LookAtVietnam – Only 11 of 63 cities and provinces have established an employment fund for the disabled, despite the regulation being enacted nationwide over a decade ago.

Le Hong Son of Huong Khe district in the central province of Ha Tinh is a disabled businessman who has become successful thanks to Government programmes.

The nation’s two biggest cities of Ha Noi and HCM City are among the localities that have failed to establish a fund.

“The main reason for the lack of action is a dearth of capital and human resources,” said Deputy Director of Ha Noi Department of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs Do Thi Xuan Phuong.

Under the decree, between 2 to 3 per cent of a company’s workforce must be disabled, but the number of businesses employing disabled workers remained limited, she said.

Those businesses that do not recruit disabled workers must pay a fine, with the money going towards an employment fund for disabled people; however, collection has proved limited due to a lack of disciplinary regulations to enforce the policy.

Ha Noi is researching the implementation of the policy with the intention of learning from other provinces and cities that have already introduced the fund, according to Phuong.

Meanwhile, those provinces that have already introduced the measures have found it difficult to keep the fund in operation.

Director of central Binh Dinh Province’s Department of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs Pham Van Thi said there were more than 3,500 companies operating in the province, but the majority of them were small and medium-sized businesses which meant it was hard to enforce the regulation.

“It is essential to have specific regulations to punish businesses that do not employ disabled workers, but fail to make contributions to the fund,” he said.

The lack of capital had made it hard to support local vocational training centres for disabled people as well as businesses that recruited disabled workers, he said.

“According to the regulation, the fund should support vocational training for 70 per cent of disabled learners, and businesses with more than 51 per cent of disabled workers. However, there are few vocational training centres and businesses meeting this requirement,” said Chief of the Secretariat of Quang Ninh Province’s Department of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs Ha Minh Tam.

Director of Ha Nam Province’s Department of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs Pham Van Luat said the province’s employment fund was set up last year but it was difficult to continue the fund as a result of the lack of capital.

“Part of the fund has been contributed to by local businesses who do not employ disabled workers, but many businesses have refused to contribute to the fund, and contributions from organisations or individuals are also limited,” Luat added.

Lack of regulations to fine provinces or cities that have failed to set up employment funds for disabled people and businesses that did not employ disabled workers were to blame, said head of the Mechanism and Policy Department of the Viet Nam General Confederation of Labour Nguyen Van Tu.

“Additionally, the number of labour inspectors and their lack of training make it hard to force businesses to recruit disabled workers or contribute to the employment fund for disabled people as regulated,” he added.

“A draft law on people with disabilities is being discussed before being approved by the National Assembly and I hope that policymakers will provide specific regulations to punish firms that ignore the fund, in order to ensure that Decree No 81 is implemented more effectively,” he said.

It was also essential to raise public awareness in order to create favourable conditions for disabled people’s integration into the society, particularly in encouraging businesses to employ disabled workers, he added.

According to the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs’ Labour and Employment Department, localities that have set up the fund include Bac Ninh, Hai Duong, Gia Lai, Dong Nai, Thai Nguyen, Quang Ninh, Ninh Binh, Ha Tinh, Da Nang, Binh Dinh and Ha Nam.

There are more than 5.4 million disabled people in Viet Nam, accounting for 6.34 per cent of the country’s total population, according to the ministry.

Of the total, 69 per cent are of working age but only 15 per cent have jobs.

VietNamNet/Viet Nam News