Poland

Project - Telepraca szansą na zwalczanie nierówności i dyskryminacji na rynku pracy.

( Teleworking providing the chance to fight inequality and discrimination in the job market.)

Rationale

The authors comprehend people with physical disabilities as contemplated by the Act from 27th August 1997 on Professional and Social Rehabilitation and on Employment of the Handicapped, with particular emphasis on those with physical disabilities. Following the National General Census (NSP) from 2002 there are 14,3% handicapped persons in Poland. The unemployment rate in that group amounts to 16% (according to BAEL III quarter 2003), in Western Pomeranian voivodeship over 20%. The highest unemployment rate concerns people with secondary general education (over 20%). Over a half of the handicapped unemployed (47,4% %) has been looking for a job for over a year.

The barriers that unable to take up job: - lack of proper qualifications tailored to the needs of the labour market – people with secondary education and without professional experience constitute the main group that is threatened by the unemployment (secondary and post-secondary education in 1996 involved 19% of the handicapped – according to GUS (Main Statistical Office), in 2002 - 50% according to NSP (National General Census), higher education in 2002 encompassed 4,6% of the handicapped according to NSP); - professional inaction (according to BAEL III quarter 2003 83% of handicapped persons are professionally passive); - architectural and communication barriers for persons with physical disabilities; - insufficient counselling and information services for the handicapped; - limited access to computer and internet. The proposed actions in aid of solving the identified problems include: - two kinds of trainings - technical – that bring the participants closer to practical aspects of telework, making use of Internet as a tool of work that enables to get acquainted with legal forms of taking up telework and with the principles of starting and conducting one’s own business activity, which brings opportunities of getting the abilities to search for telework offers on one’s own. As soon as the consultations with a professional advisor are carried out and the directions of professional interests of the participants are identified, professional trainings to raise the qualifications will be conducted. Trainings of potential employers will concern legal aspects of employing teleworkers, the possibilities of implementing telework in their enterprises and the ways of attracting such kind of workers, information concerning allowances and the advantages in aid of employing people from the target group; - counselling – within the scope of consultations with participants in order to define professional predispositions of potential teleworkers, counselling for employers; - promotion – reaching the most numerous group of representatives of the target group and employers by organizing conferences, creating internet portal, placing a banner of the project on the websites of the partnership organizations and the advertisement in other massmedia, in order to attract offers from employers for the trained teleworkers and to disseminate telework in the target group and in the society; - initiating and implementing telework – so far rather little popular tool to fight unemployment; - creating telecentre and “telecottages” – as places of using modern technologies. Current situation on the labour market and a high unemployment rate is an extensive problem that requires an immediate reaction. Institutions being a part of the Partnership and acting on their own are not able to change that problem. By creating the Partnership they will join and act together and by using common knowledge and experiences their chances of favourably influencing the situation on the labour market are bigger. Moreover, thanks to the cooperation of the Partners it is possible to achieve the synergy effect and to create a modern IT tool, namely telework, and also professional trainings. The idea of telework is being promoted by numerous institutions related to the problem of unemployment as well as the target group and massmedia and it has a chance to come into existence in a wider range and to cause the decrease of the unemployment rate.

Objective

In the era of growing competitiveness both employers and employees need to turn to new, untraditional forms of employment such as, for instance, telework. Implementation of telework will allow employers to cut down operational costs of their enterprises which, in turn, will lead to enhancing their competitiveness on the market. In terms of the handicapped employees, this form of employment will allow them to perform their professional obligations from a convenient place i.e. from their own home or from a telecentre (or a telecottage) that is adjusted to their disability. In this respect, the project ensures promoting new forms of work organisation that cater for the needs of employers and employees.

The project will also promote the idea of continuous education, particularly in connection with new information technologies. In order for tele-employees to fulfil the requirements of the labour market, it is necessary for them to continuously raise their qualifications so as they were corresponding to the demand on the part of the employers. The launching of trainings within the project activities will enable the above mentioned employees to conform to the labour market reality.

Handicapped persons who attempt to enter the labour market are frequently confronted with numerous barriers. The most significant one is the barrier connected with their worse education in comparison to other social groups and with their maladjustment to current requirements of the employers. Complex system of professional trainings is to ensure that persons with physical disabilities are given an opportunity to raise their qualifications and acquire new skills that are in demand by employers. A combination of trainings and system of diagnosing demand for particular employees on the current labour market (research on employers) together with a system of defining inborn predispositions and interests of target group members has been designed with an aim of increasing effectiveness of undertaken educational activities.

Employers are frequently afraid to employ handicapped persons with regard to, among others, the necessity of incurring high costs connected with adjusting workplaces to specific needs of such people. Promoting the idea of telework among employers will make them aware of alternative forms of employment of handicapped persons (work at home or in a telecentre/telecottage) which, in turn, will render insignificant the level of employee’s physical mobility. Employees on the other hand will be able to perform their work in a place that is fully adequate for their needs.

