Highlights of the European Social Inclusion Report
A number of best practices have been identified for reducing social exclusion in general and for enhancing inclusion of disabled people in the labour market. Some of these practices, listed below, are highlighted in the European Social Inclusion Report (2001).
Promoting a More Open and Responsive Labour Market
Measures to increase the openness and responsiveness of the existing labour market to people who are currently excluded include:
- introducing social clauses/chapters in collective agreements for employing and retaining persons with reduced capacity for work in the labour market (Denmark);
- establishing quotas for the employment of particular groups such as people with disabilities (Germany, Austria);
- reducing employers' costs in employing people with less skills or certain categories of unemployed (Luxembourg, Greece, Sweden);
- promoting education and training of employers to counter prejudices or discrimination against people from particular communities or particular backgrounds and regular review and monitoring of recruitment procedures and outcomes;
- ensuring that government agencies prepare action plans for the promotion of ethnic diversity among employees (Sweden);
- inserting social clauses into publicly awarded contracts requiring the employment of people who are long-term unemployed or from special groups or from local disadvantaged communities or the introduction of a policy of ethnic equality (Denmark);
- expanding "sheltered", "near market" and rehabilitative job opportunities for particularly vulnerable people (Denmark, Finland);
- promoting entrepreneurship amongst disadvantaged groups and communities and provide intensive support to local economic development initiatives in areas of multiple disadvantage;
- focusing economic investment and employment development policies on unemployment blackspots, particularly areas of multiple disadvantage (UK).
Putting in Place Pathways Towards Employment
Developing and implementing pathways towards employment is widely recognised as a key dimension of developing a more inclusive labour market. Pathways normally combine several insertion measures like counselling, training, subsidised or sheltered employment, with the "activation" of social assistance recipients. This is a crucial and sensitive aspect as often, social assistance recipients are people that are very far away from the labour market who require extensive and personalised aid. The majority of Member States, in their National Action Plans for Inclusion, reflect a change in philosophy from passive income support to active support to assist people to become autonomous. In some cases explicit reference is made to the experience gained under the implementation of the National Action Plans for Employment with a view to extend the same approach in order to cover also those more distant from the labour market.
The link between the labour market situation and other elements of exclusion is recognised, with many Member States quoting as an objective the better collaboration between employment and social services in order to better target individual needs (Austria, Germany, UK, Finland, Luxembourg, Spain and Sweden). This focus on employability has led to the development of more tailor-made supports for people and in several cases this has led to the development of specific social insertion contracts such as in Portugal and France and Luxembourg.