Making Strides In USA Disability Employment

The federal government employs nearly 3 percent of the country's disabled workers, according to new numbers from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).

BLS this week released its 2009 report on labor force characteristics, which shows 3.2 percent of disabled men and 2.7 percent of disabled women work for the government. Federal agencies employ just 2.6 percent of the nation's non-disabled workers, the report found.
This news is positive, notes the Washington Post's Ed O'Keefe, until you consider the fact that just 19.2 percent of disabled Americans have jobs, compared to 64.5 percent of Americans without disabilities.
But the BLS report follows a recent push to boost federal hiring of disabled workers. President Obama in July directed agencies to increase employment of people with disabilities. The Office of Personnel Management must work with the Labor secretary, the chair of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and the director of the Office of Management and Budget to develop recruitment and retention plans targeted at disabled workers, and agencies should aim to hire an additional 100,000 people with disabilities over five years, the executive order stated.
Source: Government Executive.com

Posted on Aug 31, 10 | 10:06 pm | 0 Comments (4 views)

People with disability on the USA labour market

The USA government's first detailed look at disabled workers' employment shows they are far more likely than the overall work force to be older, working part-time or jobless.

The average unemployment rate for disabled workers was 14.5% last year, the Labor Department said Wednesday, well above the 9% rate for those without disabilities. By the Labor Department's count, there were roughly 27 million Americans 16 years or older with a disability last year.
The employment situation doesn't appear to have improved this year: The unemployment rate for those with disabilities had risen to 16.4% as of July.
This is the first time the government has looked closely at the employment situations of such workers. The study, for instance, found those with disabilities were three times as likely as those without to be 65 or older. Nearly a third of workers with disabilities worked only part-time, compared with about a fifth of those without disabilities.
Disabled workers with more education were more likely to be employed than those with less—a characteristic they share with the larger work force. But at all levels of education, people with disabilities had higher unemployment rates. The jobless rate for workers with disabilities who had at least a bachelor's degree was 8.3%— higher than the 4.5% rate for college-educated workers without disabilities.
Source: The Wall Street Journal

Posted on Aug 31, 10 | 10:03 pm | 0 Comments (3 views)

Citibank N.A. – Sofia Branch is seeking to recruit

Controls Unit / Internal Audit Expert

MAIN RESPONSIBILITIES / ROLE:
- Analyze the different processes in order to evaluate controls, identify inefficient processes, issues.
- Participate in the audits, selection of samples, perform analytical reviews, check adherence to corporate policies.
- Participate in the monitoring of the Corrective Action tracking processes for the bank.
- Prepare and administrate different controls and compliance policies, procedures and documents.
- Support day-to-day Controls’ activities of the branch.

PROFILE (Skills/Knowledge/Experience):
- University degree in one of the following areas: Finance / Banking / Accounting / Auditing;
- More than 1.5 years of relevant experience;
- Good understanding and knowledge of banking products will be considered an advantage
- Analytical skills, ability to pay high attention to details, priorities setting and working under pressure;
- Fluent English, both written and spoken is essential;
- Excellent interpersonal and communication skills;
- Good negotiation and presentation skills;

Please send your CV and motivation letter not later than September 13th, 2010 to:
Citibank N.A. – Sofia Branch, HR Dept., TZUM – Business Center,
Fl. 5, 2 Maria Louisa Blvd., 1000 Sofia,

or e-mail: citi.bulgaria@citi.com

Posted on Aug 31, 10 | 9:47 pm |

Commission issues reasoned opinions to Germany and Italy for failure to correctly implement Employment Equality Directive

On 29 October 2009 the Commission sent reasoned opinions to Germany and Italy for incorrectly implementing EU rules prohibiting discrimination based on religion or belief, disability, age or sexual orientation in employment and occupation.

Concerning Germany, the Commission pointed out that Germany applies certain restrictions on benefits for civil servants or soldiers living in a registered partnership whereas married partners receive these benefits (contributions to the costs of illness, family allowances and survivors' pensions), protection against discriminatory dismissals are not covered by German anti-discrimination law, and the employer's duty to provide for reasonable accommodation for disabled people under German law only applies to severely disabled people, and a claim for sanctions on grounds of discrimination is excluded if the employer is not personally liable for the non-compliance.
In terms of the reasoned opinion against Italy, the Commission argued that the Directive imposes a general obligation for employers to provide reasonable accommodation for disabled people but Italian law contains provisions aimed at facilitating their work concern only some disabled people, not all. Furthermore, Italian law imposes a special condition of 'seriousness' for the shift of the burden of proof, which goes beyond the requirements of the Directive.
Estonia, however, successfully upgraded its national legislation. The Commission has also decided to close the infringement proceeding concerning Estonia since it adopted a new Equal Treatment Act in December 2008 which brings its national law in to line with the Directive.
See press release.

Posted on Nov 12, 09 | 1:47 am | 0 Comments (107 views)

Swedish Presidency High Level Conference on Labour Market Inclusion

On 26-27 October, the High Level Conference on Labour Market Inclusion in Stockholm discussed ways of increasing labour force participation and Member States representatives shared experiences on how to overcome obstacles to this.

The economic crisis and rising unemployment are pushing growing numbers of people into unemployment and putting them at risk of social exclusion. A dynamic employment and social security policy would expand the opportunities for labour market inclusion and ensure that the social protection system remains viable. The crisis must be managed in ways that encourage people to actively seek work. This means upgrading the status of work and providing quality jobs rather than cutting welfare benefits and guaranteeing a decent level of social protection.
A greater work-life balance should be ensured through the provision of opportunities for flexible working patterns to allow workers to meet their employment and family commitments. Increased job security must be provided by ensuring that employees have opportunities for training and retraining, especially older workers who are one of the groups who have been hit hardest in the economic crisis.
For more details: http://tinyurl.com/lmkinclusion, or contact Rachel Buchanan, Policy Officer for Non-discrimination and Employment, at rachel.buchanan@age-platform.org.

Posted on Nov 12, 09 | 1:44 am | 0 Comments (119 views)