Race folder_EN - ADAM - Leonardo da Vinci Projects and

This project has been funded with support from the European Commission.
This publication reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held
responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.
Raising awareness
and corporate employment opportunities
for people with disabilities in Turkey
www.employdisable.eu
Raising Awareness & Corporate Employment opportunities
for people with disabilities in Turkey project (RACE), a 2-year
project which started in November 2011 and will finish in October
2013, brought together partners from 5 different countries in the
endeavour to enable persons with disabilities to enter the open
labour market and thus gain more independence and confidence.
The employment of people with disabilities on the open labour
market is a major step towards their inclusion in society as full and
active European citizens, enjoying equal rights and opportunities.
The underpinning principles of RACE are:
It is vital to support all forms of diversity in the workplace whether
related to age, gender, culture or disability. Workplace diversity
means exploring potential, respecting and valuing the different skills
and experiences of people, as well as being aware of the additional
challenges faced by some groups;
Full stakeholder involvement and cooperation increases the likelihood
that people with disabilities will achieve successful employment which
will have a positive effect on the economy by improving productivity
and reducing costs for support structures;
Empowering people with disabilities to claim their position on the labour
market will both help deliver the economic targets of the European
Union as well as improve individual quality of life.
Why is Raising Awareness about Corporate
Employment opportunities for people with disabilities
important?
All people, including those with disabilities, have the right to work on
an equal basis with others. The UN Convention on the Rights of Persons
with Disabilities, specifically, Article 27 on Work and Employment includes
the right to the opportunity to gain a living by work freely chosen or
accepted in a labour market and work environment that is open, inclusive
and accessible to persons with disabilities.
Nevertheless, despite of existing legal frameworks and strategies that
prohibit discrimination and protect rights, people with disabilities are still
one of the most distant groups from the labour market. Their employment
rate is very low in most European countries, even when faced with labour
force shortages. Discrimination often occurs as a result of prejudices,
stereotypes and negative attitudes towards the ‘employability’ of persons
with disabilities.
RACE aims to raise awareness among political and corporate communities
and the society at large on the benefits of integrating persons with
disabilities in the work environment. In this regard, the
project promotes supported employment or the
‘place-train-maintain’ model, as a suitable model
that is consistent with the concepts of empowerment,
social inclusion, dignity and respect for individuals.
The overall aim of the project is:
To help the Vocational and Educational trainers, counsellors, managers,
line managers and also policy makers to facilitate the active participation
of people with disabilities in the open primary labour market focusing on
lifelong learning opportunities, additional training and their integration
in the inclusive employment.
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The benefits of employing people with disabilities in
your enterprise
The project will unfold in the following steps:
Awareness-raising through:
Exploring untapped potential
Employing a person with a disability is like employing a person without
a disability. The focus is on matching the skills and competences of a
person to the job profile. People with disabilities represent an untapped
source of skills and talent, including technical skills if they have access to
training, and transferable problem-solving skills developed in daily life;
People with disabilities make good, dependable employees. Many
research findings point out comparable productivity, lower accident
rates and higher job retention rates between employees with disabilities
and a company’s general workforce.
Embracing diversity
Hiring people with disabilities can contribute to the overall diversity,
creativity and workplace morale and enhance a company’s image
among its staff, in the community and among customers. This may
make you more attractive to prospective employees, customers and
business associates. Other companies may be inspired to follow your
lead, eventually creating a more diverse business climate.
Transfer of knowledge and EU good practices, training materials,
guidelines (translation, adaptation and upgrade of materials);
Support to Turkish policy makers with key materials and expertise;
Enabling managers and key staff (employers) to implement supported
employment, and VET organizations, disability organizations to support
the people with disabilities in
the open labour market (pilot
workshop and blended learning
materials);
Achieving sustainability through a
set-up of national helpdesk in TR.
Practical guidance to stakeholders through:
Blended training program for managers, VET providers, counsellors to
support persons with disabilities in open labour market;
Pilot training in Turkey and Italy;
Legal Issues
Hiring disabled workers can help prevent certain legal problems for
your business, particularly charges of discrimination in the workplace.
This will reflect compliance with Corporate Social Responsibility and
the European criteria, which fight against discrimination, inequality and
push for inclusiveness.
Tax Benefits
Guidelines for integrating people with disabilities into the workplace;
Policy roundtables in Turkey and Belgium;
Best practice catalogue of policy approaches and instruments;
Policy recommendations for Turkish decision makers;
Corporate roundtables in each partner country;
Hiring people with disabilities can bring along a number of important
tax benefits. This can include tax incentives, on-the-job training funds,
collaborative training programmes, income support, technical supports,
partnership programmes as well as awards and recognition.
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Dissemination materials-project website, videos and more;
Final seminar in Turkey.
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Training material
The first important step of the project, taken between November 2011
and September 2012, was the transfer, adaptation and development
of tools from previous Leonardo Da Vinci projects: ‘Pass it on’, ‘Atlas’ and
‘Conversion’.
The material, available on the project website http://www.
employdisable.eu in English, Turkish and Italian, includes a set of useful
and comprehensive tools such as a modular training program curriculum
and methodological approach, presentations, tutor materials, exercises,
supportive documents which take into account specific country contexts
and target group needs.
