They neither employ nor pay for people with disabilities

By law in Kosovo, the public and private sectors are obliged to employ one person with disabilities for every 50 employees.

Based on this, it falls to the fact that public institutions should have employed over 1,600 people with special needs.

Metije Krasniqi, from the town of Fushë Kosovë / Kosovo Polje, was born with a defect in his right hand, but says that this does not prevent him from doing certain jobs.

Speaking to Radio Free Europe, she says that she has graduated from the general gymnasium and that, for years, she has been applying for various administrative positions in public institutions, but, so far, without success.

“For a long time I was ready to work, sometimes I got tired, I gave up, I said: I do not apply anymore… But, I came back again [e kam aplikuar]”I have to secure a job because I need it,” said the 45-year-old mother of three.

In 2017, she says, she applied for a competition of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Kosovo, respectively in the position of “administrative assistant” at the Center for Vehicle Registration in Drenas.

Metija was not accepted and says that the complaint he made was rejected.

Radio Free Europe has contacted the Ministry of Interior for its case, but has not received a response.

“Year of Persons with Disabilities”

With a decision of the Government of Kosovo, the year 2022 has been declared “Year of Persons with Disabilities”.

Based on this decision, the institutions are obliged to complete the employment quota during 2022 based on the Law on Training, Rehabilitation and Employment of Persons with Disabilities. The Labor Inspectorate, on the other hand, is obliged to inspect the implementation of this law.

The Office of the Prime Minister of Kosovo has not responded to the REL question whether or not it meets the employment quota for persons with disabilities.

The Office of the President of Kosovo did not respond either.

The Assembly of Kosovo, meanwhile, says that among the 182 civil servants, six are people with disabilities. This shows that this institution has exceeded the employment quota of this category.

REL has sent questions about the number of employees with disabilities to the addresses of the ministries, but only some of them have responded.

The Ministry of Industry, Entrepreneurship and Trade does not employ any person with disabilities. This institution has 225 employees on the payroll.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Diaspora says it employs two people with disabilities. The total number of employees in this ministry, including those serving in Kosovo’s diplomatic and consular missions, is 330.

Within the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Rural Development is currently employed a person with disabilities, while the total number of employees is 154.

The Ministry of Justice also employs one person with disabilities – out of 107 civil servants.

The Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports, meanwhile, employs five people with disabilities out of a total of 546 employees.

Other ministries have not responded.

Institutions do not pay their obligations

Problems, however, do not seem to exist only with employment. Public institutions do not even pay the material obligations they have to people with disabilities.

According to the Law on Training, Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment of Persons with Disabilities, in case the employer does not fulfill the obligations for employment of this category, he must divide in a separate account the monthly payments – with the value of the minimum wage – for any person with a disability who should be employed.

This money, then, would be used for various projects, in order to prepare people with disabilities for the labor market.

The value of minimum wage in Kosovo is currently 130-170 euros.

The Labor Inspectorate tells Radio Free Europe that, so far, no public institution has made payments for “technical reasons”, but does not specify more.

If these obligations are not fulfilled, the law requires the employer to be fined from 500 to 2,000 euros.

For this issue, REL has contacted the Ministry of Finance, Labor and Transfers of Kosovo, which covers the payments of persons with disabilities, but has not received any response.

Maliqi: If there is no punishment, awareness does not increase

Afrim Maliqi, head of the organization “Handikos-Kosova”, which deals with the rights of people with disabilities, calls for more responsibility.

“Until punishment occurs, awareness will never be raised. At the moment when a law is not implemented and state institutions are obliged to implement it, then it is a violation of human rights, not just discrimination, it is something much bigger “, says Maliqi.

According to him, state institutions should be an example for the employment of people with disabilities, as, as he says, this category provides sufficient professional staff.

“There are unemployed people from this category with university degrees, with primary and secondary school diplomas. There are many lawyers, economists with university degrees. “But it does not mean that everyone should have a university degree.… Others can also complete other jobs in the administration”, says Maliqi for Radio Free Europe.

Metija, who receives a disability pension of 100 euros a month, says she still hopes to find work.

“In my category there are many people with disabilities who can work, but are not given the opportunity… They are not given the opportunity in job applications; how to see, to refuse immediately, not to call anymore. This is our biggest obstacle. “We also want to live life, we want to be independent”, says Metija.

According to data from the World Health Organization, people with disabilities make up about 15 percent of the world’s total population.

In Kosovo, according to the WHO, live more than 150 thousand people with disabilities.

The private sector in Kosovo is the largest employer – with more than 220,000 employees – but even there, the employment quota for people with disabilities is far from being met. Radio Free Europe

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