively. The Labour Force Survey for the first quarter of 2009 showed a small reverse but the figures remained higher than a year earlier. Important changes were introduced to the Act on Vocational and Social Rehabilitation.
There was no significant progress on the ratification of the UN convention. Two research studies appeared to confirm the weakness of the Polish system of vocational integration of persons with disabilities. The economic crisis has forced cuts in state funding for rehabilitation. However despite the economic crisis there was a significant rise in employees with disabilities in both open and sheltered labour; possibly as a result of the changes to the Act on Rehabilitation.
