Employment is an important livelihood guarantee for persons with disabilities, and it is also an important way for persons with disabilities to participate in society on an equal footing, become self-reliant, and realize the value of life. Promoting the employment of persons with disabilities is inseparable from the support of relevant laws, regulations and policies.
What are the responsibilities of employers to recruit people with disabilities into employment?
According to the relevant provisions of the Regulations on the Employment of Persons with Disabilities, the employer's responsibilities for employing persons with disabilities mainly include:
(1) Employers shall arrange employment for persons with disabilities in accordance with the prescribed proportions. Employers with disabilities that use persons with disabilities on a full-time basis shall account for more than 25% of the total number of employees in that unit.
(2) When employing employees with disabilities, employers shall sign labor contracts or service agreements with them in accordance with law, and provide employees with disabilities with working conditions and labor protection suited to their physical conditions, and must not discriminate against employees with disabilities in areas such as promotions, promotions, assessment of professional titles, remuneration, social insurance, and living benefits.
(3) Employers shall, on the basis of the actual situation of their disabled employees, conduct training for disabled employees such as on their posts, on-the-job, and transfer.
(4) Where an employer fails to arrange employment for disabled persons in the prescribed proportion, it shall pay a guarantee fund for the employment of disabled persons.
What are the main forms of employment for people with disabilities?
At present, the main forms of employment for persons with disabilities include: proportional employment, concentrated employment, supported employment, self-employment and entrepreneurship (self-employment, flexible employment), employment in public welfare posts, as well as rural planting, breeding, and cottage industries.
What is pro-rata employment for people with disabilities?
Proportional employment of persons with disabilities refers to the provision of employment by employers (including government agencies, groups, enterprises, public institutions, and private non-enterprise units) in accordance with the laws and regulations of the state in accordance with a certain proportion of the number of employees in the unit. The Regulations on the Employment of Persons with Disabilities stipulate that the proportion of disabled persons employed by an employer shall not be less than 1.5% of the total number of employees in the unit, and the specific proportion shall be determined by the people's governments of provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the Central Government in accordance with the actual conditions of their respective regions.
What are the policies to promote a proportional employment system for persons with disabilities?
The Opinions of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the State Council on Promoting the Development of the Cause of Persons with Disabilities (Zhong Fa [2008] No. 7) for the first time put forward a clear requirement that "Party and government organs, public institutions and state-owned enterprises should take the lead in placing persons with disabilities". The Organization Department of the CPC Central Committee, the Office of the CPC Central Committee, the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council, the State Civil Service Bureau, and the China Disabled Persons' Federation jointly issued the "Opinions on Promoting the Proportional Employment of Persons with Disabilities", requiring party and government organs, public institutions, and state-owned enterprises to set an example for the whole society and take the lead in recruiting and placing persons with disabilities in employment. At the same time, the document proposes to "relax the proportion of examinations" and "take appropriate measures to create a good examination environment for candidates with disabilities", and formulates supervision and implementation requirements such as "for employers who do not fulfill their obligations, they cannot participate in the evaluation of advanced units, and their main responsible comrades cannot participate in the evaluation of advanced individuals". In 2016, the State Council issued the "13th Five-Year Plan for Accelerating the Process of Moderately Prosperous Persons with Disabilities", which re-emphasized some of the requirements in the "Opinions on Promoting the Proportional Employment of Persons with Disabilities" jointly issued by seven departments in 2013 in the form of a document of the State Council, and at the same time included "Party and government organs at all levels, public institutions, and state-owned enterprises shall take the lead in recruiting (hiring) and placing disabled persons in employment" as a key task in the division of labor. The 14th Five-Year Plan for the Protection and Development of Persons with Disabilities for the first time puts forward specific quantitative targets in the form of a State Council document, requiring that "by 2025, party and government organs with a staff of 50 or more at the provincial and prefectural levels with less than the prescribed proportion of disabled persons will be assigned to at least one disabled person, and public institutions with an establishment of more than 67 persons (excluding primary and secondary schools and kindergartens) will have at least one disabled person." More than 15 per cent of the cadres of the Disabled Persons' Federation at or above the county level should be disabled." At the same time, it is required to "improve the proportional employment system for disabled persons, formulate measures for party and government organs, public institutions, and state-owned enterprises to take the lead in placing disabled persons in employment", and "reasonably determine the physical examination conditions for disabled persons to obtain vocational qualifications and enter the ranks of civil servants and public institution personnel, and to ensure the equal employment rights and interests of disabled persons who have the physical and psychological qualities to perform their duties normally, in accordance with the law". In 2021, the China Disabled Persons' Federation, together with the Organization Department of the CPC Central Committee, the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, and the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council, jointly formulated the Measures for Organs, Public Institutions and State-owned Enterprises to Take the Lead in Arranging Employment for Persons with Disabilities (hereinafter referred to as the "Measures"), which sequentially stipulates all aspects of recruitment (hiring). The Measures focus on addressing the various discrimination or obstacles that persons with disabilities may face in recruitment, job announcements and physical examinations, and emphasize the requirements for barrier-free and reasonable accommodation for persons with disabilities in examinations and other links. In 2022, the Three-Year Action Plan for Promoting the Employment of Persons with Disabilities (2022-2024) decided to implement ten major actions, including "government agencies and institutions taking the lead in arranging employment for persons with disabilities" and "state-owned enterprises in arranging employment for persons with disabilities".
