Disability in the workplace

A person at work is considered to be disabled when he or she obtains the « Recognition of the Quality of Disabled Worker » (RQTH). The purpose of this recognition is to allow access to a set of measures put in place to promote the integration and professional retention of disabled persons over the age of 16.

The RQTH allows in particular:

• To benefit from measures dedicated to professional integration (rehabilitation and re-education courses, apprenticeship contracts, etc.)
• To benefit from adjustments to your working hours and workstation
• To benefit from specialised support for job hunting within, for example, the services of the Cap Emploi network
• Access to the civil service, either through an adapted competition or through specific contractual recruitment

The RQTH is recognised for any person whose possibilities of obtaining or keeping a job are effectively reduced due to the deterioration of at least one physical, sensory, mental or psychological function.

Today in France, there are about 6 million people with disabilities, only 2.8 million of whom are recognised as disabled workers. The causes of these disabilities are mainly:

• Ageing (44%)
• Illness (22%)
• Birth disability (18%)
• Work: 11% of disability situations are linked to an accident at work, 59% are linked to work or aggravated by it

It is important to note that 80% of disabilities are « invisible », i.e. sensory, mental or psychological. 40% of the French population will be confronted with a temporary or permanent disability in the course of their lives.

In the workplace, the unemployment rate for people with disabilities is twice as high in France: 18% compared to 9% for the general population. Disabled jobseekers spend an average of 883 days before finding a job, compared to 668 days for the general public.

To counter this difference, there are 8 major players in the support and advice of people with disabilities:

AGEFIPH: the Association de Gestion du Fonds pour l’Insertion Professionnelle des Handicapés (Association for the Management of the Fund for the Professional Integration of the Disabled), whose mission is to promote the professional integration and job retention of disabled people in private companies and in the ordinary working environment.

Cap Emploi: The Cap Emploi are departmental structures. Their goal is to promote the recruitment and continued employment of people with disabilities in private or public companies. The structures provide a local service to people with disabilities and to employers for all questions relating to disabilities in the professional field.

CARSAT, CPAM: Caisses d’Assurance Retraite et de la Santé Au Travail, Caisse Nationale d’Assurance Maladie des Travailleurs Salariés, and Caisse Primaire d’Assurance Maladie.

Comète France: This association helps patients hospitalised in care, follow-up and rehabilitation departments to build a professional project compatible with their state of health.

FIPHFP: Fonds pour l’Insertion des Personnes Handicapées dans la Fonction Publique (Fund for the Integration of Disabled Persons in the Civil Service) to which public employers with at least 20 employees who do not comply with the 6% employment rate for disabled workers pay an annual contribution.

MDPH: The Maisons Départementales des Personnes Handicapées (Departmental Houses for the Disabled) exist in each department and provide reception, information, guidance and support for people with disabilities.

MSA: The second largest social protection scheme in France, protecting the entire agricultural profession.

SAMETH: Service d’Appui au Maintien dans l’Emploi des Travailleurs Handicapés (Support Service for the Retention of Disabled Workers in Employment) which helps companies and employees with disabilities to ensure that the people concerned remain in employment.

Service de santé au travail: the tasks of occupational health services are exclusively preventive and explicitly include keeping workers in employment.

Today, 80% of establishments employ at least one disabled worker and 9% of companies pay a financial contribution to AGEFIPH. The financial contribution for the obligation to employ disabled workers is paid by private companies with 20 or more employees whose employment rate for disabled people is less than 6%.

Since this year, HMT has been involved in the integration and retention of RQTH people in employment as a member of the « réseau emploi handicap 65 ». This network works to raise awareness of the world of disability, and promotes the integration and retention of these RQTH people in SMEs and VSEs in the Hautes-Pyrénées department.