OD FLASH | Reminder of the obligation to employ disabled workers (OETH)

In the context of the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games, we are devoting this first back-to-school OD Flash to companies’ obligations to employ disabled workers. These obligations have been radically reformed by the law of 5 September 2018 on the freedom to choose one’s professional future, which will come into force on 1 January 2020.

Ø Which companies are affected?

As of 1 January 2020, all companies, regardless of their size, must declare via the DSN the total number of beneficiaries of the obligation to employ disabled workers (BoeTH) that they employ.

In addition, all companies with at least 20 employees (including EPICs) must employ 6% of their total workforce with a disability or equivalent. From 1 January 2020, for multi-establishment companies, the employment obligation will apply at company level rather than at establishment level.

Newly created companies or those with 20 employees will have 5 years before they are subject to this obligation.

Ø Implementation of the employment obligation

From 1 January 2020, the OETH can only be met by implementing three measures (compared to 5 previously):

– the direct employment of disabled people at a rate of 6% of the total workforce;

– the application of approved agreements in favour of disabled workers;

– the payment of the Agefiph contribution (now collected by URSSAF).

Direct employment of disabled people covers all forms of employment (permanent contracts, fixed-term contracts, apprenticeships, temporary work, work placements, work experience).

In order for an agreement to be approved, a multi-annual programme must be drawn up, including a recruitment plan and a plan for retaining disabled people in the company.

If an employer does not fulfil the obligation to directly employ disabled workers (BoeTH), he must pay a contribution to Agefiph.

The contribution is equal to the number of missing disabled workers multiplied by :

– 400 times the gross hourly minimum wage for companies with between 20 and 250 employees;

– 500 times the gross hourly minimum wage for companies with between 250 and 750 employees;

– 600 times the gross hourly wage for companies with 750 or more employees.

The amount of the contribution is 1,500 times the gross hourly minimum wage for any company, regardless of its size, that does not employ disabled workers or does not conclude contracts with companies employing disabled workers worth at least 600 times the gross hourly minimum wage or does not apply an approved agreement for at least 3 years.

Employers can deduct certain expenses from their annual contribution. These expenses fall into six different categories:

– Three deductible expenses are ‘permanent’ and relate to :

1.     Diagnostics and work to make the company premises accessible to people subject to the employment obligation; 

2.     Keeping people in employment within the company and retraining people subject to the employment obligation, using human, technical or organisational resources to compensate for the disability, excluding expenditure already covered or covered by financial assistance from other bodies;

3.     Support services for persons subject to the employment obligation, awareness-raising initiatives and training of employees carried out by other bodies on behalf of the company in order to help persons subject to the employment obligation to take up and remain in employment.

– Three other deductible expenses are provisional until 31 December 2024:

4.     Participation in events promoting the reception, direct recruitment and continued employment of disabled workers within the company;

5.     Partnerships through membership or an agreement with associations or organisations working for the training, social and professional integration of disabled people whom the employer takes on or recruits, with the exception of actions financed through sponsorship;

Actions that contribute in particular to the professionalisation of EA, ESAT or TIH and to the development of purchases by these actors.