The ILO's global report with 30 good practices for the employment of people with disabilities includes three Spanish companies
On the occasion of the International Day of Persons with Disabilities on 3 December 2023, a new publication of the ILO Global Business and Disability Network has been launched, bringing together experiences and practical examples from 30 leading multinational companies and aiming to help companies achieve business success and tap into an underexploited talent pool by creating more disability-friendly conditions for people with disabilities.
12 December 2023
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There are an estimated 1.3 billion people with disabilities in the world, i.e. one in six. On average, people with disabilities are twice as likely to be unemployed compared to the rest of the population.
The new handbook presents a good practice used by each company, with the intention of inspiring and encouraging other companies to improve the inclusion of persons with disabilities in their workforces in the area of fully accessible recruitment processes, appropriate training, awareness-raising, accessible physical and digital infrastructure and reasonable accommodation in the workplace. All the companies included in the guide are members of the ILO's Global Business and Disability Network, which works to help companies achieve business success while creating equal opportunities and a disability-friendly culture.
In the case of Spanish multinational companies, Inditex, a multinational textile company, when it joined the ILO Global Business and Disability Network in early 2023, announced a commitment to increase the number of employees with disabilities worldwide, with the aim of doubling the number in shops, logistics platforms, warehouses and offices within two years. Inditex also has several partnerships and programmes to provide opportunities for people with disabilities. For example, the INCLUYE Programme, the objective of which is to hire them in its logistics team. In Spain, this programme collaborates with Plena Inclusión, a federation of entities that work for the inclusion of people with intellectual disabilities.
The company has also committed to take concrete measures to ensure the inclusion of people with disabilities in its workplaces and to make its working environment accessible to all.
A second Spanish multinational insurance company of note was MAPFRE, which designed its own methodology to measure the perceived impact of the inclusion of people with disabilities in the company. This measurement is done through a survey addressed to employees with disabilities where five dimensions are analysed: interpersonal and social relationships, material well-being, physical well-being, emotional well-being and professional development, resulting in a homogeneous impact indicator that can be calculated for each country and as a whole.
Where the score given in the survey is less than 6/10, an open response field is provided for participants to indicate why they did not give a higher score, and they are allowed to provide suggestions on what MAPFRE could do to improve that particular aspect of their well-being or professional development.
Finally, the ILO publication also highlights the practices of Spanish multinational energy company Repsol. For the development and implementation of Repsol's strategy, the company relies on partnerships with organisations such as Fundación ONCE, Fundación Down España and Fundación Universia. In close collaboration with Fundación Down España, Repsol created a specific project for the inclusion of people with intellectual disabilities, which seeks to guarantee the adequacy of job responsibilities and the skills and abilities of employees.
To achieve this, the first step is to carry out a job analysis that helps to identify all the duties and responsibilities of the job, as well as the competences required. The company's collaboration with experts in the field of people with intellectual disabilities moves on to the job matching phase. The aim is to achieve the best possible match between job and candidate and to enable candidates with intellectual disabilities to participate in the selection process on equal terms. Once the recruitment process is completed, it is important to train management and staff on the most relevant aspects of working with people with intellectual disabilities, ultimately promoting a more inclusive workplace.
The workers with intellectual disabilities have individualised support in the workplace to help them adapt to the job and learn the tasks and responsibilities required by the job. Once the adaptation phase is finished, a follow-up plan is established through which the job coach will keep in contact with the company, the worker and his/her family.
The new handbook presents a good practice used by each company, with the intention of inspiring and encouraging other companies to improve the inclusion of persons with disabilities in their workforces in the area of fully accessible recruitment processes, appropriate training, awareness-raising, accessible physical and digital infrastructure and reasonable accommodation in the workplace. All the companies included in the guide are members of the ILO's Global Business and Disability Network, which works to help companies achieve business success while creating equal opportunities and a disability-friendly culture.
In the case of Spanish multinational companies, Inditex, a multinational textile company, when it joined the ILO Global Business and Disability Network in early 2023, announced a commitment to increase the number of employees with disabilities worldwide, with the aim of doubling the number in shops, logistics platforms, warehouses and offices within two years. Inditex also has several partnerships and programmes to provide opportunities for people with disabilities. For example, the INCLUYE Programme, the objective of which is to hire them in its logistics team. In Spain, this programme collaborates with Plena Inclusión, a federation of entities that work for the inclusion of people with intellectual disabilities.
The company has also committed to take concrete measures to ensure the inclusion of people with disabilities in its workplaces and to make its working environment accessible to all.
A second Spanish multinational insurance company of note was MAPFRE, which designed its own methodology to measure the perceived impact of the inclusion of people with disabilities in the company. This measurement is done through a survey addressed to employees with disabilities where five dimensions are analysed: interpersonal and social relationships, material well-being, physical well-being, emotional well-being and professional development, resulting in a homogeneous impact indicator that can be calculated for each country and as a whole.
Where the score given in the survey is less than 6/10, an open response field is provided for participants to indicate why they did not give a higher score, and they are allowed to provide suggestions on what MAPFRE could do to improve that particular aspect of their well-being or professional development.
Finally, the ILO publication also highlights the practices of Spanish multinational energy company Repsol. For the development and implementation of Repsol's strategy, the company relies on partnerships with organisations such as Fundación ONCE, Fundación Down España and Fundación Universia. In close collaboration with Fundación Down España, Repsol created a specific project for the inclusion of people with intellectual disabilities, which seeks to guarantee the adequacy of job responsibilities and the skills and abilities of employees.
To achieve this, the first step is to carry out a job analysis that helps to identify all the duties and responsibilities of the job, as well as the competences required. The company's collaboration with experts in the field of people with intellectual disabilities moves on to the job matching phase. The aim is to achieve the best possible match between job and candidate and to enable candidates with intellectual disabilities to participate in the selection process on equal terms. Once the recruitment process is completed, it is important to train management and staff on the most relevant aspects of working with people with intellectual disabilities, ultimately promoting a more inclusive workplace.
The workers with intellectual disabilities have individualised support in the workplace to help them adapt to the job and learn the tasks and responsibilities required by the job. Once the adaptation phase is finished, a follow-up plan is established through which the job coach will keep in contact with the company, the worker and his/her family.