Support for the Integration of Disabled People into the Labour Market

WALTER BLUMBERGER
“Arbeitsassistenz” Support for the Integration
of Disabled People into the Labour Market
Walter Blumberger,
Johannes Kepler University Linz
Abstract
The number of registered persons with disabilities as well as the number of unemployed people with
severe handicaps has been increasing since 1990. Persons with a mental health disability in particular
are concerned. Therefore the experimental project “Arbeitsassistenz” (job-assistance) was established
in Austria in 1992. After a successful pilot-phase job-assistance was enlarged to all Austrian provinces.
In 1997, the year of reference of this study, 3.517 persons took advantage of this service, in 1998 7.997
and in 1999 approx. 9.000 persons. In 1997 68,55 employees worked in Arbeitsassistenzprogrammes(converted into a 40-hours week), in 1998 93,13 and in 1999 154,8.
Job-assistance is mostly organised by private non-profit organisations, which are financed by the
disabled persons compensation funds (Ausgleichstaxfonds), the Public Employment Service (Arbeitsmarktservice) and the provincial governments. Since 1995 the European Social Fund (ESF) has financed the job-assistance programme to 50 percent.
A study about job-assistance in Austria documented its activities in 1997 and 1998/99, analysed the
costs of the programme and assessed its outcomes. According to the results of the study in 1997 the
cost per person who participated in the programme amounted to 1.806 EURO and 41,6% of jobassistance interventions were successful. In this study and in the labour market statistics evidence was
found that Arbeitsassistenz is an effective programme to bring unemployed people with disabilities,
especially with mental health problems, back to work and to promote their employability.
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WALTER BLUMBERGER
Part A: Description of the main elements of the “Arbeitsassistenz”
(“Job Assistance”)
Preface
In 1992 the Austrian Ministry of Labour, Health and Social Affairs (now: Ministry of Social Security and
Generations, BMSG) started two pilot-programmes to bring people with mental health problems1 back to
work. The evaluation of these programmes showed that the Arbeitsassistenz-approach (job assistance
approach) was very efficient and sustainable. Between 43% and 50% of the people who asked for
advice and support succeeded in finding a job or staying in their job because personal problems could
be solved. Compared to the costs of unemployment the benefits which came out of the programme
turned out to be higher than the costs2. Therefore it was decided to enlarge this programme to a regular
return-to-work service for people with disabilities. In 1998 a critical review of the programme was carried
out by the Institute for Vocational and Adult Education Research at the Johannes Kepler University Linz
on behalf of the Austrian Ministry of Social Security and Generations3. The results published in the year
2000 form the basis of this report.
Instead of the terms ‘emotionally impaired’, ‘emotionally disabled’which are used in The Disability Concept of the Austrian
Federal Government (Federal Ministry of Labour, Health and Social Affairs in Co-operation with Österreichische
Arbeitsgemeinschaft für Rehabilitation. Vienna 1998) we use the term ‘persons with a mental health disability’. See: A Way
with Words. Human Resources Development Canada.
2 Blumberger, W./Gsaxner, I./Heilbrunner, C.: Evaluierung des Modellprojekts Arbeitsassistenz in Oberösterreich und
Niederösterreich. Endbericht. Institut für Berufs- und Erwachsenenbildungsforschung an der Johannes Kepler Universität
Linz, Linz 1994.
3 Blumberger, W./Heilbrunner, C./Moser, C.: Aktivierende wissenschaftliche Begleitung des Aufbaues der Arbeitsassistenz in
Österreich. Projektbericht des Instituts für Berufs- und Erwachsenenbildungsforschung an der Johannes Kepler Universität
Linz. Teilbericht 1 (5 Bände), Teilbericht 2, Projektabschlußbericht. Linz 1999.
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of Disabled People into the Labour Market, Austria
WALTER BLUMBERGER
Graph 1: Number of registered people with disabilities in Austria (1st
January of each year)
90000
80000
70000
60000
50000
40000
30000
men
women
total
20000
10000
0
1980
1985
1990
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
year
A.1: Background
In Austria, improvement of employability, career development and transition to work were particularly
concentrated on vocational rehabilitation for people with physical handicaps until the mid 80s. But new
initiatives were taken towards the end of the 80s and the beginning of the 90s and more attention was
paid to the problems of people with mental health disabilities and to people who were intellectually
impaired as well as to persons with multiple disabilities. Nevertheless the number of registered persons
with disabilities4 has increased significantly since 1995 (see graph 1) as well as the number of
unemployed who are disabled5 (see graph 2).
There were 14,476 more persons with disabilities (23%) registered in 2000 (77,839) than in 1995
(63,363).
