On November 23 2011 the Cabinet of Ministers approved Resolution 1234, which amends the state system for supporting the creation of special working places for disabled workers. The resolution came into force on December 9 2011.
Under the new procedure, subsidy funds can be submitted not only for the adaptation of existing working places, but also to create new special working places for people with disabilities. Working places created through subsidies will not be taken into account in the calculation of normative standards of workplaces for disability employment until the agreement has been executed and the subsidy has been paid.
Employers are ineligible for subsidies if they have received a financial penalty within the preceding three months in connection with arrears of taxes and duties or a single contribution falling due, or for failure to comply with labour legislation or normative standards of workplaces for people with disabilities. In addition, no subsidies are payable to employers that have reduced the number of employees with disabilities by more than 10% over the previous year.
According to the new wording of the procedure, the mechanism for reviewing documents for subsidies has been simplified. Rather than being filed with the employment centre, documents must be filed with a local office of the Fund for Social Protection of Disabled Persons. The list of documents has been significantly revised and applications for subsidies will now be processed more quickly. Among other things, an agreement must stipulate:
- a period of no less than 90 calendar days for commissioning a special role for a person with a disability; and
- a procedure for returning subsidies in the event of termination of the employment contract or misuse of the subsidy.
The procedure also includes new stipulations on the process and time limit for the return of subsidies in the event of early termination of an agreement, an employee ceasing to hold disabled status or the employment of a disabled person in place of one who has been dismissed.
The maximum subsidy that may be granted for creating a working place for a disabled worker has been increased to 100 times the minimum wage.
For further information on this topic please contact Pavlo Khodakovsky at Arzinger by telephone (+380 44 390 5533), fax (+380 44 390 5540) or email ([email protected]).