The Ministry of Labor plans to double the number of employed disabled people by 2020

The number of employed disabled people will double by 2020, said Deputy Minister of Labor and Social Protection of the Russian Federation Grigory Lekarev. TASS writes about this.

“Today, just under one million disabled people of working age are working, or 24% of their number. By 2020, the ministry sets the goal of doubling their employment level,” Lekarev said.

According to him, the Ministry of Labor is preparing a bill to support people with disabilities in resolving employment issues; the department intends to fundamentally change the mechanism for quotas of jobs for people with disabilities. Incentives are also being developed for employers who hire disabled people above the quota.

“All these measures will be effective if regional employment services do not wait for a disabled person to apply for assistance in finding employment. Employment service specialists must independently approach the disabled person with job offers,” said the Deputy Minister of Labor.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), more than a billion people, about 15% of the world's population, have some form of disability. In Russia, according to the Russian Pension Fund, as of September 1, 2015, there were 12.45 million disabled people and almost 40 million people with limited mobility. According to Article 20 of the Federal Law “On Social Protection of Disabled Persons in the Russian Federation,” disabled people are provided with guarantees of employment by federal and subjective state authorities.

In June 2016, the Internet portal Dislife of the interregional public organization of disabled people “There is Access” won a subsidy from the federal budget to develop a system for employing people with disabilities. According to project management, next year the center will help people with disabilities find permanent jobs. In the regions, Dislife will combine its Internet platform with local employment centers.