Disabled hiring quotas set for govt

A notice stipulating that government departments and organizations across the country should hire a certain proportion of disabled employees has been jointly issued by seven government departments, including the Organization Department of the CPC Central Committee, and those that fail to comply may face punishments.

The interdepartmental notice, also jointly issued by the country's State-owned assets watchdog, was posted on the official website of China Disabled Persons' Federation on Thursday.

According to the notice, various levels of government departments, public organizations and State-owned enterprises should give preference to hiring disabled people, as long as they are qualified for the positions.

It also states that disabled people should be recruited to become officials working with disabled person's federations.

By 2020, at least one disabled person should be hired by all provincial government organizations or disabled persons' committees at levels at or below the provincial level.

For provincial-level disabled persons' organizations in the country, at least 15 percent of their officials should be promoted from among their disabled staff.

In contrast to previous announcements, which have also pushed for quotas, this notice is different insofar as it specifies incentives for those who carry out the notice faithfully, and also punitive measures for those who don't cooperate with the requirements.

The notice had been delivered to provincial-level authorities, including human resources and social security departments, by August 19, and they should provide replies before December 31 to higher-level government bodies about specific measures they intend to adopt to solve the problem.

Yu Fangqiang, director with Justice for All, an NGO dedicated to the disabled, spoke highly of the notice, since increasing numbers of government departments are working together to help the disabled.

He said that in the past, only three government departments were involved.

Yu told the Global Times that the provision relating to setting quotas for government departments will make it easier for the notice to actually be carried out.

He cited a common practice by government departments in the past, where they dodged the requirements for hiring the disabled by paying the employment security fund for disabled people.

"It was just like putting the money from one pocket into another one, since they are all from the taxpayers," said Yu.

Yu was echoed by Zhou Haibin, a project officer of the UN International Labor Organization, who said the latest notice represented a big step forward.

However, Zhou says that more preferential policies and measures must be taken when it comes to providing job opportunities for the disabled.

Government departments or enterprises should provide opportunities for the disabled as long as it doesn't increase their work burden, Zhou said, citing the UN convention on the rights of persons with disabilities.

Disabled people face widespread discrimination throughout China, and job opportunities are often limited, as some organizations or enterprises fear they will impact their performance.