Approximately 10% of registered persons with disabilities are registered unemployed and about 25%
are not employed. The employment rate is about 65% (1997) and decreasing since the mid 80s. On an
average 80% of these unemployed people are physically handicapped, and 15% suffer from mental
diseases.
‘Registered persons with disabilities are men and women who are at least 50% impaired in comparison to a ‘normal’
worker. They have to be Austrian citizens or citizens of the EU or EWR or refugees as long as they are allowed to stay in
Austria. Persons who are older than 65 or draw a disability or an old age pension cannot be registered. (See: Disabled
Persons Employment Act. 1999).
5 ‘Registered persons with disabilities’are not identical with people who are ‘unemployed and disabled’. The latter includes
also persons with a less than 50% degree of disability and impairments which cannot be registered.
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of Disabled People into the Labour Market, Austria
WALTER BLUMBERGER
Graph 2: Number of unemployed disabled people in Austria
45000
40000
men
women
total
35000
number
30000
25000
20000
15000
10000
5000
0
1990
1991
1992
1993
1994
1995
1996
1997
1998
year
Looking at the ratios of registered unemployed men and women with physical and mental health
disabilities one can see that the rate of women with mental health disabilities has increased significantly
(+7%).
Table 1: Impairment by sex of registered unemployed persons 1995 - 1997 - 1999
impair- 1995
ment
men
physical 15,277
64%
1995
women
8,663
36%
1997
men
18,987
63%
1997
women
11,025
37%
1999*)
men
20,409
63%
mental 3,257
1,350
3,811
1,833
3,798
health
71%
29%
68%
32%
64%
Source: BMSG, IBE
*) estimation by IBE on AMS-data because of a change in the database
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1999*)
women
11,877
37%
2,116
36%
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WALTER BLUMBERGER
Mental health disabilities as a main reason for unemployment grew by 28,4% (+1,307) from 1995 to
19996. The growth of physical impairments amounted to 34,9% (+8,346). Statistics show a stronger
increase of women with mental health problems by 57,7% (+766) in this period of time than men
(16,7%, +541). Regarding physical impairments the increase rate for women (37,1%, +3,214) was also
higher than that for men (33,6%, +5,132).
In 1995 the unemployment rate of registered persons with disabilities was nearly double the general
unemployment. However it decreased from 1995 to 1999 by 0,8% whereas the general rate stayed
nearly at the same level.
Table 2: Unemployment rates for registered persons with disabilities
year
Economically
active
registered persons with
disabilities
1995
44,977
1997
47,241
1999
52,333
Source: AMS, IBE
*) Austrian method of computation
Unemployed registered Unemployment rate
persons with disabilities for registered persons with disabilities
6,394
12,5%
6,677
12,4%
6,925
11,7%
Unemployment rate
in Austria*)
6,6%
7,1%
6,7%
The low proportion of women in all unemployed registered persons with disabilities (see table 3) does
not indicate that they are less unemployed. It may be supposed that many women with disabilities have
not registered as unemployed and that the number of undetected cases is rather high.
Table 3: Unemployment rates of registered women with disabilities
Year
Unemployed registered Unemployed registered
women with disabilities women with disabilities
in % of all unemployed
persons with disabilities
1995
1,463
22,9%
1997
1,787
26,8%
1999
1,872
27,0%
Source: AMS, IBE
*) Austrian method of computation
Women’s proportion
in the unemployment
rate of persons with
disabilities
2,9%
3,3%
3,2%
Unemployment rate
of
women
in
Austria*)
6,8%
7,4%
6,9%
The number as well as the rate of registered unemployed - as mentioned before they are not identical
with registered persons with disabilities - have increased since 1995. But in 1999 the number of persons
was 204 less than in 1998 (see table 4).
In general nearly 8% of long-term absent employees are persons with mental health problems. Blumberger,
W./Eckersdorfer, P./ Niederberger, K.: RETURN. Improving return to work strategies for long term absent employees.
(Austrian Report I). Linz, June 2000. Project founded by the European Commission. Research Directorate-General.
Directorate F – Human potential and Mobility. Project No. HPSE-CT-1999-00011. Partners: D. McAnaney, University College
Dublin, Ireland; R. Wynne, Work Research Centre, Dublin, Ireland; F. Niehuis, University of Maastricht, The Netherlands; G.
Rueckemann, University of Applied Science Heidelberg, Germanys; G. Ricciardi, University of Cassino, Italy; J. Jorma,
University of Lapland, Finland; A. Talvi, FORTRUM, Finland.
