Considering their zeal for perfectionism Germans for sure don’t see setbacks in their lives even with the motor deficits. According to German law, people with motor deficits are entitled to help and assistance in order to avert, eliminate or improve their disability. The general goal is to overcome, as much as possible, the disability’s effects and to enable the disabled to participate in all areas of society as functional groups, ensuring equity more than equality.
The Federal government is not only confined to treating them with empathy, but it is also obliged to provide installations such as barrier-free design and constructions of public spaces, buildings and streets. It also strives to provide a barrier-free communication system for them, especially in the field of administrative internet sites, official forms and notifications.
Schooling: Special educators are provided along with barrier-free accesses to schools.
Public Transportation, Malls and Restaurants: All facilities and means of public transportation are required to be disabled-friendly and barrier-free. The same applies to the infrastructure of both malls and restaurants.
Ensuring equity especially in labour markets is of utmost importance to ensure the dignity of labour. Here is a brief overview of the pervasive employment policies in Germany:
Work policies-
“Allgemeines Gleichbehandlungsgesetz” or General Equal Treatment Act in Germany is ubiquitous and provides very comprehensive protection against discrimination of any kind. Sozialgesetzbuch IX or the German Social Code also strives for the protection of the integrity of the people with motor deficits. Severely disabled employees have special rights and protections under it.
General Equal Treatment Act:
It is a legal framework that encompasses certain norms to be adhered to while protecting the employees with disabilities and suffering from discrimination, to ensure full and effective participation.
Here are the norms:
- Conditions for access to employment and self-employment, including selection criteria, recruitment & promotion.
- Employment and working conditions, including remuneration and terms of dismissal (in particular in individual contracts, collective bargaining agreements and provisions to implement and terminate an employment relationship and promotion.)
- Access to all types and to all levels of vocational training, advanced vocational training and retraining including practical work experience.
- Membership of and involvement in any organization of workers.
Any provisions which are held to be discriminatory will be invalid and the employees if discriminated by the employer it is deemed to be a violation of the contractual obligation.
Sozialgesetzbuch IX
Severely disabled persons or disabled persons statutorily treated as such are protected under the German Social Code. Disabled persons with a disability of grade 30-50 maybe statutorily treated as severely disabled by a competent authority figure. According to the German Social Code, there are certain norms for employers:
- Employers offering more than 20 positions have to employ a certain number of disabled employees in order to avoid Ausgleichsabgabe or statutory compensation payment to the integration office.
- Disabled employees are entitled to 5 additional holidays per year.
- Disabled employees can only be dismissed with the prior consent of the appropriate authority.
- Disabled employees are entitled to an accessible workplace
- Disabled employees are entitled to work part-time, if necessary due to their individual handicap
- Where more than 5 employees are disabled, a representative of the disabled employees must be elected in order to delegate and supervise and address the grievances.
