Survey results of learners from Bulgaria
Disability Employment is a national priority calling
special political and public attention and requiring the
highest degree of policy coordination. The inclusion of
this vulnerable group in the labor market is one of the
main tools for the integration of persons with disabilities
in all spheres of public life. Persons with disabilities
from Bulgaria as well as from other countries have the
same rights and obligations as all other people around
the world.
However, they face a wide range of obstacles and barriers
which inhibit the transition from school to employment:
• Low-level vocational qualifications
• Employers’ negative attitude
• Inaccessible workplaces
• Lack of appropriate working environment
• Poor public awareness
• Bureaucratic obstacles preventing disability
employment
• Lack of a register
Low-level vocational qualifications
Most people of this target group are characterized as lacking
vocational qualifications. Formal vocational training of students
with disabilities is performed extensively in existing special schools
or in a small number of special education centres for children with
vision and hearing loss, where the career choice is very limited.
Persons with permanent disability are vocationally retrained
mainly in specialized enterprises and cooperatives, where they
work. This retraining usually does not match the labor market
requirements. The Employment Promotion Act (EPA) provides
grants for vocational training and retraining of employees, but the
employers are generally reluctant to make use of this opportunity;
they do it only if the employee meets their requirements and they
intend to hold him or her for a long time.
Employers’ negative attitude
Labour Offices database on labour statistics coming to
the Agency for People with Disabilities according to
Article 27 of the Law on the Integration of People with
Disabilities (LIPD) confirms that there are job vacancies
available for persons with disabilities, but the employers
are reluctant to employ them. According to Labour
Offices database these job vacancies are usually taken by
people without disabilities, and persons with disabilities
applying for them are supposed to satisfy impossible
requirements. Unfortunately, this process is being
intensified in the context of the current economic crisis.
Inaccessible workplaces
Accessibility is one of the biggest problems for persons with disabilities and a satisfactory
solution for this issue has not been found yet. There are good accessibility standard
regulations and the Law on Spatial Planning establishes requirements for building
accessible environment. The specific requirements for accessible environment are
introduced by a number of regulations on technical design standards. There are regulatory
documents on building accessible urban environment, traffic signal regulation, putting
traffic lights at road intersections located on accessible routes, supporting green traffic light
by an acoustic signal. It is clear from the above that there is good legislation designed to
make disabled people’s workplace and home as well as public buildings accessible to them,
but the lack of financial resources, positive public attitude and active control over the
implementation of the requirements prevent the local authorities, regional councils and
government agencies from putting into practice these regulations. The degree of
accessibility to public buildings is still insufficient. Public service accessibility of persons
with disability is difficult in nearly 50% of cases, which hinders their full integration into
society. Accessibility is provided easier in the economically developed regions. Overall policy
for integration of people with disabilities, in particular the provision of accessible built
environment, is applied and implemented by NGOs under considerable pressure but those
who have to apply this policy and invest significant resources for its carrying out have not
accepted it as a necessity yet.
Lack of appropriate working environment
There is a lack of appropriate working environment
tailored to the specific needs of persons with disabilities.
One of the reasons for the low labour-market
participation rate of disabled people is the reluctance of
employers to make additional expenditure to ensure
appropriate working environment tailored to the
capabilities of these individuals. Currently, only the Law
on the Integration of People with Disabilities and the
Implementing Rules of the LIPD provide funding
measures for employers of ordinary and specialized
enterprises to adapt workplaces for employees with
disabilities.
Poor public awareness
An important prerequisite for successful social inclusion of
people with specific abilities is public attitude change
towards them. Society is still dominated by misconceptions,
pity, indifference and negativity. Thus, it becomes necessary
to implement long-term campaigns to overcome these
'subjective' barriers and to change stereotypes in the way the
persons with disabilities are presented and perceived. This
approach is very important because it gives us the
opportunity of presenting people with disabilities as bearers
of positive roles and equal citizens in a democratic society.
The campaign to change public attitudes should go hand in
hand with all issues of disability solutions.
Bureaucratic obstacles preventing
disability employment
Most of employers from the country are concerned about
the enormous amount of paperwork that must be done
when a person with a disability is employed, and
therefore they prefer simply not to do this. It is believed
that people with disabilities are not able to manage with
their work responsibilities. In practice it turns out that
even the state preferences do not change things.
Lack of a register
One of the reasons not to employ people with disabilities
is the lack of a register. Nobody knows what the
disadvantaged person’s qualifications are and where he
or she lives.
Thank you for your attention!