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of Disabled People into the Labour Market, Austria
WALTER BLUMBERGER
Table 4: Rate of registered unemployed persons with disabilities (1995 – 1997 – 1998 (1999))
Year
Registered
unemployed
persons
with
disabilities
Registered
unemployed persons
with disabilities in % of
all unemployed
Registered
unemployed
women with
disabilities
1995
30,068
13,9
10,556
1997
37,473
16,1
13,549
1998
40,540
17,1
14,791
1999*)
39,824
18,0
14,587
*) estimation by IBE on AMS-data because of a change in the database
Ratio of registered
unemployed
women with
disabilities in %
35,1%
36,2%
36,5%
36,6%
Due to medical, legal7 and economic reasons mental health policy in Austria changed in the late 80s
and early 90s: Hospitals were forced to reduce long-term stays for patients with mental disabilities and
public authorities had to arrange extra-mural accommodation, treatment and social integration. Special
institutions started to provide appropriate services but they soon faced limitations in integrating people
with mental health problems outside sheltered workshops or short-term employment programmes8.
On the other hand more and more people with mental health problems lost their jobs and became long
term unemployed.
These developments forced non profit organisations in the field of mental health and the Austrian
Ministry of Labour, Health and Social Affairs (now: Ministry of Social Security and Generations) to take
action to bring people with mental health problems back to work or to find a first job for them. As
mentioned before two Arbeitsassistenz projects started in Upper Austria and in Lower Austria in 1992.
7
8
Idem, p 64.
Idem, p 35.
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WALTER BLUMBERGER
A.2 Goals and groups of the Arbeitsassistenz – programme
The implement of the Arbeitsassistenz as an important tool to integrate persons with disabilities into the
regular labour market was an objective of the Austrian Operational Programme for 1995 - 1999. Its aim
was also to offer this service all over Austria especially in less developed regions and to target groups
which were not included in the pilot projects.
Basically there is one main target group for the Arbeitsassistenz-programme: unemployed persons with
disabilities or persons who are in danger of loosing their job because of an impairment. At the very
beginning of the programme only people with mental health problems could ask for this service, but with
time the target groups were enlarged (1995) and special Arbeitsassistenz-projects were established for
the following groups of persons with:
§ persons with a mental health disability
§ persons with an intellectual disability
§ persons with a physical disability
§ persons who are deaf or hard of hearing
§ persons who are blind or visually impaired
§ persons with a multiple disability
The specific goals of the Arbeitsassistenz-programme are:
§ to support people with disabilities to stay in their jobs
§ to bring people back to work in their original job or in a new job
§ to support them to find a first job
§ to promote integration in the workplace
§ to influence employers and the public to give people with disabilities equal opportunities in the
workplace and to support integration
The target groups and the specific goals of the Arbeitsassistenz-programme directly address the
employment strategy created in Luxembourg 1997 to integrate people with disabilities into the labour
market.
Furthermore they fully fit into the Vienna amendments (1998) to the employment guidelines to improve
integration of persons with disabilities as well as into the employment guidelines 1999 to fight the
unemployment of young people and to avoid long-term unemployment.
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WALTER BLUMBERGER
A.3 Legal and financial provisions to implement the policy
The basic legal provision for the Arbeitsassistenz is given in the Disabled Persons Employment Act
(Behinderteneinstellungsgesetz, BEinstG)9, the aim of which is
§ to integrate disabled people into the labour market,
§ to provide special protective regulations for employees with disabilities
§ to protect persons with disabilities against dismissal as well as
§ to establish a representative in a company to protect the interests of these
employees.
Paragraph 6 (2) lit. d says, that the ‘costs for actions to support [
registered persons with disabilities]in
the workplace, especially Arbeitsassistenz’10 are to be subsidised.
Guidelines for Arbeitsassistenz
The tasks and target groups of the Arbeitsassistenz, financial matters, refundable costs and the
reporting system are regulated in special Guidelines11.
Non-profit organisations can be commissioned to support persons with disabilities in the workplace and
these organisations can be subsidised by financial means out of the disabled persons compensation
fund. Arbeitsassistenz services have to offer open access to the target groups, and actions, especially
psycho-social advice, have to be taken by professional staff to fulfil the goals.
Registered persons with disabilities or people who can prove, e.g. by medical report, that they are at
least 50% disabled are allowed to demand Arbeitsassistenz. However they must be able to work in a
sheltered workshop or workplace.
On average, one job-assistant (Arbeitsassistent) has to care for 20 persons and the term of consultation
should not go beyond one year. Due to special reasons these criteria can be changed.
If necessary special (vocational) training, technical aids etc. can be granted to improve the employability
of persons with disability.
The first precursor to the modern Disabled Persons Employment Act passed in 1920. Only veterans of World War I were
beneficiaries of this act. After World War II victims of accidents at work and political persecution as well as civilian disabled
people were included as beneficiaries. In 1973 the principle of finality was fully embodied in the Invalids Employment Act of
the time, which meant that from that time onwards, benefits applied to all disabled persons regardless of the cause of their
disability. (See: The Disability Concept of the Austrian Federal Government. Vienna 1998, p 37).
