Employment of persons with disabilities in clerical positions

Employment of persons with disabilities in clerical positions in Polish public administration as the implementation the right to good administration

Plan of the lecture: 1. Public administration in Poland as a workplace for persons with disabilities 2. Employment of persons with disabilities in public administration - legal dimension 3. Employment of persons with disabilities in public administration practical dimension 4. Barriers in employment of persons with disabilities in Polish public administration 5. The implementation the right to good administration in process of employment of persons with disabilities 6. Government Program Accessibility Plus

So it arises questions about: 1. the state's activity in this area; 2. the actual image of employment of persons with disabilities in public administration in Poland; 3. the basic content of the right to good administration in this process.

Public administration in Poland as a workplace for persons with disabilities

According to it, the state is divided into: • 16 provinces or "voivodeships" (in Polish "województwo") the areas on the map surrounded by black lines • 380 districts (in Polish "powiat") the areas on the map surrounded by red lines • 2480 communes (in Polish is "gmina") the areas on the map surrounded by green lines

When it comes to the structure of public administration in Poland, it includes: • government administration on the central level and on the local level • self-government administration operating at the level of voivodships, districts and communes.

The government administration on the central level includes: • The Chancellery of the Prime Minister • the Ministries • the Central Offices (72 offices), for example: the Social Insurance Institution, the Agricultural Market Agency, the Central Statistical Office, Police Headquarters, National Headquarters of the State Fire Service etc. )

In these offices officials of central level are employed, belonging to the Civil Service Corps. This formation may be a potential workplace for persons with disabilities. The function of the CSC is to ensure professional, reliable, impartial and politically neutral execution of State’s objectives.

The Civil Service Corps is also formed by officials of government administration on the local level. This part of government administration consists of: 1. consolidated administration 2. non-consolidated administration

The consolidated administration consists of all administration bodies that are directly subordinated to the voivode (it is a representative of the Government in the province, it is responsible for the implementation of the government's policy in the region, his tasks are supported by the voivodship office). The non-consolidated administration includes local government administration bodies subordinated directly to the competent ministers

The consolidated administration includes: - the voivodship office - the voivodship and district veterinary inspectorates - the voivodship sanitary inspectorates - the regional directorates of environmental protection, - the voivodship inspectorates of trade quality of agricultural and food products - the voivodship inspectorates of surveying and cartography - the voivodship and district inspectorates of construction supervision - the voivodship inspectorates of plant health and seed inspection, - the voivodship pharmaceutical inspectorates - the superintendent of education - the voivodship Commander of the State Fire Service - the voivodship Police Commander, The non-consolidated administration includes: • • • tax chambers, tax control offices, statistical offices, military commands, provincial military staffs, mining offices

People with disabilities can also apply for job positions in self-government administration, thus, in: - voivodeship self-government (the marshal offices) - district self-government (the district offices) - commune self-government (the commune offices) and in units subordinated to local government administration, e. g in municipal offices, labor offices. There are many possibilities of employment for persons with disabilities in public administration because of the multiplicity and diversity of these institutions.

• The latest data from 2016 shows that the population of Poland is close to 38 433 000 million people, and 950, 000 of them are officials. • It is forecasted that the number of people employed in public administration will increase. • The officials are employed mainly in public administration, public security and national defense, administration of justice and social security.

Average employment in public administration

2. Employment of person with disabilities in public administration - legal dimension

Among the most important international regulations the following should be indicated: • Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) adopted on 13 December 2006 at the United Nations Headquarters in New York, • Convention concerning Discrimination in Respect of Employment and Occupation, adopted in Geneva on 25 June 1958 • Convention No. 159 of the International Labor Organization about Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment adopted in Geneva on June 20, 1983

• Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) adopted on 13 December 2006 at the United Nations Headquarters in New York, Article 27 – Work and employment 1. States Parties recognize the right of persons with disabilities to work, on an equal basis with others; this includes the right to the opportunity to gain a living by work freely chosen or accepted in a labour market and work environment that is open, inclusive and accessible to persons with disabilities. States Parties shall safeguard and promote the realization of the right to work, including for those who acquire a disability during the course of employment, by taking appropriate steps, including through legislation, to, inter alia:

• • • Prohibit discrimination on the basis of disability. . . Protect the rights of persons with disabilities. . Ensure that persons with disabilities are able to exercise their labour and trade union rights on an equal basis with others; Enable persons with disabilities to have effective access to general technical and vocational guidance programmes, placement services and vocational and continuing training; Promote employment opportunities and career Promote opportunities for self-employment, Employ persons with disabilities in the public sector; Promote the employment of persons with disabilities in the private sector Ensure that reasonable accommodation is provided to persons with disabilities in the workplace; Promote the acquisition by persons with disabilities of work experience in the open labour market; Promote vocational and professional rehabilitation, job retention and return-to-work programmes for persons with disabilities. States Parties shall ensure that persons with disabilities are not held in slavery or in servitude, and are protected, on an equal basis with others, from forced or compulsory labour.

