Disability Matters International Award for Serbian pioneer in integrating disabled employees

When the ‘Law on Employment and Vocational Rehabilitation of Persons with Disability’ was adopted in Serbia in June 2012, the challenge of empowering disabled persons in the working field had not been a new topic for Delta Holding, a commercial conglomerate engaged in agriculture, food production and real estate. The Serbian company, founded in 1991 and emerging as one of the national market leaders, received this year’s ‘Disability Matters International Award’ for their successful achievements in the field of vocational rehabilitation of persons with disabilities. Delta has been a pioneer in sustaining the position of employees with a disability, offering them positions in all branches of the operative business and installing their ‘Employment, Labour and Social Inclusion of persons with disability’ project in 2008 – several years before the adoption of the rehabilitation law.

Delta aims to get persons with disability out of marginalisation and give them a real chance in becoming a professionally and socially integrated member of staff. Delta’s project is backed by strong support from several network organizations of persons with disability as well as media and non-governmental partners. As part of their program, Delta also focuses on their personnel without disabilities and helps them in working with disabled persons by providing information about and insight into different forms of disabilities. Another core instrument includes comprehensive emplacement activities in order to offer newly employed persons with disability a smooth start into their new everyday working life.

Another aim of the program is intended for workforce that is deemed ‘unemployable’ because of developmental disorders. Delta aims to offer those persons a first look at different job profiles and leaves space and time to head towards independence in their new working fields, which should culminate in a proper integration into the broader social and working environment.