10 Disabled Persons Employment Act § 6 (2) lit. d 1999.
11 Richtlinien für die Förderung begleitender Hilfen gem. §6 Abs. 1 BeinstG aus den Mitteln des Ausgleichtaxfonds.
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Commissioning of Arbeitsassistenz projects
Organisations which want to establish Arbeitsassistenz have to be commissioned by the Federal Office
for Disability Affairs (Bundesamt für Soziales und Behindertenwesen, BSB) according to the guidelines.
A special contract (Förderungsvertrag) has to be made which not only regulates the subsidises but also
details of the target group and the workload as well as criteria of efficiency.
For example: The number of persons with an intellectual disability for whom one Arbeitsassistent has to
care is lower than the number of persons who are physically impaired or hard of hearing.
Financial provisions
The Arbeitsassisstenz projects are financed by the
§ Disabled persons compensation fund (ATF)
§ Public Employment Service (AMS)
§ Regional governments
§ European Social Funds (ESF)
42,78% of the costs of projects in objective 3 regions and 50% in the objective 1 region Burgenland
were financed by the ESF. It was intended that the remaining 57,22% should be provided in equal
proportions by the ATF, AMS and regional governments. But in some provinces either the AMS or the
regional government did not contribute to the projects. In these cases the Federal Ministry of Social
Security and Generations (Federal Office of Disability Affairs) paid for the missing shares.
In most of the years since 1995 the budgets for Arbeitsassistenz have been higher than the real costs of
the projects.
Graph 3: Real costs of the Arbeitsassistenz programme
6000000
5000000
Euros
4000000
3000000
2000000
1000000
0
costs (Euros)
1995
200000
1996
1997
1998
1999
1497851 3557295 4837916 5552556
year
estimated
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A.4 Institutional arrangements and procedures of implementation
Spreading Arbeitsassistenz in Austria
The two pilot projects for Arbeitsassistenz in Upper and Lower Austria were initiated by locally based
non-profit organisations (Pro mente and Psychosoziales Zentrum) which have been working together
with psychiatric hospitals. To some degree Arbeitsassistenz projects in Germany were models for the
Austrian activities.
Many other organisations were interested in the outcome of the evaluation. After Arbeitsassistenz
turned out to be successful12 more and more organisations applied for financial means to offer
Arbeitsassistenz in other regions.
First projects started in Burgenland, Lower Austria, Upper Austria and Vienna in 1995; projects in other
provinces followed in 1996.
While in 1995 only nine projects existed there are 83 working in 1999.
Table 5: Number of Arbeitsassistenz projects in Austria
year
1992
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
Number
projects
2
9
27
28
35
83
of
Between 43% and 50% of the persons who asked for support found a job or could keep their job after they faced problems
in the company.
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of Disabled People into the Labour Market, Austria
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Chart 1: Districts provided with Arbeitsassistenz (August 2000)
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The staff
Corresponding to the number of projects which where established the number of people who worked in
the projects grew (see table 6).
Table 6: Number of employees 1995 – 1999
year
number
1997
116
1998
127
1999
174
Source:IBE; *) not available
equivalent in fulltime employment
68,55
93,13
*)
In 1997, the year of reference of the study on the development of the Arbeitsassistenz in Austria13, 40 of
the 116 persons (34%) who were employed in projects fulfilled administrative tasks. 66% of the whole
staff were women, 34% men. 40 out of 76 job-assistants (53%) were academics (psychologists or
pedagogues), 30 (39%) held a social-workers’degree. 30% of the job-assistants had qualified in further
training for psychotherapies, advice and a few in management sciences. Eight job-assistants knew sign
language.
Concepts and methods
The conceptual idea of Arbeitsassistenz is
1. to keep these persons in their actual jobs,
2. to bring back to work people with disabilities, especially persons with mental health problems as
soon as possible,
3. to avoid unemployment or expensive vocational rehabilitation processes,
4. to allow especially women with mental health problems to benefit from Arbeitsassistenz.
Herewith Arbeitsassistenz should play a
§ preventive role (keeping jobs),
§ an integrative role (job finding and promotion of employment),
§ a communicative role (to advise employers, colleagues in the workplace,
authorities),
§ role in promoting the equality of women.
Job-assistants work within the framework of casework methodology and a systemic
approach. The ideal path of consultation follows nine steps:
See: Blumberger, W./ Heilbrunner, C., Moser.C.: Aktivierende wissenschaftliche Begleitung des Aufbaues der Arbeitsassistenz in Österreich. Projektbericht des Institut für Berufs- und Erwachsenenbildungsforschung an der Johannes Kepler
Universität Linz. Teilbericht 1(5 Bände), Teilbericht 2, Projektabschlußbericht. Linz 1999.
