Mandatory recruitment of people with disabilities
No. 4/2019 of 10 January established a quota system for the employment of people with disabilities, having, a degree of disability equal to or greater than 60%. Disability covers cerebral paralysis, organic, motor, visual, hearing and intellectual impairments.
The same law determined that medium-sized or large companies employing more than 100 workers had a transition period of 4 years to apply and comply with the same.
The stipulated transition period ended on February 1, 2023, so companies employing the above number of workers have now to employ disabled people on the following terms:
- Medium-sized companies with at least 75 employees: not less than 1% of their workforce;
- Large companies: not less than 2% of their workforce.
For this purpose, people with disabilities should be deemed to be those having a disability equal to or greater than 60% but who can carry out, without functional limitations, the activity they are applying for, or, should they have functional limitations, these can be overcome by adapting or redesigning the workstation or by adjusting the work process and/or support tools of the tasks assigned to them.
In order to do so, the recruitment and selection processes of candidates should be adequate and adaptable, as well as the workstations. The necessary technical support must be requested to the National Institute for Rehabilitation, I.P or to the IEFP, I.P, respectively.
The law provides for two exceptions for non-compliance with the quotas system, provided that the following requirements are met: impossibility to apply the same and inexistence of a sufficient number of disabled candidates.
The failure to comply with the quota system qualifies as a serious infraction while the failure to comply with the technical or workstation support requirements qualifies as a minor infraction.
