France Travail: the government wants to promote the employment of disabled workers in the mainstream

The government intends to improve the access of people with disabilities to employment in the ordinary environment and to stop directing them immediately towards specific measures, with the bill for "full employment" expected in June at the council. ministers, consulted on Wednesday by AFP.

"The public employment service, the common law, which accompanies any job seeker, must be able to support any person with a disability", says one at the Ministry of Labor.

The unemployment rate for people with disabilities, 13% in 2022, is almost double that of the general population.

When a person receives recognition of the status of disabled worker (RQTH) granted by a Departmental House of Disabled People (MDPH), it will be “automatically transmitted” to France Travail, the body called to replace Pôle Emploi.

The advisers of France Travail will then receive the person "to determine his project, his needs and the most suitable working environment", says one to the Ministry of Labor.

It may be directed towards an ordinary company, with or without a supported employment scheme, towards an adapted company or towards the protected sector of the Esat (establishments and services for help through work, which fall within the medico-social sector). The person will be able to benefit from immersion devices in the various professional environments before the choice is made.

The MDPH will no longer be able to direct the person to an Esat from the outset, but only on the recommendation of France Travail. Currently, on the basis of the file and a medical certificate, they can direct her to an Esat without even having met her.

“Everyone is presumed to be able to work in an ordinary environment. It is the meaning of an inclusive society to stop following specific paths”, we argue at the Ministry of Labor.

This new system will first be tested in three to five voluntary territories in 2024, for generalization planned by 2027.

In addition, the bill sets itself the task of aligning the rights of Esat workers with those of ordinary employees, as Emmanuel Macron announced on April 26 at the National Disability Conference (CNH).

They will be able to benefit from “individual and collective rights” such as transport aid, trade union rights, the right to strike, complementary health, it is indicated to the ministry for the disabled. However, they will remain protected from dismissal.

The government would also like to test an evolution of the site pole-emploi.fr to help people with disabilities and companies involved in the issue to better identify with each other.