January, 2001
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of Disabled People into the Labour Market, Austria
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Chart 2: Ideal path of consultation
Clearing
Career planning
Intervention planning
Intervention in the company
Training for job interviews*)
(by vocational training institutions)
Vocational training*)
Consultation with other advice centres*)
(e.g. debtor advice centre)
Co-operative job-search
Active job-interview support*)
Follow-up care
(including information in the workplace)
Control of success
*) optional
Attracting persons with disabilities
Persons with disabilities find their ways to the Arbeitsassistenz mostly by information from
§ the Federal Office for Disability Affairs,
§ psychiatric hospitals,
§ other psychiatric health services,
§ disabled persons organisations,
§ advice centres, Labour Market Service (AMS)
§ physicians, lawyers,
§ official agents,
§ public relations.
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Part B: Results of the Arbeitsassistenz programme
B.1 Quantitative results
The study of the job assistance programme in Austria, mentioned above14, is focussed on the years
1997 and 1998/1999. The outcome of this study has been the basis for restructuring the programme.
This report on the results of the Arbeitsassistenz project mainly refers to these data.
B.1.1 Persons in care of the Arbeitsassistenz
The number of advised persons with disabilities and persons in care of the Arbeitsassistenz developed
differently depending on the year of establishing the project, the regional psychiatric health
infrastructure, the labour market etc. 42% of the clients are persons with mental health impairments,
16% do have intellectual and 15% physical impairments.
Table 7: Advised persons and persons in care of the Arbeitsassistenz by impairment (average
1997/1998/1999)
Mental health hard
of visually
disabilities
hearing
impaired
42%
13%
2%
Source: IBE, *) double counting possible
intellectual
disabilities*)
16%
physical
disabilities
15%
multiple
disabilities*)
11%
Compared to registered unemployed people with disabilities one can see, that persons with physical
disabilities are less often clients of the Arbeitsassistenz but persons with mental health disabilities,
persons who are hard of hearing or visually impaired as well as persons with intellectual disabilities are
to a much higher ratio advised by or in care of the Arbeitsassistenz. This has to be regarded as a very
positive result, especially in the case of people with intellectual disabilities, because these persons are
normally excluded from the labour market. On the other hand one has to admit, that Arbeitsassistenz, as
it was designed originally, does possibly not meet the close demands of this persons, e.g. the transition
from school to work phase (career planning) or support necessities at the work place (job coaching). But
in practice Arbeitsassistenz fulfils mostly these demands.
Regarding the results of the programme one has to distinguish between ‘persons with disabilities in care
of the Arbeitsassistenz’(PICs) and advised persons with disabilities (APs):
§
In the case of PICs the task of Arbeitsassistenz is to support persons
with disabilities to stay in their job, to bring them back into their job or to find a new job
and
§
‘advised persons’(APs) who receive advice only for a short term.
14
Blumberger, W./Heilbrunner, C./Moser, C., Linz 1999.
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Table 8: Registered unemployed persons by impairment (average 1997/1998)
mental health hard
disabilities
hearing
15,1%
0,8%
Source: AMS
of visually
impaired
0,4%
intellectual
disabilities
4,6%
physical
disabilities
80,3%
The number of people supported by Arbeitsassistenz amounted to 3,517 in 1997, to 7,997 in 1998, and
according to the IBE 2nd data capture approx. 9,000 in 1999.
There was a significant increase in total, however the proportion of supported women decreased from
46% to 33%.(See table 9.)
It has to be acknowledged that the three data-sources referred to in table 6 (see below) do not
absolutely correspond because of different data collecting methods and data levels. In this report we
refer to the IBE-data captured initially if no other data basis is especially quoted.
Table 9: Advised persons with disability and persons in care 1997 – 1999
men
1997
Aps
PICs
Total
1998
Aps
PICs
Total
199915
Aps
PICs
Total
women
total
Total
(IBE-1st Data (IBE-2nd
capture)
Date
capture)
831
1067
1898
54%
814
805
1619
46%
1645
1872
3517
100%
3705
1354
5059
63%
1820
1118
2938
37%
5525
2472
7997
100%
4515
1374
5889
67%
1676
1249
2925
33%
BMSG-Data
1940
1656
2921
2879
6191
2623
8814
100%
3279
For the study of Blumberger, W./Heilbrunner, C./Moser, C., (Linz 1999) data on the outcome of the Arbeitsassistenz
projects were captured twice (in 1998 – IBE-1stdata capture – and 1999/2000 – IBE-2nd data capture) for the years
1997/1998/1999. However the captures produced different results. This report relates to the figures coming from the first data
capture (IBE-1st data capture) if nothing else is mentioned. The data of the 2nd IBE-data capture are incomplete; until July 14th
2000 it was not possible to get detailed data from four projects.