Convention concerning Discrimination in Respect of Employment and Occupation, According with art. 2 Convention: "Each Member for which this Convention is in force undertakes to declare and pursue a national policy designed to promote, by methods appropriate to national conditions and practice, equality of opportunity and treatment in respect of employment and occupation, with a view to eliminating any discrimination in respect thereof".

Convention No. 159 of the International Labor Organization about Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment • According with art. 4 of the Convention: "(. . . ) Special positive measures aimed at effective equality of opportunity and treatment between disabled workers and other workers shall not be regarded as discriminating against other workers".

Among the most important Polish national regulations the following should be indicated: • The Constitution of the Republic of Poland of 1997 states that: “Polish citizens enjoying full public rights shall have a right of access to the public service based on the principle of equality" (article 60) and that: "Public authorities shall provide, in accordance with statute, aid to disabled persons to ensure their subsistence, adaptation to work and social communication" (Article 69). • Act of 27 August 1997 on Vocational and Social Rehabilitation and Employment of Persons with Disabilities indicates that an employer employing at least 25 employees per full-time job is required to achieve the 6% employment rate for people with disabilities (Article 21).

Moreover in 2011, Act of 19 August 2011 amending the Civil Service Act and some other acts entered in force. The act introduced regulations about the obligation to increase employment of person with disabilities in the civil service, state offices and local government units. The new regulations are to guarantee a priority in employment to people with disabilities.

The priority rules for employing persons with disabilities in public administration in Poland The Central Offices The Civil Service Corps Person with disabilities has priority Person with disabilities has of employment if he/she is among: priority of employment if • meets the requirements for a given he/she is among: ● 5 best candidates - selected position, in recruitment, ● 2 best candidates - in case of the recruitment for a higher position in the civil service. Local government Person with disabilities has priority of employment if he/she is among: ● 5 best candidates - selected in recruitment, (excluding management positions). The employment rate of persons with disabilities in a given unit in the month preceding the date of publication of the vacancy notice is lower than 6% The detailed recruitment rules are Detailed rules are specified set by the heads of these units who by the head of the office decide on the method of determining priority in accepting candidates with disability. The established recruitment rules by the heads must prefer persons with disabilities

In addition, the Act introduced requirements regarding the announcement to the official position, which must include: - name and address of the office, - a job description, - requirements related to the work position - an indication of which requirements are necessary and which are additional ones, - the scope of tasks performed at the position, - documents required, date and place of their submission, - information about working conditions at the position, - information if the employment rate of persons with disabilities at the office is at least 6%.

Every person with disabilities who wants to take advantage of the priority in employment should submit copies of the document confirming their disability. The detailed rules for the implementation of the priority in employment of person with disabilities are defined by the head of a given office.

What happens when the employment rate of person with disabilities in office of the public administration is higher than 6%?

Employment of persons with disabilities in public administration - practical dimension

Employment rate of people with disabilities in the Civil Service Corps

Employment of persons with disabilities in public administration in Poland Ministries in 2015 Persons with disabilities accounted for 2% of employed persons. The Central Offices in 2015 Persons with disabilities accounted for 2, 1% of employed persons. The Civil Service Corps in 2015 Persons with disabilities accounted for 3. 9% of employed persons. Local government in 2012 Persons with disabilities accounted for 4, 62 % of employed persons.

The most important barriers in employment of persons with disablities in Polish public administration.

There are many factors hindering this process. The most important barriers are: • employment limits; • big competition; • infrastructure barriers; • lack of financial resources to adjust the workplace (over half of the cases); • insufficient information campaign, • failure to use the clause “We encourage people with disabilities" and information about the priority in employment of persons with disabilities in competition announcements for official positions;

• difficulties in finding candidates with appropriate qualifications, education and experience among people with disabilities, • prejudice of recruitment commission members or use of stereotypes, which results in the elimination of people with disabilities in the first selection stage; • fear of low productivity of with a person with disability; • low awareness level of people with disabilities about the priority in recruitment for official positions; • difficulties with entering persons with disabilities in the rhythm of work and fear of the lack of acceptance are the main reasons resulting in resigning from employment in public administration.

