Large and medium-sized companies that fail to employ disabled people, as they are bound to do by law, should instead make a monthly contribution to a social fund, a draft employment policy proposes.
Such employers would be expected to pay 20 per cent of the minimum wage of each worker they are bound to employ by law, which stipulates that companies employing over 20 people should have two per cent of its workforce made up of people who are registered as disabled. The provision is not enforced.
The money would be used to launch incentive schemes for the employment of disabled people, organise vocational programmes and subsidise jobs and equipment to allow disabled people to work, explained Gordon Cardona, from the National Commission Persons with Disability.
Mr Cardona outlined some proposals made by the commission in a draft National Employment Policy for Persons with Disability that aims to update and replace a 1996 document. The draft, which includes recommendations to eliminate discrimination and improve education and support services, was discussed during a conference held last week to mark World Disability Day.
Mr Cardona said the commission was proposing that, rather than fining non-compliers, the concept of a social fund would be included in the law. Non-complying employers would pay a percentage of the national minimum wage, now stranding at €146 weekly, rising to €152 next year.
"Employers should be given the opportunity of either meeting the quota or contributing to the social fund if they prove they could not employ a person for valid financial or technical reasons," he said.
Union Ħaddiema Magħqudin president Gejtu Tanti said the union agreed with most of the policy proposals but believed employers should be asked to pay more than 20 per cent of the minimum wage. This should even go up to 75 per cent, depending on the size of the business, he said.
Noel Vassallo, from the Chamber of Commerce, Enterprise and Industry, added that the quota too should be staggered and raised to four per cent in the case of larger companies. One had also to ensure that employers did not recruit disabled people simply to meet the quota but then offer them lower working conditions.
Student Corinne Zammit called for better support structures to ensure disabled young people were encouraged to further their studies and pursue careers. "When we finish secondary school there should be comprehensive assessment to help us better understand our capabilities so we can then channel our aptitudes to find a job," she said.
Other subjects discussed included multiple discrimination faced by disabled women, the need to revise the disability pension, less work opportunities in Gozo and the need for better day care facilities for disabled people who were not fit to work.