What are the highlights of the Measures for Government Organs, Institutions and State-Owned Enterprises to Take the Lead in Arranging Employment for Persons with Disabilities in protecting the rights and interests of persons with disabilities?
In the recruitment (hiring) process, Article 7 of the Measures for Organs, Public Institutions and State-Owned Enterprises to Take the Lead in Arranging the Employment of Persons with Disabilities (hereinafter referred to as the "Measures") stipulates that the non-targeted recruitment (hiring) plans and recruitment announcements formulated by relevant departments "shall not set up qualifications that restrict persons with disabilities from applying for examinations, except for special positions and posts", "special positions and posts that restrict persons with disabilities from applying for special positions and posts, the competent departments for civil servants, the comprehensive personnel management departments of public institutions, State-owned assets supervision and administration departments shall, in conjunction with the Disabled Persons' Federation at the same level, be fully demonstrated and issued". Article 9 stipulates that targeted recruitment (hiring) for persons with disabilities "may be appropriately relaxed in terms of the proportion of examinations, age, household registration, and other preferential restrictions". These regulations have greatly reduced the restrictions on the participation of persons with disabilities in general positions for the general public or in targeted recruitment (hiring) positions for persons with disabilities.
In the examination process, the "Measures" have made more detailed provisions on the specific content of reasonable accommodation, such as "using large-character test papers, Braille test papers, and electronic test papers", "with the assistance of specialized staff", and "appropriate examination methods may be adopted" if the disabled need to participate in the ability assessment.
In terms of physical examination, Article 13 of the Measures stipulates that the standards for physical examinations shall be determined by the relevant provincial departments for positions and positions recruited (hired) for persons with disabilities. Article 13 "The requirements also stipulate that those who enter the relevant employers and have professional qualification certificates shall not add additional physical condition requirements unrelated to the requirements of the position". The Measures clearly stipulate for the first time that "persons with disabilities have the right to protect their personal privacy, and that organs, public institutions, and state-owned enterprises shall not use the disability itself as the basis for whether they are healthy when reviewing the information of applicants." Except as expressly requested, the failure of a disabled person to voluntarily explain his or her disability must not be used as a reason for refusal to be hired (hired).
In the process of publicity and supervision, the Measures clarify the responsibilities of all relevant parties. The main responsibilities of civil servants, public institutions and relevant administrative departments of state-owned enterprises include providing assistance for regular proportional employment announcements and annual reviews, and the responsibility of the Disabled Persons' Federation is to provide assistance and services to relevant employers in all aspects of recruitment (hiring) work, and at the same time to "introduce and recommend suitable candidates to state-owned enterprises and help them develop positions suitable for persons with disabilities". The responsibilities of employers include that if they fail to fulfill their legal obligations of proportional employment, "they cannot participate in the evaluation of advanced units, and their main responsible comrades cannot participate in the evaluation of advanced individuals", which is also a re-emphasis on the relevant provisions of the "Opinions on Promoting the Proportional Employment of Disabled Persons" jointly issued by the seven departments in 2013, and the "Measures" also require state-owned enterprises to "include the employment of disabled persons in the corporate social responsibility report and disclose it".
What are the main elements of the Three-Year Action Plan for Promoting the Employment of Persons with Disabilities (2022-2024)?
The Three-Year Action Plan for Promoting the Employment of Persons with Disabilities (2022-2024) (hereinafter referred to as the "Action Plan") makes arrangements for accelerating the employment of persons with disabilities at present and in the future, and achieving the goal of fuller and higher-quality employment for persons with disabilities during the 14th Five-Year Plan period.
The Action Plan focuses on the implementation of the spirit of General Secretary Xi Jinping's important instructions on the cause of persons with disabilities and the decisions and arrangements of the Party Central Committee and the State Council, and clarifies the tasks, objectives, main measures and guarantee conditions for carrying out special actions to promote the employment of persons with disabilities from 2022 to 2024.
