The Confederation of Employers of Ukraine implements a project to promote the employment of people with disabilities

The Confederation of Employers of Ukraine presented the project "Employment of people with disabilities - new opportunities for employers", which is implemented with the support of the International Labor Organization. During the round table on employment of people with disabilities (PwDs), Oksana Medvedska, Project coordinator, said that the project will create a guide for employers, a platform on employment of PwDs, and collect video presentations of best practices in the field of employment of PwDs.

Oksana Medvedska presented the structure of the guide. The first section "General Provisions" will summarize information about the legislation governing the employment of PwDs, requirements for employers and benefits for hiring this category of employees.

In the second section, "Recruitment of employees with disabilities", recommendations will be given on where and how to look for candidates, how to conduct an interview, and information on recruitment practices for vacant positions of PwDs.

In the third section "Labor Organization of People with Disabilities" information will be collected on trials and internships, concluding an employment contract, working conditions, workplace adaptation, and wages.

"In addition to the guide, it is planned to create a platform for providing consulting and information services regarding the employment of people with disabilities. On this platform, visitors will be able to familiarize themselves with general information about the employment of people with disabilities, current legislation and the latest version of the guide. In addition, the Confederation of Employers publishes bulletins on promoting the inclusion of people with disabilities in the labor market," said Oksana Medvedska.

A presentation of the guide is planned for the end of June, and a round table on current issues of involving people with disabilities in the labor market at the beginning of September.

The President of the Confederation of Employers of Ukraine, Oleksii Miroshnychenko, noted that the employment level of people with disabilities remains extremely low, although up to 1.5 million people could potentially be attracted to the labor market. "We need to investigate why business does not sufficiently involve people with disabilities. The first problem is the lack of information. The second problem is warnings and stereotypes. The third problem is the lack of motivation for the employer. The fourth problem is the extremely high difficulty of filling a vacancy with certain skill requirements for people with disabilities," said Oleksiy Miroshnychenko.

The importance of the project was noted by Džemal Hodžić, Senior technical adviser of the ILO project "Inclusive labor market for job creation in Ukraine". "The issue of employment of people with disabilities is urgent for Ukraine, and over time it will become even more serious," said Mr Hodžić during the round table.