Introduction

We know that the rights of people with physical disabilities are firmly anchored in, for example, the Social Services Act, the Employment Act, along with the subsequent imposition of fines for the employer. An employer who fails to fulfill his obligation and has not employed a person with a disability must pay a certain amount of money to the relevant labor office once a year (by March 31 of the following calendar year at the latest) for each absent employee.1 Practice and theory diverge in these areas. In our article, we examined the statements of people with physical disabilities, their views on employment in the Slovak Republic and their suggestions for other employment opportunities for people with physical disabilities.

The social consequence of a severe disability is a disadvantage that a natural person has due to their severe disability compared to a natural person without a disability of the same age, sex and under the same conditions, and which they are unable to overcome on their own due to the severe disability.2

Employment

A permanent characteristic of the economic situation of people with disabilities is their low employment rate. On the website of the Employment Institute, it is stated that the Slovak Republic is 7th among people living at risk of poverty and social exclusion in 2018. Up to 16.3% of people at risk of poverty and social exclusion were unemployed. In the Czech Republic, only 12.2% of this group were unemployed.3 According to the share of the economically inactive population with disabilities in 2016, the highest percentage of unemployed persons with disabilities was in the Trenčín region. In this region, they recorded up to 14.9% of unemployed persons with disabilities. The Trenčín Region was followed by the Žilina Region with 14.0%.

Methodology

The main goal of the research was to find out what the employment opportunities are for people with physical disabilities. We examined the statements of people with physical disabilities, their views on employment and their suggestions for other possibilities for their employment.

We chose qualitative research in order to directly address participants with physical disabilities. There is a lot of talk about the employment rate of the physically disabled, how many sheltered workshops exist and where they are located, but few people are interested in the testimonies of the other party's personal experiences. Directly from people with physical disabilities who are employed or who have tried to find employment.

Research Management

The implementation of the research for the article began in June 2016. The time span of each interview lasted two hours. From the beginning of 2017, we started analyzing interviews. After analyzing our interviews, we started processing the necessary answers into our results and discussion.

Research Results

Participant no. 2 gave a similar version to the first question as participant no. 1, participated as a volunteer at the "White Butterfly" fundraiser in 2016, that the employment situation is very difficult. Employers are more looking for an employee without a disability. Participant No. 2 claims that her interviews up to now were mostly conducted by telephone. "During the interview, when I mentioned that I have a disability, they did not mind. response. In my current part-time job, I was hired after acquaintance." For example, they also called her from the car company when she told them that I had a disability, and at that moment they closed it by refusing.

Participant no. 3 "Until now, where I was employed, I always had working resources created for professional growth." Rather, the fourth participant and the fifth participant claim that the effort should also come from people with FP. Participant claims, "Everything depends on the disability and the effort of the person. People with FP excel in the field of art, administration, healthcare or, for example, IT. However, everything depends only on them. I have friends who are in the same situation as me with my diagnosis, or even worse, and they work in higher and more important positions than me."

Participant no. 5, who even has a university degree in the field of economics, states that, "above all, I was rejected before I went to the interview itself because of my disability." So she changed tactics and stopped including information about her disability in her resume. She only mentioned it at a job interview. "Here, the future employer behaved as he would with a job applicant who does not have a health problem."

Based on our results and the personal experience of the participants, it follows that employment opportunities for people with physical disabilities in the Slovak Republic are minimal. Family members supported all seven participants in their integration into the environment, either socially or at work. All our addressed participants come from a complete family.

The participant, who is a university graduate, answered that she did not need any major job changes in terms of adaptation. She was always looking for a job that would suit her health condition. It can therefore be summarized that employers are willing to create conditions for work performance. The Labor Code provides the answer of our sixth participant.

Regarding the employment of people with disabilities in the state administration, the interviewed participants expressed their opinion clearly. They answered that, according to them, the state administration authorities are not interested in employing people with disabilities. Some participants see it rather as a result of poor motivation, both on the part of disabled applicants and on the part of state institutions. Unfortunately, there are still barriers in the accessibility of state and public administration and local government buildings for the disabled. This was also mentioned by one participant.

