AS/STA
22. 10. 2024, 14.40
Updated: October 22, 2024, 2:52 p.m
Accompanied by the Minister of Labor Luka Mesca, who is visiting Mežiška dolina, the Zadrugar employment center, which employs disabled people, was officially opened today in Poljana pri Prevalje. This is the second center of its kind in Carinthia, which otherwise stands out as a region in terms of the share of disabled people among all the unemployed, which is 26.8 percent, compared to 16.1 percent in Slovenia.
After the first employment center for the employment of disabled people in Carinthia, the Radela Institute in Radlje ob Drava, was established nine years ago, the second such employment center in the region was opened today in Poljana near Prevalje. It operates under the name Zadrugar Zadrugar and is currently the 67th operating employment center in Slovenia.
The Zadrugar Institute, which he founded Jure Strahhas nine employees, of whom six are disabled with protector status, and three are without status. At the same time, they have three more people undergoing rehabilitation, and the director of the Strah institution hopes that they will also be able to employ them. The employment center deals with the production of wooden pallets for industry, industrial cloths for cleaning and landscaping for various customers, among other things they mow public areas for the Municipality of Črna na Koroškem.
They want to expand further, so they are constantly looking for additional opportunities. On the one hand, because they have enough work for existing employees, but also because there are still many people who need this type of employment, said Strah.
Today, the Minister of Labour, Family, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities expressed his satisfaction with the establishment of a new employment center in Carinthia Port Moonwho is on a day-long visit to Mežiška dolina. The employment center Zadrugar sees as “an exemplary example of the cooperation of the local community, warm-hearted individuals, the ministry and the employment office”.
He cited employment rehabilitation as a key factor in the employment of disabled people, and in particular highlighted the quota system for employing disabled people in companies. This assumes that if the company employs more than 20 people, the 21st must be disabled, if not, the company must pay into the disability fund. From this fund, companies that employ disabled people are then rewarded for swearing by the quota.
“The system has made it possible for more than 100 disabled companies and dozens of employment centers to operate here. And right now we have record employment, 945,000 of us work, of which 36,000 are disabled, which is an extraordinary achievement,” Minister Mesec said at the round table at the opening of the Zadrugar employment center.
In Carinthia, it seems that companies are less likely to hire people with disabilities, and the heavy industry present in the region probably has an influence on this. “Here, I think that we will have to deal with stereotypes and convince employers that employing a disabled person does not only mean that you are helping someone, but that this person can be more than useful to the company despite limitations in certain areas,” said the minister.
Among other things, she assessed that motivating disabled people for employment is also difficult Andreja Pezdirc Vehovar from the Velenje regional office of the Institute of the Republic of Slovenia for Employment. As she explained, during employment, disabled people are prepared through rehabilitation procedures to the point where they are employed, and in order to motivate disabled people for employment, their well-being in the working environment, the fact that their work is valued and that they receive an income are also important, which is in her words, the aspect of motivation is the most important.
As part of today’s visit to Mežiška dolina, Minister Mesec will also visit Mežica and Črna in Carinthia, and in the evening in Ravne na Carinthia, he will take part in a round table at the KMKC Kompleks club, where several participants will discuss the role and importance of the public in the pursuit of equal opportunities.
Source: svet24.si