The project is compliant with the following horizontal priorities:
a) promotion of information society
Implementing telework among the physically disabled necessitates the development of their abilities in the field of ICT as well as raising their qualifications in order to increase their competitiveness on the labour market. Through proposed trainings and teleconferences people with physical disabilities will be offered an opportunity not only to participate in the process of integration with information society but also to develop and improve their skills and abilities allowing for employment of modern ICT and raising their professional qualifications.

b) promoting equal opportunities for men and women
According to the BAEL and GUS (Main Office of Statistics) research, women constitute 59% of the unemployed disabled. The target group comprises both men and women. The idea of telework consists in employing a specialist-expert regardless of the person’s sex. Additionally, the Development Partnership will function according to the general rule of equal opportunities for men and women, which will be immediately transferable to the recruitment process where the sole admission criteria will be skills and qualifications of a potential employee.

Innovation

Nature of the experimental activities to be implemented	Rating
Training	***
Training on work place	****
Job rotation and job sharing	*
Employment aids (+ for self-employment)	****
Integrated measures (pathway to integration)	**
Employment creation and support	****
Training of teachers, trainers and staff	****
Improvement of employment services, Recruitment structures	***
Conception for training programs, certification	****
Work organisation, improvement of access to work places	****
Guidance and social services	**
Awareness raising, information, publicity	****
Studies and analysis of discrimination features	***

 

Type of innovation	Rating
Process-oriented	****
Goal-oriented	**
Context oriented	**

The concept of innovation in this project is focused around the task of initiating, implementing and developing the idea of telework . The DP intends to introduce new methods of professional activation of the target group through launching active forms of employment of persons with physical disabilities who are in search for work namely telework. The above mentioned method of activation complies with the requirements of innovation by introducing mechanisms of improving the existing structures and systems of employment support, thus making meeting space for a tele-employer and a tele-employee by means of modern ICT tools. The project authors intend to establish a telecentre at the West Pomeranian Business School as well as telecottages that will function as workplaces equipped with computers, telephones and broadband Internet connection and as consultation–research units for potential employers and employees. The proposed venture is compliant with the priorities of the e-Poland (development of ICT) through establishing a telecentre based on the idea of telework. Telecentre offers a unique opportunity for persons with physical disabilities for whom it is extremely difficult to overcome architectural and financial barriers to taking up a job. It is at the same time a chance to raise their qualifications, thus enabling the disabled to eliminate lower self-esteem connected with a sense of alienation and rejection by the society. The project activities are thus aimed at levelling the labour market opportunities. Educational institutions will be engaged in preparation and technical implementation of the trainings. First conducted courses will be aimed at highlighting practical aspects of telework whereas the second type of courses will provide teleworkers with additional skills and qualifications from various fields. Activities undertaken by the DP such as setting up a Training Point in the West Pomeranian Business School (mainly for persons with physical disabilities), resulting in “…supporting development of ICT education …., creation of professions connected with ICT employment, particularly those making use of technology with an aim of enhancing employment and lowering unemployment” will make a direct reference to the documents referred to in the CIP Equal e-Poland “Action Plan for development of information society for the years 2001-2006” as well as e-Europe “An Information Society for All”. Combination of a multimedia centre with an education centre and teleconference system constitutes a basis for implementation of telework. The project authors highlight two aspects that differ the following venture from any other existing practices in the field of unemployment reduction: - from the tele-employee’s perspective: telework constitutes a mobile type of work, internet work auctions, a possibility to raise one’s qualifications in order to improve the quality of services offered; it is also an opportunity to take up additional job with no time limitations and, at the same time, a chance to win vacancies for the disabled; - from the employer’s perspective: telework allows significant costs reductions with simultaneous increase in work efficiency. The authors are fully aware of barriers and hindrances that stand in the way of implementing telework in Polish reality: the mentality of employers makes them see payment only in exchange for hours spent behind a desk, Internet access is still problematic in many places, knowledge on telework is scarce and people’s ICT skills still insufficient. On the other hand, the project is designed to meet the expectations of prospective employers and employees by eliminating such barriers via organising a conference on telework, creating a telecentre and preparing additional educational courses. The idea of establishing a Partnership comprising numerous experienced institutions from various sectors, who have not cooperated as yet, is an innovation in itself. Added value will lie in focusing common efforts on activities that previously were conducted separately by individual entities. In the long run, establishing transnatioanl partnership will allow eliminating mistakes and more effective implementing of telework. Supporting innovative solutions, inclusive of telework, will result in a growth of competitiveness of employers and employees.