The Action Plan proposes to give better play to the role of the government in promoting employment by focusing on urban and rural unemployed disabled persons with employment needs and employment conditions, further implement policies to support employment and entrepreneurship for disabled persons, increase vocational skills training for disabled persons, continuously improve the quality and efficiency of employment services for disabled persons, and stabilize and expand employment positions for disabled persons. From 2022 to 2024, a total of 1 million new persons with disabilities will be employed in urban and rural areas across the country, the employment and entrepreneurship capacity of persons with disabilities will continue to be improved, the employment rights and interests of persons with disabilities will be better protected, and a good social environment will be formed to understand, care for, and support the employment and entrepreneurship of persons with disabilities.
The Action Plan decided to implement the following 10 actions within three years: Public institutions have taken the lead in arranging employment for the disabled; second, state-owned enterprises have arranged employment for the disabled; third, private enterprises have arranged employment for the disabled; fourth, organizations of the disabled have arranged employment assistance for the disabled; fifth, the disabled have difficulty finding employment; sixth, rural areas have provided employment assistance; seventh, disabled college students have employment assistance; eighth, massage for the blind to promote employment; ninth, employment services for the disabled; and tenth, vocational skills for the disabled.
The Programme of Action clarifies the conditions for policy, funding, information and organizational safeguards. The Working Committees for Persons with Disabilities of all levels of people's government are to strengthen organization and coordination, urging relevant departments and units to do a good job of employment for persons with disabilities. Coordination mechanisms for employment promotion efforts by all levels of people's government to promote the implementation of policies related to the employment of persons with disabilities. All localities should ensure that funds such as employment training, employment services, and subsidies and rewards for persons with disabilities are invested, and increase the extent of incentives for employers that disproportionately arrange employment for persons with disabilities. Rely on the national integrated government service platform and government service institutions at all levels to realize the interconnection and interoperability of employment data for persons with disabilities.
The Action Plan proposes to carry out the "2022 Employment Publicity Year for Persons with Disabilities" to increase publicity on the employment of persons with disabilities in various forms. All levels of local people's government should further clarify the departments responsible for each action and the division of responsibilities, conduct annual monitoring and assessment of the implementation of the plan, and organize at least one evaluation of the implementation and effectiveness of policies to support the employment and entrepreneurship of persons with disabilities during the implementation of the plan.
What is the Disability Employment Security Benefit?
The Administrative Measures for the Collection and Use of Employment Security Funds for Disabled Persons stipulate that the employment security fund for disabled persons is a fund paid by organs, organizations, enterprises, public institutions and private non-enterprise units (hereinafter referred to as "employers") that have not arranged employment for disabled persons in accordance with regulations, and the proportion of employment arrangements for disabled persons shall not be less than 1.5% of the total number of employees in the unit. The specific proportion shall be prescribed by the people's governments of all provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities directly under the Central Government in accordance with the actual conditions of their respective regions. If an employer arranges employment for a disabled person in a manner that does not reach the proportion prescribed by the people's government of the province, autonomous region, or municipality directly under the Central Government where it is located, and the employer fails to pay the security fund in accordance with the regulations, the organ collecting the security fund shall submit it to the finance department, which shall give a warning and order it to pay within a time limit; Late fees shall be paid to the state treasury in accordance with the level of the budget for the guarantee fund.
What improvements have been made to the policy on the collection of employment security funds for persons with disabilities in the overall plan for improving the employment security fund system for the disabled and better promoting the employment of the disabled?
In recent years, in the employment security fund system for the disabled and the employment of the disabled, there have been problems such as employers reporting heavy burdens on the one hand, and preferring to pay money rather than recruiting workers on the other hand; on the one hand, the disabled have reported difficulties in finding employment, and on the other hand, employers have reported difficulties in recruiting disabled persons. In accordance with the deployment of the 43rd executive meeting of the State Council, the National Development and Reform Commission and relevant departments formed a special working group to carry out in-depth research in many provinces, held many special meetings, repeatedly listened to the opinions of all parties, and demonstrated the effect and impact of policies. On the basis of fully absorbing and adopting the opinions of persons with disabilities, experts, enterprises, relevant local departments, and the Disabled Persons' Federation (hereinafter referred to as the Disabled Persons' Federation), the "Overall Plan for Improving the Employment Security Fund System for Persons with Disabilities and Better Promoting the Employment of Persons with Disabilities" (hereinafter referred to as the "Overall Plan") has been researched and formulated.
The "Overall Plan" grasps the "bull's nose" of the policy of collecting employment security funds for the disabled, and no longer simply focuses on the level of collection, but focuses on stimulating the enthusiasm of enterprises to recruit disabled people from the institutional level, and encourages enterprises to recruit more workers and pay less. There are four main improvements:
The first is to implement the collection of different grades. The employment security fund for the disabled will be adjusted from a single standard to a separate collection, and if the employer arranges employment for the disabled at a rate of 1% or more but lower than the proportion prescribed by the province (autonomous region, municipality), it shall be levied at 50% of the amount payable within three years, and if it is less than 1%, it shall be levied at the rate of 90% of the amount payable within three years.
