The draft Act amending the Act on occupational and social rehabilitation and employment of disabled person and certain other acts will ensure implementation of the second stage of the “Za życiem” comprehensive family aid programme, which was adopted by the government in December 2016.

The primary objective of the “Za życiem” programme is to support families including disabled members, particularly families raising disabled children. In practice, “Za życiem” means comprehensive solutions related to support for pregnant women and their families, early aid for the child and its family, assistance, rehabilitation and housing services. The programme and the Act on aid for pregnant women and their families “Za życiem” is an important instrument of the government’s family policy.

Classess for disabled persons leaving Occupational Therapy Workshops

The draft involves regulation to support former participants in occupational therapy workshops in staying independent in their social life and career due to participation in organised rehabilitation. The objective of that regulation is to ensure club formula occupational therapy classes for persons who completed their participation in the Occupational Therapy Workshops due to employment. This is a very significant change because disabled persons leaving Occupational Therapy Workshops report the need for continued support that was provided during the workshop. Hence the explicit need to support them not only until they are employed but also later on (the purpose of the classes is to allow them to be employed or maintain employment).

In practice, a disabled person will be allowed to continue the club formula classes regardless of loss of or change to employment (it is supposed to be at least five hours a month). The detailed scope of the classes, their organisation and number will be determined by an occupational therapy workshop. Importantly, a disabled person who has left an occupational therapy workshop due to employment and applies for rejoining the workshop within 90 days from the day they left the occupational therapy workshop due to the loss of employment will be prioritised among the applicants.

The club formula classes conducted by occupational therapy workshops will be funded from the State Fund for Rehabilitation of Disabled Persons under the new programme approved by the Supervisory Board of the State Fund. In 2018, PLN 1,2 million is allocated to the task.

Changes for employers of disabled persons

The draft amendment also provides for extension of the list of employers to whom the reduced rate of employment of disabled persons (2 per cent) applies. In the light of the proposed regulations, such employers will also included public and non-public preschools, regional care and therapy facilities, intervention pre-adoption centres, children’s clubs and other forms of preschool education, which will account for payment to the State Fund for Rehabilitation of Disabled Persons on this basis.

At the same time, the derogation from payments to the State Fund for employers managing an establishment undergoing a wind-down procedure. Reason? The wind-down procedure does not necessarily result from the difficult situation of the entity, but it can be e.g. a consequence of a decision to finish or transform the business. Importantly, the regulations concerning employers issuing information on the amount of reduction in payments to the State Fund have been made more specific.

More favourable regulations for disabled employees

The option has been introduced to take advantage of flexible employment forms, including flexible working time (also intermittent employment) and telecommuting (home office) on an application biding to the employer. According to the new regulations, the employer in principle will not be allowed to refuse such forms of employment.
 

The right to take advantage of flexible schedule or flexible working time or telecommuting on the basis of an application binding to the employer will be granted to:

·         a married employee or an employee being a parent of a child in a prenatal stage of life in the case of a complicated pregnancy,

·         an employee being a parent of a child with a certificate of severe and irreversible disability or an incurable disease posing threat to life, which originated during the prenatal stage of the child’s development or during the labour,

·         an employee being a parent of a disabled child or a child with special educational needs.

Telecommuting

These are not the only changes. Employees being parents of a child with a certificate of severe and irreversible disability or an incurable disease posing a threat to life that originated in the prenatal stage of the child’s development or during the labour or parents of a disabled child or a child with special educational needs have been granted the right to telecommute based on an application binding to the employer.

The regulations also provide for telecommuting based on an application not binding to the employer also in the case of employers where formal agreements with representatives of the staff have not been concluded. Therefore, these changes affect all the employees. Such persons will be allowed to apply for telecommuting based on general rules.

The employees being parents will be allowed to use their rights until the child turns 18 and also after the child has turned 18. This means that employees who take care of an adult child will be allowed to take advantage of the new rights because it has been assumed that a disability or impairment is permanent.

The above solutions allow workers who have severely ill or disabled children to balance their work and care for children more easily. In the case of parents considering continued employment in case a disabled child appears in the family, new regulations might lead to them staying on the job market.

Exceptions to the rules

An employer will be allowed to reject a binding application for flexible employment only where it is not possible to be granted due to the organisation of work or kind of work done by the employee.

Prolonged right to child care benefit

Another noteworthy solution is the one whose aim is to facilitate combination of child care with the job for working parents in case of an illness of a disabled child under 18.

This refers to the right to child care benefit for an insured person taking a leave due to the need to take personal care of an ill child with a certificate of severe disability or a certificate of disability with the need for permanent or long-term care or assistance of another person due to the limited capacity for independent existence and the necessity for the guardian’s everyday co-participation in the child’s therapy, rehabilitation and education until the child turns 18 being prolonged from 14 to 30 days. This change would mean extension of the right to child care benefit by 16 days in the case of ill disabled children aged 14 to 18.