Pilot trainings
Policy Roundtables
2 Policy roundtables were organized in Brussels and Ankara in September
and October 2012. Their purpose was to foster an active involvement of
key stakeholders in debates and include their professional knowledge
and expertise in order to define a policy path to support employment of
people with disabilities in the labour market.
6-day face-to-face trainings will be organised in Italy and Turkey. The direct
target groups for the pilot trainings are trainers in Vocational Education
and Training, counselors for career planning/recruitment, managers, line
managers in companies and public authorities employing or seeking to
employ people with disabilities.
The outcomes of the policy round table are a set of recommendations
which will be used as a supportive tool for Turkish policy makers and as an
awareness raising tool for all target groups of the RACE Project.
The overall aim of the training courses is to offer guidance to employers
and VET providers in Turkey and in Italy on supported employment. More
specifically, the stakeholders in Turkey and in Italy will get access to best
practices, the supported employment model and EU networks which
will help them in decision making for future policies. The awareness of
supported employment and its concrete benefits will not only have an
impact in Turkey and Italy, but it will reach all partner countries as well as
other EU countries.
The policy recommendation catalogue is available in English and Turkish
on the project website: http://www.employdisable.eu
Good practice catalogue
A good practice catalogue was developed with the aim of transferring
existing knowledge and good practice in policy making. The catalogue
gathers examples of policies and instruments proven to be effective for
the integration of people with disabilities in regular employment within
the European Union.
The catalogue is available on the project website:
http://www.employdisable.eu
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The trainings will unfold in two stages:
At the first stage, national and international experts will train participants
based on supported employment curriculums;
The second stage will focus on the necessary steps needed in a successful
change management that accommodates supported employment.
During these sessions, participants will be given the chance to practice
and test, through different assignments, the implementation of the
supported employment model in various fields. The experts will assist
the participants throughout the sessions, evaluate the results and
provide feedback on the pilot trainings.
Once trained, the participants will gain broad knowledge and expertise
on diversity management which will be ultimately used for the final
purposes of the project. The training will enable managers and key staff
professionals to implement the Supported Employment concept and
support persons with disabilities in the open labour market.
Overview of the face-to-face trainings:
Supported Employment
Supported employment and
its underpinning ideology
Supporting individuals to
plan and develop careers
The trainings will take place on the following dates:
In Turkey:
first session: 21-22-23 February 2013
second session: 6-7-8 March 2013
Change Management For
Successful Supported Employment
Applications
Understanding change
Stakeholder analysis
Marketing supported
employment to employers
Dealing with the human side of
change: resistance
Supporting job-finding
Effective interaction in organizations
Supporting successful
working relationships
Managing stakeholders
Planning implementation: the change
Roadmap for supported employment
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In Italy:
first session: 7-8-9 March 2013
second session: 19-20-21 March 2013
If you wish to apply for the trainings, please contact
[email protected] for Turkey or [email protected] for Italy.
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The Employer’s Guide
Project website and video
With the training material finished, RACE developed
an important document gathering different models of
good practice for the effective integration of people with
disabilities in the labour market.
In 2013, The Electronic employer’s guide for effective
integration of PWD will be launched as one of the main
products of RACE. This toolkit is designed to help the
business community improve the integration of people with
disabilities by highlighting the benefits of creating such an
inclusive workplace.
Corporate roundtables
All the materials developed during the lifetime of project are regularly updated
on the RACE website http://www.employdisable.eu
A video containing a success story of an inclusive work environment and
comments from experts will soon be developed.
Final event in Turkey
The final conference will be take place in Istanbul at the end of September
2013. The conference will be organized with support of ILO and the Ministry
of Employment and Social Affairs in Turkey and will focus on the employment
of people with disabilities.
The topics of discussion will include the following:
These events will take place in each partner country in spring
2013.
The UN Convention on Rights of People with Disabilities Art. 27 on Employment;
The purpose of these events is to involve the corporate sector and public
sector in order to exchange expertise, share practical solutions, learn
about obstacles and fears of employers, and present the projects activities
and results.
The final results of the project;
Models of employment and good practices;
Methods of generating further awareness on the topic of employment of
people with disabilities;
Advancing the policy debate;
Gathering support from public and semi-public institutions;
Involvement of employers.
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This project has been funded with support from the European Commission.
This publication reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held
responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.
MERIG
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Multidisciplinary European
Research Institute Graz
CRM Consulting (Project Coordinator)
Contact: Kamile Canbay
[email protected]
www.crmconsulting.net
European Association of Service Providers for
Persons with Disabilities (EASPD)
Contact: Sonia Staskowiak
[email protected]
www.easpd.eu
Dolunay Yetişkin Engelliler Derneği
Contact: Mesut Günebakanlı
[email protected]
www.dolunay.org.tr
FONDAZIONE ASPHI ONLUS
Avviamento e Sviluppo di Progetti per ridurre l’Handicap
mediante l’Informatica
Contact: Renato Dicati
[email protected]
www.asphi.it/index.htm
Adecco groupe France
Contact: Bruce Roch
[email protected]
www.groupe-adecco-france.fr
MERIG Multidisziplinäres Institut für EuropaForschung Graz
Contact: Johann Laister
[email protected]
www.merig.org
www.employdisable.eu
This publication has been printed on 100% recycled paper stock using bio vegetable based inks. Design: www.beelzepub.com
PARTNERS INVOLVED IN THE PROJECT