Workers in Forward For Labour Inclusion

The Fédération Générale des PEP would like to follow up on the European WIFFI (Workers In Forward For Inclusion) project, which enabled 70 PEP professionals and volunteers to observe the inclusive practices of young people and young adults aged 14 to 30 in Italy and Belgium, both in and out of school, and sometimes with fewer opportunities, whether geographical, linked to language skills, economic situation, isolation or disability.
Based on the assessment of this first project, our professionals and volunteers shared their views on the obstacles, opportunities and best practices observed during these professional on-site mobilities. A special session with the Italian partners of the WIFFI project enabled us to note the following :
- Since the 1970s, the Italian society has been aware of the benefits of universal access to common law and, in particular, schooling in an ordinary environment for the vast majority, and that this framework is inspiring for French society.
- On the other hand, in terms of professional integration, France and Italy face the same obstacles, with relatively equivalent results and the same restrictive measures: quotas and sanctions with a limited effect.
The City of Rome and the Fédération Générale des PEP therefore decided to pursue their project by working together to identify best practices in member states with very different approaches to professional integration.
The AGEFIPH report (please click on the link for the English version) "Europe: employment of people with disabilities, panorama, challenges and prospects" of May 2022 indicates that only 50.8% of people with disabilities are in employment, compared with 75% of people without disabilities. The AGEFIPH report points out that European institutional and civil society players share the following observations:
- Insufficient progress in the employment rate of people with disabilities,
- Too many difficulties are still encountered in accessing and maintaining stable, long-term, high-quality employment commensurate with their skills.
The same report presents European typologies of employment policies for people with disabilities, and a hybrid approach that combines a rights-based approach with a quota-based approach and the employment obligation that is in the majority in Europe.
This is why we have turned our attention to other models for integrating people with special needs, including those with physical and mental disabilities, into the workforce. Indeed, other approaches of than the French or Italian models such as those developed in Denmark and Sweden are based on the principle of non-discrimination, and favor the implementation of a logic of incentives to that of imposing sanctions on the employer, who must make adaptations to the workstation to support the person in the professional environment.

At this stage, the PEP working group dedicated to this project has identified 4 main types of question:
1) How can the skills of the target audience be identified and promoted?
- On the basis of the presentation made by Mr. Galaup, an analyst at the Swedish Participation Agency, an interest was raised in identifying the tasks that could be carried out by a person according to its needs and abilities:
- What are the terms and conditions of recruitment, and the types of jobs on offer?
- Who publishes the expected skills, what benchmarks are published?
- What kind of support should be provided for skills upgrading (training?), for how long, by whom, by what means, what kind of organization is possible with related care, what kind of recognition should be given to qualifications and what kind of value should be placed on them?
2) What support is needed for integration, and what is the link between the end of schooling and professional integration?
- How can we build a professional project to meet the specific needs of our customers?
- What kind of support is needed when leaving the school system for employment?
- Who are the key local partners in this support: local authorities, training organizations, bodies representive organisations for people with disabilities, social partners, employment agencies, companies etc.?
3) How can we keep people in employment before the age of 30?
- What support and assistance systems are needed to maintain employment?
- What recognition of qualifications?
- What kind of peer support, tutoring or other on-the-job support with partners?
4) What links with potential employers?
- What type of job?
We are in the process of setting up the PEP consortium (establishments that have expressed an interest to date, such as protected employment, adapted companies, professional training institutes…).
The aim of these mobilities would be to:
- Understand the institutional model and the links between territorial levels, the role, scope of action and interactions between public, private and family players,
- Identify best practices that can help people with fewer opportunities to find employment.
- Identify the potential transfer of best practices to the PEP inclusive project.