More than 80 percent of severely disabled persons in employment are aged 45 or over. The majority work in the areas of manufacturing, public administration and retail.

39 percent of employers comply with the employment obligation

Measured in terms of all employers subject to the obligation to provide employment, 39 percent comply with their legal obligation to hire severely disabled persons. Five years earlier, this compliance quota was 39.9 percent. Additionally, in 2021, 35.1 percent at least partially fulfilled their obligation to provide employment to severely disabled persons, up from 34.5 percent in 2016. This means that these employers have only hired severely disabled people for some of their staff roles, as required by the law. A total of 25.9 percent of the companies subject to the obligation to provide employment to severely disabled persons failed to live up to this obligation at all, compared with 25.5 percent five years ago. These companies do not employ any severely disabled persons, which means they have not filled any of their legally defined obligatory staff roles. 

To provide companies with the best possible support in all matters relating to the employment of people with disabilities, rehabilitation specialists work in every local federal employment agency and are available as professional contact persons and partners. A wide range of support instruments is available, extending from qualification measures and wage subsidies for companies through to support with technical equipment. Companies can get advice from their local federal employment agency at any time.

The difference between the new compliance quota and the previous actual quota:

Employers that have 20 or more staff roles are required to employ severely disabled persons by law. Employers with 20 to fewer than 40 staff roles must employ one severely disabled person, and employers with 40 to fewer than 60 staff roles must employ two severely disabled persons. Employers with 60 or more staff roles are required to appoint severely disabled persons to at least 5 percent of their staff roles.

The previous “actual quota” was the share of staff roles occupied by severely disabled persons in terms of all of the staff roles to be counted. The “compliance quota”, by contrast, which is now being used for the first time, is the proportion of employers who have complied fully with their obligation to employ severely disabled persons, measured as a percentage of all employers required to employ severely disabled persons. The compliance quota can be used to estimate how many employers fulfill their legal obligation to employ severely disabled persons.