„So what if I have appropriate education and qualifications, if the condition for applying for a post in the office is half-year or even several year experience in state or local administration - And I do not have it„ Another person working in one of the central offices in Warsaw, believes that: "employment in administration is more often determined by personal acquaintances and connections than procedures. The current procedures in offices are ignored. There are offices where all family clans and close friends work, which is what you can read in daily press. There is no exception for people with disabilities”

One more comment is worth mentioning: "I have completed higher studies in management, chemistry, administration, all with master's degrees. I won a recruitment competition for civil service at the Municipal Police Headquarters. I did not admit that I was a disabled person. When I later admitted my disability, I was soon dismissed from work. It is similar now. When I submit my offer for the lowest position in public administration and in a job interview I talk about disability, I always hear the same thing: "We will definitely contact you". And nobody responds … "

The amount of the payment is determined by the formula: 40. 65% of the average wage X the number of workers with disabilities needed to achieve the required ratio.

In 2016, ministries, public institutions and central offices paid 1. 02 mld PLN (more than EUR 250 million) to PFRON for insufficient employment of people with disabilities. The penalty for not employing one person with disabilities is currently 1 482 PLN (EUR 370 per month), which gives almost 18, 000 PLN (4, 500 Euro per year). Offices do not care too much about paying penalties, because the money sent to PFRON is public budget money, plus it is used to create new jobs for people with disabilities and for activization projects.

The implementation the right to good administration in process of employment of persons with disabilities

Article 41 Right to good administration 1. Every person has the right to have his or her affairs handled impartially, fairly and within a reasonable time by the institutions, bodies, offices and agencies of the Union. 2. This right includes* (a) the right of every person to be heard, before any individual measure which would affect him or her adversely is taken; (b) the right of every person to have access to his or her file, while respecting the legitimate interests of confidentiality and of professional and business secrecy; (c) the obligation of the administration to give reasons for its decisions. 3. Every person has the right to have the Union make good any damage caused by its institutions or by its servants in the performance of their duties, in accordance with the general principles common to the laws of the Member States. 4. Every person may write to the institutions of the Union in one of the languages of the Treaties and must have an answer in the same language.

This right is defined more clearly in the European Code of Good Administrative Behavior proclaimed on 6 September 2001. It includes manny principles as: • legality, • non-discrimination, • proportionality, • absence of abuse of power, • respect for legitimate expectation, • transparency • data protection, • the right to complain to the European Ombudsman • notification of decisions

• • • the duty to advise the public on handling of cases, to act courteously, to acknowledge the receipt of letter to receive complaints to provide information on who is dealing with the matter, • to transfer files to competent services, • to indicate the possibility of appeal • some principles correspond with the rights listed in Art 41 of the CFR

The Code is not binding. It was adopted by almost all EU bodies and institutions as an instruction indicating the standards of the functioning of the administration. It is also a pattern of conduct for the national administrations of EU Member States.

One of the most important partial rights seems to be: – the right to a fairly organized competition procedure, which means: the right to the most simplified recruitment procedure, the right to understandable and transparent competition rules, – the right to exhaustive and reliable information on the competition for a given official position. The announcement should be disseminated as widely as possible.

The competition notice should contain: - name and address of the office, - job description, - requirements related to the work position as described in the position, - the indication of which requirements are necessary and which are additional, - the scope of tasks performed at the position , - documents required and date and place of their submission, - information on working conditions at the given position, - information if the employment rate of persons with disabilities at the office is lower than 6%. - the clause "We encourage people with disabilities to submit documents" and information about the preferred employment of people with disabilities.

• The right to reliable analysis and evaluation of documents of candidates applying for clerical positions. • The right to equal treatment of people with disabilities. Officials selecting candidates cannot discriminate against candidates for any reason, be guided by stereotypical prejudices, deliberately eliminate people with disabilities from the recruitment procedure, especially at the initial stage of the recruitment. In case of differences in treatment, they are required to justify their action only by objective and relevant reasons.

• The right to reliable, objective, unbiased, independent and transparent assessment of the candidate's skills and predispositions. • The obligation of the office to act in accordance with law. In the recruitment process, when performing their duties, employees must strictly observe the rule of law. This rule obliges officials to act in accordance with the provisions of national law and European Union law, taking into account the public interest. This involves the legal obligation to accept a person with disability if he / she is in the group of the five best candidates.

• The right to organize the institution and workplace in an appropriate way, • The right to respect the basic employee rights of persons with disabilities (hourly work, breaks at work, additional vacation leave, the right to benefit from dismissal at work)

Accessibility Plus 2018 -2025 ACTION 25 Work in administration • The measure will be directed to entities of public administration and stateowned companies and will consist of eliminating barriers in access of people with disabilities to stable employment. It plans to finance, among other things: • equipment for workstations, • adaptation of rooms or purchase of equipment facilitating the performance of work functioning in the workplace, • introduction of the institution of a job assistant. In addition, changes will be made to the preparation of job advertisements for the needs of people with disabilities (information on possible facilities, preferences for employment of people with disabilities in the case of people with equalifications).