We will propose changes to the Law on Professional Rehabilitation and Employment of Persons with Disabilities so that the subsidy for employment would be limited to the amount of the average gross salary, and at the same time the amount of compensation paid by employers who do not employ persons with disabilities would be increased," he announced to "Vijesta" Miloš Spaić, activist for the rights of persons with disabilities, Paralympian and member of the New Serbian Democracy (NSD).
He states that such changes are necessary in order to prevent abuses with the payment of subsidies for employment, and at the same time provide enough money for the functioning of the Fund for professional rehabilitation and employment of persons with disabilities.
Spaić says that in the field of work and employment of persons with disabilities, the situation is at an unsatisfactory level, despite numerous good legal solutions.
"The unemployment rate of persons with disabilities (PWD) is still high, although it is decreasing year by year. Discrimination is still present to a large extent, many employers who have a legal obligation to employ PWDs do not do so, and a not so negligible number of those who employ PWDs abuse the subsidies and benefits given to them by the state. The above is done, for example, in the way that the employee is asked to return the funds in the form of a donation in an amount that complements the figure that, in accordance with legal acts, is returned by the Fund for Professional Rehabilitation and Employment of PWDs, that is, what is the cost of the employer. In the same way, the employer is looking for a work assistant on the basis of an employee with a PWD, but it happens that this is done fictitiously, so these funds are not spent for the intended purpose. There is also workplace equipment for the disabled. Admittedly, abuses are less frequent than in the previously mentioned cases in a way that it often happens that control is simply refused, so it is questionable whether the not-so-small funds are spent for the intended purpose," said Spaić.
He says that, as a politician who, among other things, deals with the issue of PWDs, he has the obligation to point out these phenomena and to try to contribute to improving their status, but also to suppressing abuses, through proposals for changes to legal acts. He said that NSD will propose changes to the law, but that the address where all responsibility rests with the Government and competent ministries, whose obligation is to solve problems.
According to the current provisions of the law, employers with between 20 and 50 employees are obliged to employ at least one disabled person, and employers with more than 50 employees should have five percent of employees with disabilities. If they do not comply with this norm, employers pay a special contribution amounting to 20 percent of the average monthly salary for each disabled person they were supposed to employ. Employers who have ten to 20 employees and do not have disabled persons pay a contribution in the amount of five percent of the average salary.
Employers who hire people with disabilities have the right to a gross salary subsidy depending on the degree of disability, up to 75 percent at most. However, in the existing law there is no limit on the amount of earnings or the amount of such a subsidy, which is used for abuses.
"In consultation with the director of the Fund for Professional Rehabilitation and Employment of PWDs, Denis Martinović, I made a proposal to amend the Law on Professional Rehabilitation and Employment of the LSI in such a way that the percentages of special compensation for non-employment of PWDs will be increased to 40% on average for employers with 20-50 employees and to 20% for employers with 10- 20 employees. Also, the changes would limit the amount of salary subsidies to the average gross salary. The proposed changes are necessary for the reason that those who have a legal obligation to employ PWDs, but do not respect it, will be encouraged to fulfill their legal obligations, and on the other hand, by limiting subsidies, they will open the way to abuses in the form of determining unreasonably high salary amounts," he said. Spaic.
The essence of employment is knowledge and qualifications
Spaić states that with these proposals he does not mean that people with disabilities cannot have high wages.
"Absolutely they can, but subsidies must not be the essence of employment, as is often the case now, but it must be the knowledge and qualifications of a certain person. So, in this way, abuses like the one when a person reported a salary of €8.000, several times higher than, for example, the president of the country, for which the Employment Office had to pay 75% of subsidies, would be reduced. This proposal of mine would solve the legal part of the problem, but the rest must be solved exclusively by the competent Ministry. Therefore, the cooperation of all participants in the decision-making process is needed in order to reach a quality solution. It is the obligation of all of us to contribute in our own way to respecting rights and creating a healthy and sustainable system and labor market for everyone, and ultimately creating an environment where people with disabilities are equal members of society in terms of rights, obligations and responsibilities," said Spaić.
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