The civic association ‘Are we open?’ has launched a meticulously prepared campaign to promote the employment of the mentally disabled on the open labour market. The campaign concept is the work of the Young & Rubicam communication agency, which provided its services free of charge. The agency also has a disabled employee. ‘It’s a new experience that we have all found rewarding. Mirek learns from us, and we learn from him,’ says Daniel Růžička, Chief Creative Director at Young & Rubicam.
The campaign includes spots on Czech Television, advertising on Prague’s Citylights, on the metro and trams, in magazines and on the websites of the association’s partners. Since 10 March 2008, a new site has been up and running at www.zkusteto.cz, and a motivational DVD for employers is being prepared. ‘We are keen to pursue all these avenues in getting it across to the public that the mentally disabled are capable of working and being active members of society,’ says Lenka Miličová, in charge of PR at the civic association.
Another part of the campaign focuses on providing additional information to the professional public – HR officers at companies. An online discussion was held with Daniel Růžička, Chief Creative Director of Young & Rubicam, on Jobs.cz which touched on a survey that had been conducted on the website. The server operator, LMC, which has also decided support the campaign, has distributed related information in its regular newsletter to 15,000 subscribers, and profiles the campaign by means of banners.
Beneficiaries of the "Are we open?" Transit Programme
Transit Programme clients are people with minor mental disabilities or combined disabilities. The association staff help these people look for work, during periods of initial training, and remain in contact with them afterwards in case any problems emerge. The association also provides its services to employers, helping them cope with initial formalities, job modifications, and interpretations of legislation.
There are few job opportunities for the mentally disabled on the open labour market. ‘Employers lack information about the mentally disabled and so they dread interacting with such people, let alone employing them,’ explains Lenka Miličová. ‘Yet people with minor and moderate mental disabilities are capable of working, with a certain degree of support, just like anyone else, and in many cases you would find it hard to visually tell them apart from non-disabled employees,’ she adds.
The state tries to motivate employers to employ people with disabilities primarily by means of tax relief, grants to set up and operate sheltered jobs or workshops, and funding for employers where more than 50% of the headcount is disabled. As part of the active employment policy, the government also awards subsidies for the transportation of employees and for their integration, grants for the transition to a new business programme, and bridging funds. It smoothes the way for socially effective jobs, offers retraining and investment incentives, and provides guidance through employment offices. It also sets a mandatory share of people with disabilities to be employed at companies with a workforce of more than 25 employees (4%). Employers who fail to comply are required to purchase products or services from companies where more than half the employees are disabled or pay an annual contributions to the national budget amounting to 2.5 times the average monthly wage per disabled person, which is currently just under CZK 53,000.