Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2022, published 111st ILC session (2023)

Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment (Disabled Persons) Convention, 1983 (No. 159) - France (Ratification: 1989)

Article 2 of the Convention. National policy on vocational rehabilitation and employment of persons with disabilities. The Government indicates that financial assistance is provided to employers to compensate for levels of training required by persons with disabilities and their potentially lower productivity, and for the accommodation of their workstations. The Committee notes with interest the main policies, legislative sources, mechanisms, and practical measures taken to support persons with disabilities, including those mentioned in the report submitted by France to the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. In particular, the Committee notes Act No. 2018-771 of 5 September 2018 “pour la liberté de choisir son avenir professionnel” (for the freedom to choose your future career), which reforms the obligation to employ workers with disabilities (OETH). The Government indicates that private sector establishments under this obligation – namely, establishments employing 20 or more workers – as well as public establishments that are of an industrial or commercial nature (EPIC) employing 20 or more workers, are under an obligation to employ workers with disabilities to a level of 6 per cent of their staff. It adds that in 2016, only 19 per cent of enterprises subject to the OETH had a proportion of directly or indirectly employed workers with disabilities above or equal to the legal level. The Committee notes however that the Act “for the freedom to choose your future career” amended the obligation of enterprises in respect of employment of workers with disabilities as from 1 January 2020. The Government indicates that under the new Act, the obligation to employ remains linked to the threshold of 20 employees and that, under the new modalities of application of the said Act, all enterprises are now covered. The Committee also notes the statistics provided by the Government on OETH beneficiaries in 2016, which are disaggregated by age, sex and socio-occupational category. The Committee invites the Government to continue to provide information on the policies, legislative sources, mechanisms, and practical measures aimed at the vocational rehabilitation and employment of persons with disabilities, including statistics disaggregated by economic sector and sex, particularly for persons with disabilities living in rural areas or remote communities.

Articles 3 and 4. Promoting employment opportunities for persons with disabilities. The Government reports on the reform of adapted enterprises [adapted to accommodate persons with disabilities], under Act No. 2018-771 of 5 September 2019 “for the freedom to choose your future career”, which states that adapted enterprises contribute to territorial development and promote an inclusive economic environment favourable to women and men with disabilities (section 76). The Government indicates that adapted enterprises are regular private and public sector enterprises (entreprises du milieu ordinaire) that employ a minimum of 55 per cent of persons with disabilities. It adds that the new reform includes a form of fixed-term contract known as a “springboard” contract (contrat “tremplin”), which encourages the professional mobility of workers with disabilities. The Committee notes the incentive measures put in place by the French Government to guarantee access to employment for persons with disabilities during the COVID-19 pandemic, including the recruitment bonus to promote recruitment of workers with disabilities. The Committee also notes the establishment of a system of employment support, which places a work counsellor at the disposal of persons with disabilities in search of employment. The Committee invites the Government to continue to provide information on the policies, mechanisms, and measures to promote the employment of persons with disabilities. In particular, the Committee invites the Government to provide statistics on the impact of the reform of adapted enterprises.