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The relatively highest rate of persons with mental health problems were in care of the Arbeitsassistenz
in Lower Austria, Upper Austria and in Styria. In Vorarlberg, the most western province of Austria, the
majority of all persons in care had intellectual and/or multiple impairments. In Upper Austria and in
Vienna many persons were hard of hearing (see table 10).
Table 10: Persons in care by impairment 1997
Province
Impairment
mental
hard
health
hearing
total
multiple
intellec- physically
impairtual dis- impaired
ment
ability
Burgenland
28
10
4
33
30
21
126
22%
8%
3%
26%
24%
17%
100%
Carinthia **) 48
4
1
11
33
31
128
38%
3%
0%
9%
26%
24%
100%
Lower
249
44
0
1
0
28
322
Austria
77%
14%
0%
0%
0%
9%
100%
Upper
164
91
19
13
33
17
337
Austria
49%
27%
6%
4%
10%
5%
100%
Salzburg**)
72
16
0
69
51
38
246
29%
7%
0%
28%
21%
15%
100%
Styria**)
145
28
17
63
61
33
347
42%
8%
5%
18%
18%
10%
100%
Tyrol
36
9
3
22
28
45
143
25%
6%
2%
15%
20%
31%
100%
Vorarlberg**) 78
8
5
83
54
21
249
31%
3%
2%
33%
22%
8%
100%
Vienna
78
72
3
44
23
9
229
34%
31%
1%
19%
10%
4%
100%
Österreich
898
282
52
339
313
243
2127
Total
42%
13%
2%
16%
15%
11%
100%
st
nd
*) 1 line: absolute figures; 2 line: in percent. Please notice: Only people in care of the
Arbeitsassistenz are counted. **) Multi-answers possible.
of visual
impaired
Table 10 shows different concentrations of impairments within the provinces. One of the main reasons
for that is on the one hand the institutional background of the projects, on the other hand the availability
of alternative services.
The number of persons with intellectual and/or multiple impairments increased significantly compared to
past years.
The resources in terms of ‘manpower’ provided by the Arbeitsassistenz projects differ between the
target groups.
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WALTER BLUMBERGER
Table 11: Number of Arbeitsassistenz employees by target groups
Target groups
mental health impairments
physically and/ or intellectually impaired
hard of hearing or visually
impaired
multiple target groups
1997
23,0
5,3
1998
28,5
7,0
7,8
9,7
32,4
48,0
There are agreements between the Federal Office for Social Affairs and the Arbeitsassistenz projects
concerning the relation between job-assistants and persons in care.
Table 12: Relation between job-assistants and persons in care
Target groups
mental health impairments
intellectually impaired
hard of hearing or visually
impaired
multiple impairments
Relation
1:12
1:13
1:13
1:25
1:12
1:16
Looking at the human resources which were provided in the federal and regional budgets the highest
resources were located in Lower Austria and in Upper Austria in 1997, in Styria and in Lower Austria in
1998.
Regarding unemployment figures big regional discrepancies could be seen in 1997:
Burgenland, Salzburg and Vorarlberg are provided best with Arbeitsassistenz, Carinthia and Vienna
worst (see table 13). In the following years actions were taken to provide Arbeitsassistenz more equal in
the Austrian regions to the same extent (see chart 1).
Table 13: Number of persons per job-assistant 1997
Province
Burgenland
Carinthia
Lower Austria
Upper Austria
Salzburg
Styria
Tirol
Vorarlberg
Vienna
Austria
January, 2001
Registered unemployed
persons with disabilities
per job-assistant
232.2
1041.2
296.5
361.8
128.6
442.6
368.5
332.6
1097.9
443.5
Peer Review
Registered persons
with disabilities per
job-assistant
323.8
2,051.6
544.6
1,061.5
248.9
1,079.2
605.7
377.4
1,433.0
824,1
Employees per
job-assistant
25,960
100,000
43,229
48,079
24,476
42,262
52,533
33,820
68,791
45,801
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of Disabled People into the Labour Market, Austria
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WALTER BLUMBERGER
Satisfaction with job-assistants
Forty semi-structured interviews were carried out in 1998. One question was, how satisfied persons with
disabilities are with the services provided by job-assistants. On a scale from 1 (very satisfied) to 5
(completely dissatisfied) the mean for satisfaction was 1.4. It has to be mentioned that only one person
qualified her/his job-assistant with 4 but many pointed out in the interviews that they would not be able
to find a job without the support of job assistants.
