The State Employment Agency will launch a new support measure "Work Trials," that will provide unemployed persons with disabilities with an opportunity to determine how their knowledge, skills, and health condition are aligned with working in a profession of their choice for an employer, without establishing an employment relationship, however receiving a stipend during the participation. Participation in work trials will provide the person with disabilities with an opportunity to gain practical work experience and to get familiar with the work environment in real conditions under the guidance of a work supervisor. Meanwhile, by testing the abilities and suitability of a potential employee for a vacant position, in the case of a successful work trial, the employer can offer permanent employment with thus signing of an employment contract.
Such support measures are provided by the amendments to the Cabinet of Ministers regulations "Regulations on the organization and financing procedures of active employment measures and preventive unemployment reduction measures and the principles for selecting measure implementers," which were adopted at the Government meeting on January 27.
The amendments also aim to expand the training offer available to employed persons at risk of unemployment, providing an opportunity to involve employed persons in professional continuing education programmes, which were previously not available to the employed clients of the State Employment Agency. This will provide preventive support, also for target groups affected by the retirement pension reform, who will need retraining.
In order to promote employment opportunities for people with disabilities, it is planned to expand the range of implementers of the subsidized employment measure by including educational institutions. Previously it was not possible to create subsidized jobs in these institutions, but this could also be an additional opportunity to gain work experience, even if temporarily.