The place of disabled people in the world of work remains a sensitive subject. Despite the 2005 law which strengthened legislation to facilitate their professional inclusion, they still often suffer from prejudices which prevent their integration into companies.
- Despite a 2005 law supposed to guarantee equal rights for people with disabilities, their integration into the world of work often remains problematic.
- Only 30% of companies affected by this law respect the 6% of disabled people in their workforce.
- The obstacles to integrating disabled people into companies are due to prejudices about their ability to adapt to certain missions.
It is a law that only a minority of companies respect: a text adopted in February 2005 helps guarantee equal rights and opportunities for people with disabilities, particularly in terms of professional inclusion. However, according to Anne-Marie Lemessager, disability director at VYV3, of the 70% of companies concerned (mainly those which employ more than 20 people), “less than 30% meet the obligation of the rate of 6% of disabled people among their employees”.
A rather low proportion compared to the 11% of disabled people in the working population in France. The explanations for this discrepancy are essentially linked to the persistence of prejudices and the lack of awareness among companies on this subject. But the result is that, according to the inequality observatory, the unemployment rate for disabled people was 12% in 2022, almost double that recorded for all workers.
Prejudices about the productivity of disabled people
“The social outlook on people with disabilities means that they are seen primarily on this disability rather than on their skills, it is a form of stigmatization, however we do not boil down the status of other people to the fact that they are married, parents of young children or caregivers of dependent seniors!”wonders Anne-Marie Lemessager.
So much for the prejudices that lead to employers’ fears about the level of productivity of people with disabilities, about the gap that could exist between the needs of the company and the skills of these people or about the level and cost of necessary adaptations to positions. work to enable their professional inclusion. And this regardless of the nature of the disability: “These are very heterogeneous… but very homogeneous in their consequences!”, deplores Anne-Marie Lemessager. As a result, many employers affected by the 2005 law prefer to pay an annual financial contribution to AGEFIPH (National Association for the Management of Funds for the Professional Integration of the Disabled) rather than respecting the minimum threshold of 6% of employees with disabilities.
Aid to facilitate the integration of disabled people
“Of course, there can sometimes be a real incompatibility between the activity of a company and the presence among its employees of people affected by certain disabilities”, recognizes Anne-Marie Lemessager. But in most cases, these incompatibilities could be removed thanks to the measures that exist to facilitate the integration of disabled people into the world of work. Whether in the public sector with the FIPHFP (Fund for the Integration of Disabled People into the Civil Service) or for private with AGEFIPHspecific support services and technical aid for the organization or layout of workstations may be granted to companies.
The presence of disabled employees can benefit the company
Enough to encourage, while companies now give an important place to their social responsibility (CSR), to further open the doors of the world of work to people with disabilities. With, as a result and contrary to what some prejudices suggest, benefits to be expected from their presence in professional teams. “These employees often ensure better cohesion within the company, most of them are very committed, very punctual, they are people you can count on”underlines Anne-Marie Lemessager.
