The Council on Employment of
the Handicapped, an advisory body to the Minister of Labour (headed by
Yasushiro Shirai, advisor to the Japan Institute of Labour), compiled recommendations
on future measures for employment of handicapped persons.Vol.31-No.02 February 1,1992
The Council on Employment of
the Handicapped, an advisory body to the Minister of Labour (headed by
Yasushiro Shirai, advisor to the Japan Institute of Labour), compiled recommendations
on future measures for employment of handicapped persons.
The recommendation, submitted
to Labour Minister Kondo, calls for extension of the legally prescribed
employment quota of disabled persons into those disabled persons who work
short hours of 22 to 33 a week. This aims to encourage employment of those
severely disabled people who find it difficult to work full-time for reasons
of hospital commutes. The recommendation also asks for substantiated employment
measures for mentally retarded persons and formerly mentally handicapped
persons.
Acting on the Council's recommendation,
the Ministry of Labour will submit a bill revising the Law for Employment
Promotion of the Disabled to the next ordinary session. The proportion
of disabled people in total employees at private firms has continued to
stay low at 1.32 percent, below the legal employment quota of 1.6 percent,
for three consecutive years. This is particularly notable among severly
handicapped persons. In view of this fact, the recommendation points out
the need to encourage employment of severely handicapped persons through
the spread of short-time employment as well as various other employment
patterns, such as the home work system, flex-time and the satellite office.
The recommendation furthermore
notes the effectiveness of vocational rehabilitation at the actual work
place provided to a certain segment of disabled persons, such as those
who are mentally retarded, while allowing them to experience specific societal
and working lives. Toward this end, the recommendation asks for full-fledged
implementation of a vocational-development assistance project at regional
vocational centers for the disabled. Under the project, the regional centers,
in cooperation with employers, will give the disabled working-life and
technical guidance suited to their needs, to help them develop their own
job abilities.
The recommendation refers to
substantiated assistance to the disabled after they have been employed.
To seek stable employment of persons with severely defective vision and
mentally retarded people in particular, the recommendation calls for the
need to take proper aid measures, such as assistance of those who help
them work at the job site, which will enable them to actively better their
qualities. To promote employment of disabled persons, it is desirable that
employers, workers and labor unions all unite to tackle the issue, the
recommendations adds.
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