Employment of Persons with Disabilities in Poland: What Do Small and Micro Enterprise Employers Know?

Abstract

Observation of Polish enterprises in the open labour market reveals a marked reluctance to employment of disabled people. Entrepreneurs appear to hold a common belief that a person with disabilities is a risk to productivity and a source of additional costs. Further, employers tend to think that it is truly difficult to find a job that a disabled person could perform. The authors of the article decided to find out whether these convictions might possibly be a consequence of employers’ insufficient knowledge as regards disability employment. 50 large, 80 medium-sized and 149 small employers (including micro employers) agreed to participate in the study. Individual, researcher-administered survey was used in the study. The article only presents the results for small and micro organizations as regards employers’ knowledge concerning the definition of a person with disabilities, the degrees and causes of disability; statutory working time of disabled workers; matching jobs and adapting the workplace to the needs and capabilities of disabled employees; financial support to employers of the disabled as this information was deemed fundamental in employment of people with disabilities.