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Policies based on mandatory employment quotas for disabled workers: the case of Italy

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 May 2019

Massimiliano Agovino ,
Katia Marchesano  and
Antonio Garofalo
Massimiliano Agovino*
Affiliation:
Department of Economic and Legal Studies, Parthenope University of Naples, Italy
Katia Marchesano
Affiliation:
Department of Political Sciences, Federico II University of Naples, Italy
Antonio Garofalo
Affiliation:
Department of Economic and Legal Studies, Parthenope University of Naples, Italy
*
*Email: agovino.massimo@gmail.com; Massimiliano.agovino@uniparthenope.it
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Abstract

This article examines the Italian policy framework on the employment of disabled people. It discusses the strengths and limitations of Law 68 of 12 March 1999 (Regulation on the right to work of disabled people). Despite it having been enacted 16 years after being passed, Law 68/99 still faces problems in its implementation. The data analysis shows the propensity of firms to flout their obligations with regard to the recruitment of disabled people, preferring instead the risk of being sanctioned. In order for Law 68/99 to have a positive effect on the employment of disabled people, higher incentives (including subsidies for labour costs) must be introduced for employers, especially to enable the adaptation and adjustment of the workplace. With these inducements, firms would be encouraged to recruit disabled people and avoid penalties. In addition, disability management policies (still rarely implemented in the Italian workplace) and comprehensive training programmes can play a crucial role in overcoming discriminatory constraints regarding skills and physical ability, so as to increase the employability of disabled people in the labour market.

Il lavoro discute e analizza i punti di forza e le limitazioni al pieno dispiegamento degli effetti positivi sull'occupazione delle persone con disabilità della Legge n. 68 del 1999 “Norme per il diritto al lavoro dei disabili”. A un ventennio dalla sua attuazione, tale politica porta con sé numerosi problemi attuativi, i quali ostacolano, ancora oggi, gli effetti positivi sull'occupazione delle persone con disabilità. L'analisi dei dati, infatti, mostra la propensione delle imprese a non rispettare gli obblighi di assunzione imposti dalla legge, preferendo, in tale circostanza, il rischio di essere sanzionate. Affinché la legge 68/99 possa avere un effetto positivo sull'occupazione delle persone con disabilità è necessaria la previsione di incentivi economici più elevati a favore delle imprese, soprattutto per gli aggiustamenti necessari delle postazioni lavorative. In quest'ultimo caso, le imprese sarebbero incoraggiate a reclutare lavoratori con disabilità e ad evitare sanzioni. Inoltre, le politiche di gestione della disabilità (in Italia ancora raramente implementate nei luoghi di lavoro), così come i programmi di formazione completi, potrebbero favorire il superamento dei vincoli di competenza, nonché quelli fisici e di discriminazione presenti nei luoghi di lavoro.

Keywords

labour economics policieseconomics of disabled peoplenon-labour discriminationpublic policyMandatory Employment Quotaslabour law
Type
Research Articles
Information
Modern Italy , Volume 24 , Issue 3 , August 2019 , pp. 295 - 315
Copyright
Copyright © 2019 Association for the Study of Modern Italy 

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