Last year, 33,1 million euros were spent on employment subsidies for people with disabilities, and another 21,5 million euros were spent on monthly benefits for unemployed people with disability certificates, the Fund for Professional Rehabilitation and Employment of People with Disabilities, which operates within the Employment Agency, told "Vijesti".
These figures continue to grow despite clear indications that this is an unnaturally high number of people who have obtained papers stating that they have a disability, that in two municipalities, Rožaje and Berane, there are as many people with disabilities as in all other municipalities combined. These two cities and Kotor have almost the same population, and Kotor has 33 people with disabilities in the Institute, Berane 1.971, and Rožaje 1.740. Last year, 1.462 decisions were issued on the established percentage of disability, of which 646 relate to Berane, and the data for Rožaje is not provided.
In 2018, 660 people with disabilities received wage subsidies, and last year that number increased to 4.550, while the annual subsidy amount increased from 2,7 to 33,1 million. The amount of benefits for unemployed people with disabilities has meanwhile increased from 21,5 to XNUMX million.
555 new "disabilities" in four months
According to the Law on Professional Rehabilitation and Employment of Persons with Disabilities, employers who employ persons with disabilities are paid up to 75 percent of the gross salary for which the person is registered, depending on the degree of disability, from this Fund. The law does not limit the amount of salary that can be subsidized or the total amount that is subsidized. Also, this Fund does not have any legal restrictions to control this employment, whether the employee is actually working and whether the amount of his salary is realistic for his work performance, as is the case in other countries.
This Fund is financed by the collection of a special fee paid by employers who do not employ persons with disabilities, and this income is approximately eight million euros annually. The remaining difference of up to 33 million euros is provided by the Government from the state budget from regular taxes and other levies.
If the amount of subsidy payments matched the payments to the Fund, the state would save 25 million. If Rožaje and Berane had the usual number of OSI in relation to their size, the amount of these benefits would be reduced by ten million euros annually. In other words, if there were no false disabilities and fraud, the state would save 35 million euros. Last year, the government introduced several new fees and measures with which it is trying to squeeze a similar amount of money into the budget.
The Fund states that the number of people with disabilities receiving wage subsidies has continued to grow, and that from the beginning of the year to May 9, 555 requests for wage subsidies were approved, of which 372 people were eligible for the first time by employers.
Auxiliary workers "sewing" the Prime Minister and ministers
Some employers and people with disabilities noticed a legal gap four or five years ago, namely that there was no limited amount of subsidy or control. Since then, the number of people with disabilities has grown manifold, as well as the amount of wages for which they are registered and receive subsidies, regardless of their professional qualifications and job position.
For example, a person from Berane who has a disability certificate and is a cook by profession is registered for a salary of 2.700 euros, which is subsidized by the state through her employer. In that city, the salary of an auto parts salesman who is registered for a salary of 2.400 euros is also subsidized. His salary is 600 euros higher than the salary of the prime minister.
A worker with a disability from Berane, whose occupation is “wood cutting and processing,” also has a salary higher than the example of 2.083 euros. An auxiliary worker from Rožaje, whose salary is subsidized by the state, is reported to have a salary of 1.809 euros, or 300 euros more than the Minister of Labor. Naide Nišić, whose job is to oversee the work of this Fund and prepare a law that should prevent these abuses.
The list of salaries of people who have papers stating that they are disabled and whose salaries are subsidized by the state includes a large number of auxiliary workers, catering workers, drivers, construction workers, oil product dispensers, auxiliary workers in administration... who, due to the unlimited amount of subsidies, are reported to have salaries that are higher than the salaries of MPs and ministers, but also directors of successful companies.
"Director"'s salary exceeds profits due to subsidies
A minimarket in Bar has a disabled person as its director, whose salary is subsidized by the state. According to data from the Tax Administration, this minimarket had an average monthly turnover of around 20 thousand euros last year, but the director reported an income of 4.801 euros. The total profit of the company for the entire year 2024 was one thousand euros, which indicates that the company exists only because of subsidies. The director of such a successful company is officially reported to have a salary that is higher than the salaries of the prime minister and the president of the country combined. Also, the state subsidizes the reported salary of 4.859 euros for the director of a company from Bijelo Polje, registered for forestry and fishing. The total turnover of the company for the entire year was 250 thousand euros, and the reported profit was 10 thousand.
The extent to which a humane idea has been turned into a massive abuse of these rights and a robbery of the state is shown by the fact that the Employment Agency's budget is around 60 million euros, that it pays 54 million euros to people with disabilities on these two grounds, and that the active employment measures program, the main business of the Agency, is worth 3,5 million euros.
Subsidy users protest and overturn new law
The Employment Agency and the Fund have been trying to point out for three years that there are loopholes in the law that allow for abuses in obtaining disability, determining the amount of reported earnings, and that all of this is causing devastation to their budget.
At the end of last year, the Ministry of Labor initiated an amendment to the Law on Professional Rehabilitation, which, following the example of EU members, limited the amount of the subsidy (not the salary) to the value of the average gross salary, established a single center for disability expertise, and introduced controls on employers and employee performance.
A group of non-governmental organizations and people with disabilities, including employers who were beneficiaries of subsidies, organized a protest in front of the Ministry at the end of March this year, when the draft law was supposed to go into procedure, threatening to spend the night there, after which the Ministry withdrew the proposal.
In Croatia, the subsidy can range from 10 to 70 percent of a person's gross salary. However, the amount of the salary is not determined by the employer and the person themselves, but by the Center for Vocational Rehabilitation based on an assessment of work performance. The amount of the subsidy depends on the educational qualification and the subsidized part of the salary can be up to 1.348 euros per month.
Benefits from the Institute of 240 to 450 euros can last until retirement.
Disabled people who are registered as unemployed are entitled to higher benefits by law and can receive them until retirement. They amount to 40% of the minimum wage.
From 1 October 2024, the minimum wage is 600 euros for jobs up to the V level of educational qualification, or 800 euros for jobs with the VI and higher levels of educational qualification. So from then on, the cash benefit is 240 or 320 euros plus the PIO contribution. For persons who are disabled in categories II and III and are registered, the net benefit is 450 euros.
These items are much higher than the official amounts of social assistance, because, for example, the allowance for material security for a family of four amounts to 160 euros.
Arrests begin for fictitious employment of people with disabilities
Last week, police officers filed criminal charges against three companies from Bijelo Polje and their responsible persons on suspicion of fictitiously employing 11 people with disabilities (PWDs) in order to obtain rights to subsidies.
One of these employers, as stated, has continuously employed five people with disabilities fictitiously since 2019.
The Police Directorate stated in a statement that these employees were not engaged in any economic activity. The total damage to the budget was estimated at 353 thousand euros.
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