Update: People with severe disabilities protest in front of Labour Ministry. All will receive increased social benefits, officials say

0

Get real time updates directly on you device, subscribe now.

Approximately 500 people with severe disabilities from all over the country have protested in front of the Ministry of Labour and Social Justice on Tuesday against the dismantling of protected units and of social welfare sections, ideas included in Ordinance 60 that is to come into force on September 1, romania-actualitati.ro reports.

Protesters have arrived in wheelchairs or crutches to require jobs in protected units and workshops and support for integration into the labour market.

Poor legislation does not allow people with disabilities to deliver professional results and employers do not show interest in this type of human resources, the same source reads.

“This ordinance will send 2,000 people home, they could not work anymore, whereas the companies with more than 50 employees will not be able to cut the handicap threshold of 4% for the protected units, meaning that all protected units will not be able to issue invoiced, due to an article on ordinance 60. The best solution would be to leave the law 448 as it is, as in those protected units people work and earn money. These are people who would not be hired in social structures,” Ionel Ghita, director of Piotani Services said at the protest.

A delegation made up by representatives of the Federation of Social Non-Governmental Organizations has held talks with the Labour Ministry representatives.

Protesters shouted: You killed hope with the ordinance!, Protected jobs, not charity from the state!, We want to work, not to beg!, and Take back the ordinance!

The protestors say they are looking forward to receiving an increased allowance and the status of socially assisted individuals as of January 1, 2018, as promised by Labour Minister Lia Olguta Vasilescu.

All persons with disabilities in Romania will receive increased social benefits as of 2018

The social benefits for all the 786,546 persons with disabilities in Romania will be considerably increased next year, according to a press release issued by the Ministry of Labour and Social Justice on Tuesday.

Ministry representatives have explained, in the context of a protest organized by the Federation of Social Non-Governmental Organizations, which took place on Tuesday, that the Government Emergency Ordinance no. 60/2017, for amending and completing the Law no. 448/2006 on the protection and promotion of the rights of people with disabilities will stimulate the employment of as many disabled people, both in the public and private sectors, by increasing the payment obligation from 50% to 100 % of the gross minimum wage for each disabled person by the employers with more than 50 employees, if they do not employ at least 4% of disabled people in the total number of workers.

Actually, ordinance 60/2017 provides two-step increases in social benefits as of January 1 and July 1, 2018 respectively. The highest increases of 135% are for severely disabled children, which today receive RON 106/month (EUR 23.5) and will receive RON 250/month (EUR 55.5) as of January 1, 2018 and another 28% as of July 1, 2018, i.e. RON 500/month (EUR 111.1).

Children with disabilities, who currently collect a monthly social benefit of RON 79 (EUR 17.5), will collect RON 150 (EUR 33.3) as of January 1, 2018 and RON 175 (EUR 38.8) as of July 1, 2018. The adults with severe disabilities will benefit from increases in social benefits up from RON 340 (EUR 75.5) to RON 450 (EUR 100) and RON 500 (EUR 111) as of January and July 1, 2018 respectively.

Disabled adults who are currently receiving RON 272/month (EUR 60.4) will collect RON 350 /month (EUR 77.7) as of January 1, 2018 and RON 375/month (RON 83.3) as of July 1, 2018.

“The measures were adopted after extensive inspections of the Labour Ministry, which found that the current legislation has not reached its goal, in the context in which all the 732 Authorized Protected Units have employed only 1,897 persons with disabilities and 124 persons with third degree invalidity, i.e. 0.26% of the total number of persons with disabilities, in the context of the fact that in Romania there are employed 33,449 persons having disabilities, out of the 700,000 persons with disabilities with working rights,” a Labour Ministry communiqué reads.

- Advertisement -

Leave A Reply

Your email address will not be published.

This website uses cookies to improve your experience. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish. Accept Read More