Study says employment rate of people with disabilities is 0.5-1%

AMMAN — People with disabilities in Jordan face difficulties in finding jobs, while those who are employed work under difficult conditions, according to a report released Monday.

Despite the presence of laws and regulations that ensure the employment of people who are disabled, estimates show that it is still below ambitions, according to the “Employment of Persons with Disabilities” report prepared by the Phenix Centre for Economic and Informatics Studies and the Friedrich Ebert Foundation. The report cited estimates showing that the employment rate of people with disabilities is up to 1 per cent in the public sector and 0.5 per cent in the private sector.

Many of those employed are paid less than the minimum wage, which is JD190 per month, Phenix Centre Director Ahmad Awad said.

In addition, some of them work up to 14 hours a day in violation of Article 57 of the Labour Law which stipulates that employees should not be forced to work for more than eight hours a day, except in special circumstances, and for not more than 30 days a year, and up to two extra hours a day. 

The article also stipulates that employees should be paid for the extra work they do. 

Meanwhile, the report indicated that women with disabilities find it more difficult to find jobs than men, citing social attitudes as one of the challenges facing them. 

Sometimes they are subjected to harassment in the workplace, thus some of them even abandon the idea of joining the labour market, according to the report, a copy of which was sent to The Jordan Times.

The Law on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities stipulates that private and public sector institutions with over 25 and less than 50 employees are obligated to employ one disabled person, while in companies with over 50 employees, 4 per cent must be people with disabilities.

“We recommended amending this article and those in the Labour Law related to the employment of people with disabilities in a way that can be applicable,” Awad told The Jordan Times.

He said other recommendations included conducting a survey on the number of people with disabilities in Jordan as the available figures vary and are inaccurate, as well as offering incentives for private sector institutions to employ people with disabilities.

In addition, the report called for developing training programmes to prepare them for joining the labour market and providing an accessible environment in public and private institutions.