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There are 4 million disabled persons in Spain, which means that 9% of the Spanish population has some sort of disability.  The inclusion of this group on the job market is not only a statutory obligation, but can also become an opportunity for companies.

Against this backdrop, Garrigues, Fundación ONCE, ILUNION and Fundación SERES have created the Reserved Jobs Quota and Alternative Measures Guide, with a view to providing a tool to aid companies in stimulating the hiring of disabled persons. In order to do this, the Guide covers aspects of the General Disability Law which, among other obligations, provides that all Spanish public and private companies with more than 50 employees must meet a 2% quota of jobs reserved for disabled employees. The document combines theory and practice so as to serve as a guide for human resources departments when hiring.

The Reserved Jobs Quota and Alternative Measures Guide was presented this Thursday at the corporate headquarters of Garrigues in Madrid in a ceremony held by the main parties involved in its creation. 

Rosa Zarza, partner in charge of the Garrigues Labor and Employment Law Department, was in charge of inaugurating the presentation, and expressed her appreciation for the support of all the entities that had worked together on the document’s development.

The Subdirector of Fundación SERES, Lucila García, explained in her talk that the Fundación SERES “encourages the idea that companies with a social commitment are essential to achieving a healthy society ".

In turn, Fernando Riaño, director of RSC, Comunicación y Relaciones Institucionales de ILUNION, alluded to the importance of the responsibility of all companies in disability-related matters, given that “social responsibility is a trend that has come to stay and is now on the corporate agenda”.  In fact, in his opinion, although “it is important to note that the employment figures of this group are alarming, it is also necessary to work on this in compliance with the General Disability Law”.

From Garrigues, Gregorio Nevado, partner in the Labor and Employment Law Department, explained different aspects of the Guide, highlighting the practical side of the application of the reserved jobs quota and the alternative measures.

Javier Cerrolaza, main territorial director of the Madrid Provincial Labor and Social Security Inspection Authorities, under the Ministry of Labor and Social Security, affirmed that “labor inspection is dedicated to ensuring compliance with the reserved jobs quota, with a view to taking corrective action in cases of breach ".

Lastly, Jesús Celada, the Subdirector-General of Civil Dialogue of the Directorate-General of Policies to Support the Disabled, under the Secretariat of State for Social Services and Equality, took the floor to acknowledge that “progress has been made on the disability paradigm, given that previously only job assistance was advocated, but for several year now the focus has also been on training and jobs”.  He also reported that “there was a 64% increase in the hiring of disabled persons during the crisis”, and encouraged “the search for new job niches in order to take advantage of technologies and the environment ".