• Українською
  • Employment rights and opportunities for people with disabilities to be expanded - bill passed
    Ministry of Social Policy of Ukraine, posted 15 January 2025 15:45

    The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine supported by 228 votes the draft law No. 5344-d elaborated by the Ministry of Social Policy and significantly expanding the employment rights and opportunities for people with disabilities. It was prepared in cooperation with a wide range of MPs, Ukrainian and international experts, and the public.

    This initiative aims to create equal conditions for everyone who can and wants to work to realise their potential and feel involved in society.

    In particular, the bill provides for the lifting of legislative restrictions (people can work in any job except for those that are directly contraindicated for health reasons), and the same rules for the employment of people with disabilities will be applied to the private and public sectors of the economy.

    "The key objective of the state is to preserve and develop human potential. This is especially valuable now, during the war, when we are fighting for the life and health of every citizen. This draft law is intended to provide people with disabilities with the real support they need. In particular, our veterans who want to be employed and independent. In addition, the initiative is also important for businesses, which will receive support from the state by creating real jobs for people with disabilities," said Oksana Zholnovych, Minister of Social Policy of Ukraine.

    According to the head of the Ministry of Social Policy, the draft law significantly brings employment conditions closer to European standards, where more than 50% of people with disabilities are employed. In Ukraine, this figure is about 16%.

    The provisions of the adopted draft law also include the following:

    - SOCIAL SUPPORT AT THE WORKPLACE: a person with a disability receives social support services at the workplace (in cooperation with the employer, the team), and may additionally be assisted by a personal assistant and sign language interpreter.

    - PROFESSIONAL ADAPTATION (involvement of private agencies for the employment of people with disabilities, financing of education and retraining of people with disabilities).

    - WORKPLACE FITTING FINANCING (implementation of state standards for workplace fit-out for different types of functional loss, employers can receive compensation for reasonable workplace adaptations for employees with disabilities from a specially created fund filled with targeted contributions; a person with a disability who operates as an individual entrepreneur can also receive compensation for workplace fit-out).

    - EMPLOYERS HAVE A CHOICE: hire people with disabilities within the standard or pay a targeted contribution to the fund to support the employment of people with disabilities.

    - NEW OPPORTUNITIES FOR SOCIAL ENTREPRENEURSHIP, namely, benefits and compensation can be obtained not only by enterprises of public organisations of persons with disabilities, but also by any enterprise employing the number of persons with disabilities specified in the law; the criteria for establishing enterprises for labour integration and protected employment are expanded.