Repetition

Articles 2 and 3 of the Convention. Formulation and implementation of a national policy on vocational rehabilitation and employment of persons with disabilities. The Government indicates in its report that the Policy Statement of the Council of Ministers delivered in September 2014 places emphasis on the empowerment of persons with disabilities. The Committee notes that the 11th National Economic and Social Development Plan for 2012–16 states that job opportunities must be provided for persons with disabilities. It also notes that 9,454 out of 12,479 enterprises (75.76 per cent) complied with the obligations concerning employment of persons with disabilities contained in the Persons with Disabilities Empowerment Act, as amended in 2013. Moreover, the Government provides information on the outcome of various activities carried out within the framework of the 4th National Plan on the Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities for 2012–16. It also indicates that the Northeastern Regional Industrial Rehabilitation Centre was inaugurated in 2013 and the Southern Regional Industrial Rehabilitation Centre will be established in the near future. The Committee notes that the total number of persons using rehabilitation services at the industrial rehabilitation centres increased from 975 in 2011 to 1,019 in 2013 and the total number of vocational rehabilitation users was 347 in 2011 and 320 in 2013. Furthermore, in 2013, the total number of persons with disabilities registered for training courses for employment was 350, out of which 198 persons obtained employment following the course.The Committee welcomes the detailed information received and requests the Government to continue to provide information on the results of the implementation of the Persons with Disabilities Empowerment Act of 2013 and other measures targeting the employment promotion of persons with disabilities in the open labour market. Please also continue to provide practical information on the matters covered by the Convention.

Article 5. Consultation with the social partners. The Committee notes the list of representatives of organizations of and for persons with disabilities that participate in the committees, subcommittees and working parties for empowerment of persons with disabilities. The Government indicates that the Ministry of Labour issued Order No. 340/2557 of 9 December 2014 to appoint the Working Party for the Employment Promotion of Persons with Disabilities to Social Service Work in the communities. In this regard, representatives of organizations of and for persons with disabilities will cooperate with employers in order to promote employment of persons with disabilities. While noting that the Government has consulted with representatives of organizations representing persons with disability, the Committee recalls having requested the Government to include in its report information on the manner in which representative employers’ and workers’ organizations are consulted, as is required by Article 5of the Convention.The Committee accordingly requests the Government to consult with the representative employers’ and workers’ organizations on the implementation of the policy on vocational rehabilitation and, if it has, to include such information in its next report. The Committee also requests the Government to provide information on the manner in which representative employers’ and workers’ organizations are consulted on the matters covered by the Convention, including the measures taken to promote cooperation and coordination between the public and private bodies engaged in vocational rehabilitation services.

Article 7. Services accessible to persons with disabilities. The Government indicates that, during the 2009–13 period, a project on expanding labour market information to the district and village level was conducted by the Department of Employment in 4,595 locations. This was aimed at increasing the accessibility of labour market information to the public, including persons with disabilities. It also indicates that the number of jobseekers with disabilities increased from 3,998 in 2012 to 4,080 in 2014 and the number of job placements has also increased from 1,518 to 1,807 in the same period.The Committee requests the Government to continue to provide information on the measures taken to ensure that services are provided to enable persons with disabilities to secure, retain and advance in employment.

Article 8. Vocational rehabilitation and employment services in rural areas and remote communities. The Government indicates that the Department of Skills Development offers training courses for persons with disabilities at 12 regional institutes for skill development and 65 provincial centres for skill development. It also indicates that the Department of Employment provided vocational rehabilitation and employment services for persons with disabilities in rural and remote areas in the 2012–14 period.The Committee requests the Government to continue to provide information on the measures taken to increase the accessibility of vocational rehabilitation and employment services for persons with disabilities in rural areas and remote communities.

Article 9. Training of staff responsible for persons with disabilities. The Government indicates that the Office of Instructor and Training Technology Development in the Department of Skill Development prepared a skill development handbook for persons with disabilities and published it for the regional institutes and provincial centres for skill development.The Committee requests the Government to continue to provide information on the measures taken to improve the capacity of staff responsible for vocational guidance, training, placement and employment of persons with disabilities.

