“The professional integration of people with disabilities in the general labor market is a central concern of the federal government,” reads one of their homepages. There are already laws on this, for example the Social Security Code IX. According to this, private, non-profit and public companies that have more than 20 employees must fill five percent of their positions with people who are severely disabled within the meaning of the law, i.e. have a degree of disability of over 50.
In reality, however, it often looks different. in one report of the editorial network Germany states that “many companies employ too few or no people with severe disabilities”. The network relies on a survey by the Hans Böckler Foundation. According to the study, the proportion in the private sector is 3.9 percent, well below the target five, while in non-profit companies and in the public sector it is 5.6 percent. But how is the situation in the district of Ebersberg?
Many companies make compensation payments
According to the Federal Employment Agency, 248 companies have their headquarters there. Although the employment of these companies may be in another district, they still have to report to the agency how many employees they have and how many severely disabled people they employ. In the last reporting year, 2020, companies in the district were to fill 1,431 jobs with severely disabled people. In fact, however, 1049 positions were filled, with some companies filling more than the prescribed number of positions that are not included in the statistics. It is therefore possible that 523 compulsory posts, i.e. more than a third, remained vacant. This proportion has remained almost unchanged since 2016. This results in a proportion of severely disabled people of 3.67 percent in Ebersberg’s private sector, which is lower than the national average.
This does not have to be due to a lack of will on the part of the companies. Thomas Diegmann, for example, manages an industrial bookbindery in Anzing with 25 employees. He does not employ severely disabled people – instead he makes a compensatory payment. “But that has absolutely nothing to do with the fact that we have something against people with disabilities,” said Diegmann. On the contrary, it is already difficult to get qualified employees. “No one is applying,” says the businessman.
Nevertheless, he does not receive a waiver on the compensation payment. The integration office, which is responsible for the survey, does not differentiate between reasons for the non-employment of severely disabled people. The amount of the payment is between 140 and 360 euros and increases the lower the percentage of employees with disabilities. The money from the compensation payments is used for the participation of severely disabled people in working life.
Almost a tenth of the unemployed in the district have a severe disability
In the district of Ebersberg, 101 people with a severe disability are currently receiving unemployment benefit I, making up 9.2% of the unemployed. So even if they all found a job, it would not be possible to fill all the compulsory positions, although it must be noted here that it is not clear how many employment positions there are actually in the district.
No detailed figures are available for the public service and non-profit organizations in the district. However, it can be assumed that the severely disabled make up a larger proportion of employees in these areas. For example, 41 people with severely handicapped IDs or equivalent status work in the Ebersberg district office and make up eight percent of the employees in the district office.
This rate is also likely to be high for non-profit companies in the district. After all, there are several clubs and companies that mainly hire people with disabilities. For example, around 40 employees with disabilities work at the company Frischkost in Pliening, who provide fresh, chopped vegetables for restaurants and hotels.
Employing severely disabled people can be subsidized
But it can also be worthwhile for conventional companies to employ people with disabilities. Not only do no compensation payments have to be made. It also gives employers access to various loans and grants. In particular, the training of people with disabilities is subsidized by the employment agency and the integration office, such as the disabled-friendly equipment of the training places. Whether there are enough people with disabilities who accept such a training position is another matter.