Social responsibility versus legal obligation – employing people with disabilities

Abstract

According to the Act on Promoting Employment employers in all segments of the economy are obliged to pay a rehabilitation fee if the average number of their employees is above 20 and the ratio of employees with disabilities does not reach 5%. The amount to be paid has been significantly raised from 177,600 HUF/year to 964,500 HUF/year as of 1st of January, 2010 in order to increase efficiency. My field research on agricultural and food industry companies reveals whether the strict quota-levy system really promotes the employment of people with disabilities in this sector. During the autumn of 2010 I conducted interviews with 22 agricultural and food industry companies to find out the impact of the legal restriction on the companies. According to the data gathered during the interviews, in 9 out of the 22 examined companies they had already employed people with disabilities prior to the introduction of the quota system. Only 5 companies decided to employ people with disabilities because of the higher rehabilitation fee. Eight companies still do not have any employees with disabilities. It means that less than 23% of the companies reacted positively to the legislation, while almost 41% was already engaged to the topic and acted socially responsibly towards people with disabilities living in their area and willing to work. This result keeps the question still open: is the restriction of the quota system the best way of promoting the employment of people with disabilities?