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Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment (Disabled Persons) Convention, 1983 (No. 159) - Belgium (RATIFICATION: 2015)

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Article 2. Adoption and periodic review of a national policy on vocational rehabilitation and employment of persons with disabilities. The Committee notes the information provided in the Government’s first report on the application of the Convention. The Government indicates that the responsibility for implementing the policy for the vocational rehabilitation and employment of persons with disabilities is shared between the various competent authorities, namely the federal authority, the communities and the regions The Committee further notes that, through a Decree of 19 July 1993, the French speaking community transferred its responsibilities under the policy for the employment of persons with disabilities to the Walloon Region. With regard to the Flemish Community, the Government indicates that the Flemish Agency for Persons with Disabilities (Vlaams agentschap voor personen met een handicap) is responsible for all specific interventions concerning vocational training and jobseeking for persons with disabilities. In relation to the German-speaking Community, the Government adds that the Service for Independent Living (Dienststelle für Selbstbestimmtes Leben, DSL), which provides support for persons with disabilities and their caregivers in relation to education, training, employment and housing, has been expanded. With regard to the Walloon Region, the Walloon Agency for Quality of Life (AVIQ) supports in employment specialized agencies in relation to the placement of persons with disabilities and offers supplementary or alternative services and interventions to this population. Moreover, in the Brussels Capital Region, the Government refers to three services that facilitate jobseeking and the placement in employment of persons with disabilities, namely: (i) the ACTRIS agency, which is responsible for providing placement services and vocational training; (ii) the PHARE (Autonomy for Persons with Disabilities) agency, which provides specialized services for persons with disabilities, particularly information, advice and financial assistance; and (iii) Brussels Training and the Joint Community Commission provide employment placement services for persons with disabilities. The Committee requests the Government to provide detailed information on the policies which give effect to the Convention as well as updated data, disaggregated by sex, age and occupation, on the number of men and women workers with disabilities who have been placed in lasting employment on the open labour market and who have benefitted from vocational guidance and training provided by the services referred to above. It also requests the Government to provide information on the formulation, implementation and periodic review of the various policies at the federal, community and regional levels to promote vocational rehabilitation and the employment of persons with disabilities.

Article 3. Employment promotion and vocational rehabilitation measures. The Committee notes the detailed information provided by the Government indicating that the National Health and Invalidity Insurance Institute (INAMI) provides financial support to persons whose ability to work has been impaired due to a disability, but who are following a programme of rehabilitation or vocational reorientation in order to eventually return to the labour force. It adds that, since 2006, section 109 bis(2) of the Act on compulsory health care and benefits insurance covers vocational rehabilitation services. The Government refers to sections 215 quater to septies of the Royal Order of 3 July 1996 on vocational rehabilitation, which provides that vocational rehabilitation benefits include all interventions and services intended to partially or fully restore an individual’s work capacity or to integrate them into employment. The Committee notes the various legislative measures covering access to the labour market for persons with disabilities. The Government indicates that FEDRIS, a federal public social security institution, protects the rights of workers who have experienced occupational accidents or illness. The Committee notes that legislative measures are in place at the federal level to facilitate the recruitment of persons with disabilities in the federal public service. It notes that the Royal Order of 5 March 2007 organizing the recruitment of persons with disabilities in the federal administrative public service establishes a 3 per cent quota for the employment of persons with disabilities and establishes a commission composed of representatives of the public services and their trade unions, which is responsible for reporting to the Government on the employment situation of persons with disabilities in the federal public service and making recommendations in this regard. The Committee also notes the measures taking in the Brussels Capital Region for the French community, where the PHARE service, an administrative department of the French-speaking Brussels public service, has adopted incentives to promote the disabilities on the open labour market. It adds that persons with disabilities are also employed in sheltered workshops. The Government indicates that four specialized training centres are approved and subsidized by Brussels Training, to help workers with disabilities find work on the open labour market. With regard to the Walloon Region, the Government indicates that AVIQ Disability provides support for access to training and employment and works in partnership with other actors, including FOREM, which is responsible for providing personalized support for jobseekers with disabilities. The Government adds that a framework agreement has been concluded between AVIQ, FOREM and the Walloon Region to provide training and employment for persons with disabilities. The Government indicates that the Flemish Office for Employment and Vocational Training (Vlaamse Dienst voor Arbeidsbemiddeling en Beroepsopleiding, VDAB) makes use of a range of measures to provide support for jobseekers with disabilities through an in-depth assessment of competences, personalized advice and vocational training to help jobseekers with disabilities find suitable employment. The Committee requests the Government to provide detailed information, including statistics disaggregated by sex, age, occupation and region, on the impact of the measures adopted in terms of promoting employment opportunities for persons with disabilities on the open labour market. It also requests the Government to provide a copy of the latest report of the Commission on the recruitment of persons with disabilities in the federal public service.