Repetition

Implementation of the national policy for the vocational rehabilitation and employment of persons with disabilities. The Committee notes the Government’s first report on the application of the Convention, received in October 2011. It notes that the Persons with Disabilities’ Quality of Life Promotion Act, 2007, includes various measures aimed at the vocational rehabilitation of persons with disabilities and the promotion of their employment. It further notes that the Government adopted the 3rd National Persons with Disabilities’ Quality of Life Development Plan, 2008–11, which covers professional rehabilitation and employment. The Government indicates that, in 2010, 1,698 persons with disabilities used the employment office’s services and 391 were placed in employment. Between 2008 and 2009, 321 persons with disabilities participated in the vocational training courses organized by the regional institutes and provincial centres for skill development and about 200 persons with disabilities successfully completed specific training schemes for persons with particular types of disabilities. In the same period, 268 injured workers out of 294 participants completed the vocational rehabilitation programme. Of these, 178 were reintegrated in their jobs, 56 were self-employed, 26 were placed in new jobs and eight were in family employment. The Committee observes that, according to data available at the ILO, nearly 2 million women and men in Thailand, or approximately 3 per cent of the population, have a disability. Figures from the National Statistics Office 2007 Survey show that 65 per cent of persons with disabilities over the age of 15 were unemployed. Men with disabilities are more likely to have jobs than women with disabilities, 43 per cent and 28 per cent respectively. The Committee invites the Government to provide information in its next report on the implementation of the vocational rehabilitation and employment component of the Persons with Disabilities’ Quality of Life Promotion Act, 2007, as well as on the impact of the 3rd National Persons with Disabilities’ Quality of Life Development Plan, 2008–11, on the integration of persons with disabilities in the open labour market (Articles 2 and 3 of the Convention). The Committee would also welcome continuing to receive statistics and relevant data, as much as possible, disaggregated by age, gender and nature of the disability, as well as extracts of reports, studies and inquiries concerning the matters covered by the Convention (Part V of the report form).

Article 5. Consultation with representative organizations of employers and workers. The Committee notes that organizations of persons with disabilities are represented within the National Committee on the Persons with Disabilities’ Quality of Life Promotion, which is in charge of policy planning with regard to persons with disabilities. The social partners and organizations representing persons with disabilities were consulted in a meeting held on 9 September 2011. The Committee requests the Government to include in its next report information on the manner in which representative employers’ and workers’ organizations are consulted on the implementation of the policy on vocational rehabilitation and employment of persons with disabilities, including the measures to be taken to promote cooperation and coordination between the public and private bodies engaged in vocational rehabilitation services.

Article 7. Services accessible to persons with disabilities. The Government reports on the measures taken by the Department of Skills Development and the Department of Employment under the Ministry of Labour to ensure that persons with disabilities have access to general vocational training and other employment-related services. The Committee notes that the National Plan envisages various projects targeting the vocational rehabilitation and employment of persons with disabilities. The Committee invites the Government to provide information on the impact of measures taken to allow persons with disabilities to secure, retain and advance in employment, as well as on the extent to which services provided to persons with disabilities for these purposes are those available to jobseekers and workers in general.

Article 8. Vocational rehabilitation and employment services in rural areas and remote communities. The Government indicates that vocational guidance and other employment-related services are available to persons with disabilities in the central and provincial employment offices. The Committee observes that a majority of persons with disabilities in Thailand live in rural areas. The Committee invites the Government to provide more detailed information on the vocational rehabilitation and employment services available to persons with disabilities in rural areas and remote communities, as well as on the extent to which these services are those available to jobseekers and workers in general.

Article 9. Training of staff responsible for persons with disabilities. The Government indicates that the Department of Employment organizes seminars every year in order to enhance the skills of its officials as regards the employment of persons with disabilities. The Committee notes that the Department of Skills Development is in charge of the vocational rehabilitation of persons with disabilities. The Committee invites the Government to provide information on the measures taken to improve the capacity of the staff responsible for the vocational training of persons with disabilities at the Department of Skills Development, as well as on the steps taken to train instructors in the general vocational training centres to cater effectively for trainees and students with disabilities.