Acceptance of Arbeitsassistenz by Companies
As mentioned before Arbeitsassistenz projects have to do public relations work in order to improve
equal employment chances and to establish Arbeitsassistenz as a service not only to support persons
with disabilities but employers. A telephone survey of employers and personnel managers in companies
(n = 536) showed that 48% of the interviewed persons knew the Arbeitsassistenz. The Arbeitsassistenz
was better known in rural than in urban areas. However employers and managers did not very often
have practical contact with it, 6% of them said that they were once in touch with Arbeitsassistenz. This
means that almost 3% of Austrian companies had practical experiences with this programme. 50% of
these contacts concerned employment of a person in care and 13% conflictual situations of employed
persons with disabilities.
Approximately one third of the interviewed would accept the services of Arbeitsassistenz but 4 out of 10
who know the Arbeitsassistenz would not like to take on further co-operation. To sum up one can say
that three out of ten employers or managers would accept services provided by the Arbeitsassistenz.
Efficacy of Arbeitsassistenz
The crucial criterion of Arbeitsassistenz is the number of persons with disabilities who could stay in their
jobs despite problems16 or who were unemployed and could find a job17. Efficacy ratios (proportion of
positive interventions and employment of all persons with disabilities in care) vary between 25% and
52%. This efficacy ratios were mostly in line with the agreements laid down in the special contracts
(Förderungsvereinbarungen) with the Arbeitsassistenz projects. Job-assistants were able to support
15,8% of the persons in care to stay at their workplace and 25,8% to find a job.
They have to stay at least 6 months in their job to be registered as successful intervention.
It has to be a regular job and it has to last longer as the person has to be for a longer term as the probation was legally
agreed.
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17
of Disabled People into the Labour Market, Austria
WALTER BLUMBERGER
Table 14: Efficacy ratios by persons in care and provinces (1997)
Province
Burgenland
Carintha
Lower Austria
Upper Austria
Salzburg
Styria
Tyrol
Vorarlberg
Vienna
Total
Persons in care
(absolute figures)
126
81
322
337
102
316
143
216
229
1872
Positive
interventions
(absolute figures)
59
20
119
129
49
154
55
112
81
778
Positive intervention rate
in percent
46,8
24,7
37,0
38,3
48,0
48,7
38,5
51,9
35,4
41,6
Looking at the figures of registered unemployed persons with disabilities who could find a job in the
years 1995 to 1999 one can see a remarkable growth, especially in the year from 1998 to 1999. It is
certain that not every unemployed person found its his or her job with the support of the
Arbeitsassistenz but this table may be seen as a strong evidence for the efficacy of this programme.
Table 15: Registered unemployed persons with disabilities finding a job
1995
total
27,198
compared
to
previous year
Source: AMS
January, 2001
1996
28,072
+ 874
Peer Review
1997
29,546
+ 1,474
1998
29,556
+ 12
1999
33,940
+ 4,384
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WALTER BLUMBERGER
Results in relation to the baseline situation and to goals and targets
Taking into account that we are dealing with a relatively small number of persons and that the
Arbeitsassistenz programme is only one of Austria’s actions to promote employment and employability
of persons with disabilities18 we have to acknowledge that
§
the number of unemployed registered persons with disabilities, the main target group of
Arbeitsassistenz, has, for the first time since the early 90s, slightly decreased from 1998 to 1999 (125);
§
the rate of unemployed registered persons with disabilities decreased from 1995
(12,5%) to 1999 (11,7%) by 0,8%;
§
compared to the previous year in 1997 29,546 (+ 1,474), in 1998 29,556 (+12) and in
1999 33,940 (+4,384) registered unemployed persons with disabilities could find a job;
§
25,8% (483) of the persons in care of the Arbeitsassistenz were able to find a job and
15,8% (295) could keep their job because of the activities of job-assistants in 1997.
§
in 1997 37,449 persons with disabilities were registered unemployed, in 1998 40,541
(+3,072), but in 1999 39,378 (-1,163);
§
persons with mental health problems are the main target group of the Arbeitsassistenz;
§
women with disabilities are equally represented (compared to registered women’s with
disabilities proportion) as advised persons or persons in care in the Arbeitsassistenz programme;
§
Arbeitsassistenz is very well accepted by persons with disabilities.
B.2 Other results and achievements of the policy
One of the main, probably unintended, achievements of the Arbeitsassistenz programme in Austria was
that it supported the very important discussion about ‘transition from work to school’, especially as
young people with intellectual and multiple disabilities are concerned. In this context a variety of projects
of were established which were successful in employing (young) people with severe handicaps in the
regular labour market. Furthermore the idea of ‘supported employment’as well as ‘job coaching’and
‘personal assistance’became more relevant. Some new projects in the ‘field of supported employment’
were created and a lively discussion is going on not only among parents and organisations of persons
with disabilities but also in the social administration systems at regional and federal level.