Article 4. Equality of opportunity and treatment. The Government indicates that, section 14 of the Act of 10 May 2007 to combat certain types of discrimination, prohibits any form of direct and indirect discrimination, harassment and the refusal to provide reasonable accommodation for persons with disabilities. It adds that, under the terms of the Act on welfare at work of 4 August 1996, the employer is required to ensure the health and safety of workers with disabilities, including through providing reasonable adaptions to the workplace or to a specific job and the adoption of measures to prevent or limit to the maximum extent possible situations of risk. The Government also refers to three collective agreements concluded in the National Labour Council which establish protective measures for workers with disabilities: (i) Collective Agreement No. 99 of 20 February 2009, which provides for equal remuneration for workers with disabilities and workers without disabilities, and prohibits discrimination in recruitment or as a reason for termination; (ii) Collective Agreement No. 38 of 6 December 1983 on the recruitment and selection of workers; and (iii) Collective Labour Agreement No. 95 of 10 October 2008 on equality of treatment at all stages of the employment relationship. These agreements cover non-discrimination in the recruitment and selection of workers with disabilities and in terms and conditions of employment. The Committee notes that the Act of 15 February 1993 establishing the Centre for Equality of Opportunities and Action to Combat Racism (UNIA) created this independent public body responsible for dealing with cases of discrimination. Furthermore, according to the statistics provided by the Government, in 2016, 22 per cent of the 493 complaints examined by the UNIA involved allegations of discrimination based on disability. The Committee requests the Government to provide information on the number of complaints lodged with the UNIA relating to discrimination in employment of persons with disabilities, and the outcomes of such complaints. It also requests the Government to continue providing information on the impact of the measures adopted to improve the employment opportunities of persons with disabilities on the open labour market and to continue providing statistical data, disaggregated insofar as possible by sex, age and type of disability, as well as by region, and extracts from reports, studies and investigations concerning the matters covered by the Convention.

Article 5. Consultation of the social partners. The Government indicates that certain consultative bodies have specific mandates on the issue of disabilities. For example, at the European level, the Belgian Disability Forum (BDF) groups together 17 organizations representing persons with disabilities, and represents them at the European and supranational levels, including in the European Disability Forum (ETF). At the federal level, the Government indicates that the Higher National Council for Persons with Disabilities (CSNPH), is responsible for examining issues likely to have an impact on persons with disabilities at the federal level. It adds that the Council is composed of persons with disabilities, their representatives and experts. In the Walloon Region, the Walloon Commission for Persons with Disabilities is composed of members appointed from the associations recognized as being the most representative of persons with disabilities and their families, experts, representatives of services for persons with disabilities and representatives of organizations representing workers with disabilities. In the Brussels Capital Region, there are three advisory councils responsible for issuing opinions on matters of concern to persons with disabilities, including in relation to draft decrees, ordinances and their implementing regulations. It adds that the advisory councils are composed of representatives of the respective organizations, representatives of workers in the sectors concerned, representatives of persons with disabilities and experts. The Government indicates that, in the German speaking Community, the Kleines Forum represents the interests of persons with disabilities. In Flanders, the VDAB organizes a forum with the social partners to enable representatives of organizations working with persons with disabilities to express their views on policies of the VDAB which affect them. While noting the various consultative bodies at the federal and regional levels, the Committee requests the Government to provide detailed information on the outcome of the consultations held with the social partners and with organizations representing persons with disabilities, in relation to the application of the provisions of the Convention.

Article 7. Services accessible to persons with disabilities. The Government indicates that, in the Flemish Region, to guarantee access to online information, employment advisers and of vocational training for persons with disabilities, several types of general adaptations have been undertaken, and specific accommodations can be requested to enable an individual living with a disability to participate in training. The Committee requests the Government to provide detailed information on the nature and extent of vocational guidance, vocational training, placement, employment and other related services intended to enable persons with disabilities to secure and retain lasting employment on the open labour market and to advance in employment, as well as on the number of beneficiaries of these services, disaggregated by age and sex.

Article 8. Accessible services in rural areas and remote communities. The Government indicates that the existing vocational rehabilitation and employment services cover the whole of the Belgian territory. It adds that the VDAB and its partners have a well-established network covering the entire Flanders Region. The Government adds that the AVIQ is composed of a central administration located in Charleroi and seven regional offices spread throughout the Walloon Region. The Committee requests the Government to provide detailed information, on the measures adopted to ensure the provision of effective vocational rehabilitation and employment services in rural areas and remote communities.

Article 9. Training of suitably qualified staff. The Government indicates that in Flanders, the staff of the VDAB responsible for assessing “indications of disability” consists of trained psychologists. The Government indicates that the PHARE service includes a multidisciplinary team composed of a physician, psychologists and an administrative manager who analyse all applications for admission and for benefits relating to employment and assistance to persons with disabilities. The Committee requests the Government to communicate information on the training provided to staff to enable them to provide employment-related services tailored to persons with disabilities. The Committee further requests the Government to provide detailed information on the nature and extent of services provided to persons living with a psychological, emotional or intellectual disability.