The second is to temporarily exempt small and micro enterprises from the employment security fund for the disabled. Enterprises with a total number of 30 employees or less are temporarily exempted from the collection of employment security funds for the disabled.
The third is to clarify the caliber of the average social wage. The upper limit of the standard for the collection of employment security funds for the disabled is still twice the average local social wage, and the average social wage is the weighted average wage of employees in urban private and non-private units.
Fourth, where it is reasonably determined that the employing unit in the form of proportional employment arrangement accepts disabled persons for employment in the unit in accordance with the law by means of labor dispatch, the Disabled Persons' Federation shall include them accordingly when reviewing the number of disabled persons employed and strengthen dynamic monitoring.
It should be noted that the implementation of tiered collection embodies the principle of paying equal attention to incentives and constraints, which is conducive to stimulating the enthusiasm of employers and guiding them to increase the proportion of disabled persons in employment to more than 1%;
What are the highlights of the "Overall Plan for Improving the Employment Security Fund System for Persons with Disabilities and Better Promoting the Employment of Persons with Disabilities" in promoting the employment of persons with disabilities?
In view of the difficulties and blockages in the employment of persons with disabilities, the Overall Plan proposes seven specific measures to promote the construction of an employment service system for persons with disabilities covering the whole chain of "human resource development, employment guidance, supply and demand docking, and employment maintenance".
The first is to comprehensively map out information on the employment needs of persons with disabilities, guide urban and rural community service organizations to track information on persons with disabilities in real time, accurately grasp the employment needs of persons with disabilities in their jurisdictions, and cooperate with employment matchmaking. This will lay a solid foundation for efforts to promote the employment of persons with disabilities.
The second is to do a good job in the development of human resources for persons with disabilities, introduce specialized organizations and market institutions, and provide persons with disabilities with a full chain of personalized services such as vocational rehabilitation training, vocational adaptation assessment, occupational psychological assessment, job search orientation, job introduction, and job support. This will better meet the actual employment needs of persons with disabilities and further enhance their employability.
Party and government organs at all levels, public institutions, and state-owned enterprises shall take the lead in recruiting (hiring) and placing persons with disabilities for employment. This will give full play to the leading role of party and government organs, public institutions, and state-owned enterprises, and at the same time fully mobilize the enthusiasm of employers in arranging employment for disabled people.
Fourth, support the development of employment service platforms, giving full play to the role of employment service centers for persons with disabilities, public employment service agencies, labor dispatch companies, and for-profit human resources service agencies in connecting the supply and demand of employment for persons with disabilities. This will help solve the problem of matching the supply and demand of employment for the disabled, fully mobilize the enthusiasm of various employment service platforms, and give full play to the power of intermediaries to promote the employment of the disabled.
Fifth, promote information exchange and resource sharing, and establish an information sharing mechanism for the employment and security of persons with disabilities by relevant departments and units at the provincial level: on the premise of protecting the privacy of persons with disabilities, open up information and data on persons with disabilities related to employment to relevant institutions, promote the interconnection of information on job search for persons with disabilities throughout the province, and gradually realize information sharing across the country. This will help solve the problem of data exchange and provide more comprehensive and powerful data support for relevant departments and institutions to promote the employment of persons with disabilities.
Sixth, improve the employment service guarantee mechanism for the disabled, encourage employers, disabled employees, and employment service agencies to sign tripartite agreements, and vigorously promote employers' liability insurance, accidental injury insurance for the disabled. This will provide better protection for the employment of persons with disabilities, and will help eliminate the safety concerns of persons with disabilities and employers.
Seventh, establish a follow-up and feedback mechanism for employment information for persons with disabilities. Continue to follow up and understand the employment situation of persons with disabilities, and promptly coordinate and resolve problems that arise in the employment of persons with disabilities and employers. Establish a system of employment counselors to provide employment services for persons with disabilities. This will help improve the stability and quality of employment for persons with disabilities.
How is the Employment Security Fund for Persons with Disabilities Levied?
The Administrative Measures for the Collection and Use of Employment Security Funds for Disabled Persons stipulate that the local taxation bureau where the employer is located shall be responsible for the collection of the security fund, and the State Administration of Taxation shall be responsible for the collection of the security fund in the place where there is no separate local tax bureau; In 2018, according to the institutional reform plan of the State Council, the provincial and sub-provincial national and local taxation agencies were merged to undertake the responsibilities of tax and non-tax revenue collection and management within their jurisdictions. The local taxation departments are responsible for collecting the employment security fund for the disabled.
Source: WeChat public account of China Disabled Persons Magazine "China Disabled Persons Entrepreneurship Platform".
Editor-in-charge: Luo Yang
Honghe State Rong Media Center
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