Integration of pupils with disabilities into the secondary II- level (including vocational education and
training), which until today is not fully practised in Austria, got additional arguments. Learning together
makes working together a normal situation.
Another crucial result is that alternative return-to-work strategies, besides more or less traditional (but
necessary) vocational rehabilitation programmes, are discussed more broadly, for example special
vocational pre-training and special apprenticeship-schemes (‘Qualifizierter Helfer’–‘qualified helper’).
Related to ‘mainstreaming’ and ‘equal opportunities’ good progress was made in various projects in
connection with the EU programmes EMPLOYMENT and ADAPT. Two out of many others should be
mentioned:
In 1997 there were approx. 6,468, in 1999 7,789 persons with disabilities in training and employment programs of the
Public Employment Service. (Source: Ministry for Economy and Labour, Umsetzungsbericht 2000 zum Nationalen
Aktionsplan für Beschäftigung. Österreich. Mai 2000).
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of Disabled People into the Labour Market, Austria
WALTER BLUMBERGER
The goal of the project ‘Ready to Start’in Tyrol is to give school-leavers with intellectual
disabilities an initial vocational training to allow them integration into the labour market. Job-search is
specially supported in this project as well as the initial working-phase.
§
The Styria based project ‘Job Allianz’establishes an efficient and sustainable network
of all organisations involved in disability affairs, labour market, consultation and Arbeitsassistenz.
Special emphasis is put on the co-operation with regional companies.
§
Regarding the Council’s Decision of May 20th 2000 in which strategies are supported to improve the
employment situation of persons with disabilities and to promote their independence from the provision
ofbenefits, Arbeitsassistenz fits very well into to concept of active and preventive measures.
B.3 Assessment of obstacles and constraints encountered
Obstacles have to be reported at least at two levels: the general labour market situation and the legal
framework for employing people with disabilities.
It becomes obvious that the employment of people with disabilities goes together with the general labour
market developments. Whereas the labour market was very tense in the middle of the 90s it became
better at the end of the 90s and especially in 2000: In November 2000 Austria’s unemployment rate was
the lowest since 1990 (5,8% according to national computation, 3,1% according to Eurostat). In other
words, bad news from the labour market means bad news for the employment situation of people with
disabilities. Nevertheless the Arbeitsassistenz programme was successful even in these times.
The Disabled Persons Employment Act give a special protection against dismissal to registered persons
with disabilities. Employers tend to assume that it would mean that persons with disabilities are
impossible to dismiss. However this is not the case - most conflicts are settled by mutual decisions –
this law often becomes a barrier against employment19. There are discussions on how to get over this
problem by limited casual work.
Another point is that subsidising the workplace of a disabled person is not always efficient. Many
companies do not want to employ a ‘disabled worker’but a ‘worker’who may have a certain impairment
and estimate the social costs if they would hire a ‘disabled person’. The decision is sometimes not
favourable for the person affected. On the other hand studies proved that subsidises for companies can
motivate the employment of persons with disabilities especially in small enterprises and especially if
they belong to the community of the person affected.
Meanwhile (1999) an amendment of this law took place and the protection against dismissal became a little weaker but
not substantially.
19
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of Disabled People into the Labour Market, Austria
21
WALTER BLUMBERGER
There are some more topics to be discussed in relation with the Arbeitsassistenz programme: First of all
the limitation of age and employment status concerning persons with disabilities. In principle jobassistants are only allowed to care for unemployed persons and for persons with disabilities who are at
least 18 years old. That means that school-leavers who have never worked cannot benefit from the
programme. But to avoid exclusion and long term unemployment it would be necessary to bridge the
gap between school and labour market. At present ‘Integration consultants’who accompany post-school
careers are discussed to play this role.
Another point of discussion, especially at the beginning of the Arbeitsassistenz project, was the
professional background of most job-assistants who had hardly any practical experience in private
companies. Therefore sometimes communication with employers was not effective. But this problem
can be solved through experience and adopted recruitment strategies for job assistants.
Part C: the policy debate
In Austria there is not really a political debate on Arbeitsassistenz. Organisations of persons with
disabilities and the people addressed are to a very high degree satisfied with this social service. The
social partners accept Arbeitsassistenz as an efficient tool to support persons with disabilities in finding
a job or managing a crisis at the work place.
The main questions Arbeitsassistenz raises are the topics which were already discussed: transition from
school to work, intensive career care by special job-assistants (integration consultants) and
improvement of the employability of young persons with disabilities.
January, 2001
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of Disabled People into the Labour Market, Austria
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