Most EU countries find that disability quota systems support the employment of persons with disabilities into public and private institutions. Only seven countries do not follow this system: Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Latvia, the Netherlands, Sweden and the UK. The main objective of a disability quota is to encourage employers to engage a stipulated percentage of registered persons with disabilities as part of their total workforce. The percentages range from 2% in Malta and Spain to 7% in Italy. Moreover, most of the quotas have a minimum number of employees from which quota system starts to apply; in Italy, a company needs to employ a minimum of fifteen employees whilst in Malta the minimum number is twenty. There are also countries that allow subcontracting which is still covered by the quota (OECD, 2010).
Some countries enforce fines when employers do not meet this quota. Most of these fines are reinvested back into the funds intended to support the entry of persons with disabilities into the labour market (OECD, 2010). Fines can range from an additional payroll tax of approximately 0.5 percent of the company’s payroll, as in Austria and Germany to 1 to 4 %percent, as in France, Italy and Poland. Conversely, in countries such as Spain, Poland and Czech Republic, companies are given a bonus if they employ more persons with disabilities than the required minimum (OECD/Europäisches Zentrum, 2003).
In almost all countries where the quota system is used, persons with disabilities are listed on a register at public institutions. In this way, countries can control the workplaces that allocated to persons with disabilities. Only those persons who are registered will be eligible for this quota, OECD/Europäisches Zentrum (2003). Unfortunately, the existing quota systems tend to focus more on the limitation of abilities rather than the abilities of such persons. Authorities assume that persons with disabilities are unable to compete for job placements with other able-bodied persons. This thinking does not match the social model of disability: equal access and equal chances for all. Greve (2009) states that quota systems and anti-discrimination legislation are approaches that are contrary to supporting labour market integration for persons with disabilities.
Finally, each country has its own monitoring and enforcement system and what measures are taken if a company abides or not with this legislation.
Greve B 2009, The labour market situation of disabled people in European countries and implementation of employment policies: a summary of evidence from country reports and research studies. Report prepared for the Academic Network of European Disability experts (ANED), Leeds.
OECD/Europäisches Zentrum. 2003, ‘Behindertenpolitik zwischen Beschäftigung und Versorgung. Ein internationaler Vergleich’, Wohlfahrtspolitik und Sozialforschung Band 12, Wien.
OECD 2010, Sickness, Disability and Work: Breaking the Barriers, A Synthesis of findings across OECD Countries, Paris
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