Workshops for people with disabilities; information

Workshops for people with disabilities are facilities for the participation of people with disabilities in working life.

Workshops for people with disabilities (WfbM) are intended to provide appropriate vocational training and employment in return for appropriate remuneration for people with disabilities who cannot, cannot yet or cannot again be employed on the general labor market due to the nature and severity of their disability. In addition, they should contribute to the maintenance, development or recovery of performance or earning capacity.

Regaining earning capacity means that people with disabilities can be reintegrated into the primary or secondary labor market in the long term. This is done in close cooperation between the WfbM and the integration offices or integration services or through vocational qualification measures.

The locally responsible expert committee decides on admission or support in a workshop for people with disabilities. This committee is made up of representatives of the respective workshop, a representative of the local employment office and a representative of the district. The responsible employment office is generally responsible for the initial consultation in the admission procedure, including the possible personal invitation to the expert committee.

A WfbM is mainly divided into the vocational training area and the work area. The length of stay in the vocational training area is up to two years. The facilities offer various work opportunities such as wood and metal processing or gardening. The necessary expenses in the vocational training area are mainly borne within the framework of the special statutory regulations:

• the local employment office (in accordance with Social Code III)
• the local pension insurance provider (in accordance with Social Code VI)
• the accident insurance institution (in accordance with Social Code VII)

After successful completion of the vocational training, the costs following the transfer to the work area of the workshop are mainly borne by the district as the supra-local social welfare provider in accordance with the provisions of the XIIth Social Welfare Code or the War Victims' Welfare.

Attendance at the workshop ends at the latest when the disabled person reaches the age of 65. As attendance at a workshop gives rise to compulsory membership of the statutory social insurance scheme, the disabled person acquires an entitlement to a standard old-age pension on reaching retirement age. Irrespective of this, the disabled person also acquires an entitlement to a pension due to full reduction in earning capacity after a waiting period of 20 years from the start of employment in the workshop. After the disabled person leaves the workshop for age-related reasons, there is the possibility of further, age-independent care and support within the framework of day-structuring measures.

In addition to the other provisions of social welfare law, a necessary prerequisite for the possibility of integration into a workshop is that at least a minimum level of economically viable work performance can be achieved at the latest after participation in the vocational training area. This is not the case for people with disabilities who are likely to be at considerable risk to themselves or others despite appropriate care for their disability, and for whom the extent of the care required or other circumstances do not allow a minimum level of economically viable work performance in the work area in the long term. For this group of people, there is the possibility of care and support in a support center.