Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2016, published 106th ILC session (2017)

Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment (Disabled Persons) Convention, 1983 (No. 159) - Hungary (Ratification: 1984)

The Committee notes the observations of the workers’ organizations represented at the National ILO Council which were incorporated in the Government’s report.

Article 2 of the Convention. National policy on vocational rehabilitation and employment of persons with disabilities. Application of the Convention in practice. The Government provides in its report information on the legislative and regulatory changes made during the reporting period, including the introduction of a more extensive legal definition of “persons with disabilities” through the adoption of the People with Altered Work Capacity Act, which entered into force on 31 December 2011. The Government indicates that its employment support system of workers with disabilities had to be changed because the previous system did not contribute to an increase in the employment ratio. The new support system has established two types of support: transit and durable employment. Transit employment refers to the preparation, for a maximum of three years, of workers suitable for rehabilitation under sheltered conditions in order to return to the open labour market for continuous employment. On the other hand, durable employment refers to the preservation and development of the work capacity, health condition, physical and intellectual capacities of workers with altered work capacity under sheltered conditions, within the framework of employment. The National Disability Council was also expanded during the reporting period through amendments to the Act on Equal Opportunities of Persons with Disabilities, to enable it to represent persons with disabilities more effectively. The Council’s membership expanded to include organizations previously excluded, such as those representing people with psychosocial disabilities, deaf and blind people and those with speech impairments.

Among the various targeted measures adopted to enable persons with disabilities to obtain employment, the Committee notes from the report that, on 1 July 2012, the Rehabilitation Card was introduced as a new form of support. The card is issued by the national tax authority to eligible persons with disabilities and, with the Rehabilitation Card, the employer may claim a discount from the social contribution tax of wages of the worker with disabilities. The Committee notes with interest that the number of workers employed with Rehabilitation Cards has gradually increased during the reporting period, from 9,647 in January 2013 to 22,655 in January 2014 and 30,199 in January 2015.

The Committee notes the observations of the workers’ organizations represented at the National ILO Council indicating that the Government’s report did not contain any data on the number of persons classified as persons with altered work capacity before and after the changes made during the reporting period or the services provided to them before or after 2011. They add that employment rehabilitation is included among the Government’s objectives, but there are no data reflecting the efficiency of these measures. In its reply to the observations of the workers’ organizations, the Government provides comprehensive data showing the number of the persons whose employment is subsidized and also the amount of subsidy per person during the 2010–14 period.

The Committee requests the Government to continue to provide information on the impact of the measures adopted within the framework of the national policy on vocational rehabilitation and employment of persons with disabilities. Please also continue to provide information on the activities of the National Disability Council and statistics disaggregated, as much as possible, by age, sex and the nature of the disability, as well as extracts from reports, studies and inquiries concerning the matters covered by the Convention.