  1. our participants, who have completed their university studies, speak succinctly about specific proposals for other jobs. 2. of the female participants claim that people with disabilities could be more involved in administrative activities in economic or social areas, which most of them have no problem implementing. They see the problem in employers' lack of information and in their fear of state sanctions, when in the end this employee will not suit them... The penultimate participants also agree on the proposal for a more up-to-date transformation of the employment policy.

The author of the article herself was interested in future employment. However, it took two and a half hours of arguing before she reached a competent social worker. If the author had not studied beforehand what she has the right to do, she would have been rejected after five minutes on the information page.

Conclusion

In our article, we wanted to point out that people with physical disabilities want and have a real interest in full-time employment. Our goal was to confirm or refute the facts about whether prejudices on the part of employers against people with disabilities still prevail, and whether or not the conditions for employing these people are poorly set by state policy.

We implemented the research part of the article through qualitative research, where we chose interview as the research method. Our seven participants were very surprised and gladly answered our questions. They themselves confirmed to us that it is very useful and necessary to talk about this issue, but above all it is important to look at the whole spectrum of problems with the employment of people with disabilities from their point of view. The interview consisted of thirteen open questions. Our questions focused, among other things, on family background and social relations, as this factor is also related to the chances of people with disabilities in terms of employment in general. One of the proposals for improving the visibility of the fact that people with disabilities want to work would be to show more offers of auxiliary work for a few hours. For example, one of the great ideas was the BIVIO guesthouse project (More at www.bivio.sk). In this guesthouse, people with mental disabilities cook and clean rooms with the help of assistants.

Another interesting project is the mobile cafe KOLEČKO. At the STU faculty, people on carts sold coffee in a self-built stand. Such and similar projects could show other employers how happy they are to be able to work at least partially like a healthy person. It is also good for the employer to see the barrier-free stands during Profesia Day. The participants also talked about little interest from the state administration and local self-government. They could be more involved in the area of auxiliary administration (such as sorting incoming mail in the post office and the like).

From the answers of the interviewed participants, we found out that employment opportunities are regulated by legislation in the form of the so-called sheltered workshops, sheltered workplace, or business opportunity. On the other hand, we have found that when a person with a handicap is genuinely interested in a given job position with a regular employer, this individual is met with mistrust on the part of the given employer.

Author: Mgr. Michaela Lorková The author is a graduate of mission and charity work at VŠZSP St. Elizabeth in Bratislava. He works in the non-profit organization Prima n.o. She herself suffers from a disability, so her works are also focused on the issue of disabled citizens. As a volunteer, she devoted herself to people with mental disabilities throughout her studies at university. The first three years in the social services center Kampino, and the last two years of study led free-time activities for people with mental disabilities in ZPMP.

List of references

  1. Obligations of the employer when employing citizens with disabilities. Available online at: https://www.podnikajte.sk/zakonne-povinnost06/985TFNycxi-podnikatela/zamestnavanie-obcanov-so-zdravotnym-postihnutim-2019
  2. Available online at: https://www.employment.gov.sk/sk/rodina-socialna-pomoc/tazke-zdravotne-postihnutie/
  3. Institute of employment. Available online at: https://www.iz.sk/sk/projekty/ukazovatele-za-EU/ludia-v-riziku-chodoby-a-socialneho-vylucenia
  4. Statistical Office of the Slovak Republic. 2017. Selected indicators of the social situation of persons with disabilities.
  5. Mgr. Michaela Herdová. Diploma thesis: Employment of people with physical disabilities in Slovakia. 2017

1 Available online: https://www.podnikajte.sk/zakonne-povinnosti-podnikatela/zamestnavanie-obcanov-so-zdravotnym-postihnutim-2019 2 Available online: https://www.employment.gov.sk/sk/rodina-socialna-pomoc/tazke-zdravotne-postihnutie/ 3 Available online: https://www.iz.sk/sk/projekty/ukazovatele-za-EU/ludia-v-riziku-chodoby-a-socialneho-vylucenia