In order people with disabilities could realize their right to labour In Poland there is a special profession – labour trainer. You shouldn’t think that this is an assistant. As a rule an assistant helps a person with disability not in his working place, for example helps to get home from work. Labour trainer accompanies, gives advices and guides in professional activity. He eases work of a person with disability: gives advices in a profession taking into account peculiarities of every concrete person, helps to organize a working place or even to find a job – to pick a good job advertisement, to prepare resume or to wear proper clothes for job interview. Labour trainer becomes a kind of a “life-saver” but he never does a job instead of his “colleague” but just directs him.
It is notable that this professional also communicates with an employer explaining the peculiarities of work with an employee with a definite type of disability. For example, he can explain why an employee with “peculiarities” needs to be given longer break for rest. He also tells how to provide a supportive atmosphere among the staff.
- In spite of the fact that labour coach is always a person with higher education he teaches how to be a janitor. This person has always to be ready to work not in accordance with his major qualification” – a representative of Helsinki foundation on human rights Janina Klosowska explains the specifics of the profession. – In his work he uses the principle of continuous support: if his support is needed he works, if a person in his care does well in this case he stops assisting.
Before a labour trainer starts to work with a person he does a lot of preparatory work analyzing the situation at local labour market. Then he talks with family members of a potential employee. Using the received information he defines professional profile and creates individual program of actions. Then he is looking for a good vacancy, helps to write a resume, sends it and keeps in touch with an employer.
One of the goals of a trainer is to persuade an employer to hire a person with disability. By the way in Poland an employer is not paying some taxes if every 26th employee is a person with disabilities. But this fact, as a rule, is not used while persuading an employer as the main argument.
If a person is hired a trainer for the first couple of months teaches him how to work properly, adjusts his working place, helps the co-workers to understand the new employee. In some time the client doesn’t need a lot of trainer’s attention and he little by little steps away – from couple of hours a day to once a week. If an employee has some difficulties a trainer becomes more active. Any simple thing can become a difficulty for a person with disability, for example, a change in his working place.
People with some mental limitations, who are capable of doing simple single-type job, are mostly involved in such practice. For example, they can make copies in copy centers, put stamps to envelopes, pack goods etc. Sometimes they can do more complicated job, for example, in laundry. In this case the work that should be done is divided to several parts: one worker sorts the linen by colors, the second – prepares detergent and the third – runs the washing machine. Approximately the same scheme works at enterprises making food.
Specialists underline that such practice with labour trainers is not of a system character in Poland it exists in separate regions and is supported only by initiatives of NGOs which work in the sphere of disability. But it gives a possibility to a number of people with disabilities to realize their right to labour, to be needed by the society and to start earning by themselves.
