Access to the regular labor market and fair pay as a milestone for people with disabilities
Vienna (OTS) – Over a decade ago, Lebenshilfe Austria introduced the demand for “wages instead of pocket money” as a fundamental demand for inclusion policy. Since then, Lebenshilfe has been committed to fair pay and access to the regular labor market for its clients.
As an interest group for people with intellectual disabilities, Lebenshilfe Austria therefore sees today’s Council of Ministers’ decision to finance pilot projects to integrate people with disabilities into the regular labor market as a crucial milestone on the way to realizing this demand and creating an inclusive labor market.
The planned pilot projects are intended to test exactly how the living environments of people with disabilities change when they move from the third labor market (workshop employment) to the first labor market (regular employment).
A first project has been running successfully in the federal state of Carinthia since autumn 2023, financed by both the state and the European Social Fund. “The approval of financial resources for pilot projects represents an opportunity to test innovative solutions under real conditions. At the same time, people with disabilities finally have the chance to develop their full potential in the regular job market.
“, reports the managing director of Lebenshilfe Kärnten, Silke Ehrenbrandtner, from the practice.
The words of one project participant, Cornelia N., illustrate the importance of such initiatives: “I want to show that I am there, that I can work and be successful. I am a person with a disability and need time, but I can work.
“
Thanks to the federal government’s initiative, further life support programs in other federal states now want to be implemented with further pilot projects for an inclusive labor market and the transformation of the “workshop model”. “This measure to finance pilot projects for the integration of people with disabilities into the regular labor market, which was presented today in the press foyer after the Council of Ministers by Federal Minister Johannes Rauch and ÖVP club chairman August Wöginger, comes at exactly the crucial time. We can finally bring silent concept papers to life and are one step closer to implementing the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in Austria.
“Secretary General Philippe Narval classifies today’s decision by the federal government from the perspective of Lebenshilfe Austria.
Questions & Contact:
Lebenshilfe Austria
Philippe Narval
Secretary General
+43 (0)664 30 76 679
narwhal@lebenshilfe.at
www.lebenshilfe.at
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