Search

The scope of this paper touches the changes which occurred in the European Union law relating to legal status of disabled persons since the creation of European Community in 1958. The analysis is based on relevant legal sources, ie. treaties, EU regulations, directives and decisions, as well as the ECJ jurisprudence and OECD reports. The article underlines the meaning of the new individual-oriented approach, indicating equality of rights of disabled and healthy. However it also gives attention to practical aspect of said changes, especially the adverse labour market position of disabled people. For these reasons, despite common EU legislature it is important to support and recommend not only social protection, but also social inclusion and acceptance of the disabled persons.

The aim of the article is to identify good practices aimed at helping people with disabilities, carried out in such countries as Sweden, Denmark or Poland. Although all countries provide specific benefits for people with disabilities, there are, however, such solutions which are only available for the insured within the given system. And thus, actions supporting people with disabilities in the labour market are addressed both to those concerned and to their employers. Within the first category especially important for people with disabilities are: Personal and assistant’s help which increase, due to their specificity, the possibility to learn, take up a job by a person with disabilities and stay in the labour market. The second category of activities is addressed to employers. These include: Co-financing the salary of a disabled employee, covering the costs of adjusting the workplace for a disabled employee, covering part of the costs of professional adaptation of the employee, if the disability arose at the workplace, and covering the costs of commuting to work of the disabled employee. And although the state creates employment policy through these instruments, unfortunately the effectiveness of these measures varies. Positive effects measured by the high employment rate in this group of people and the low level of their passivity are evident only in countries such as Sweden or Denmark which conduct active measures at the local and regional level. It is difficult, however, to notice them in Poland.