Health. Disability: 20 years after the law, there has been some improvement, but there is still a long way to go.

What does the law of February 11, 2005 say?

Concretely, this founding law introduces for the first time a legal definition of disability: " A disability is any limitation of activity or restriction of participation in life in society suffered in their environment by a person due to a substantial, lasting or permanent alteration of one or more physical, sensory, mental, cognitive or psychological functions, a multiple disability or disabling health disorder ."

It also establishes a principle of equal treatment in all areas: access to rights, education, employment , social life, training, transport, housing, culture.

It also provides for the creation of the Fund for the Integration of Disabled People into the Civil Service (FIPHFP), as well as the establishment of Departmental Houses for Disabled People (MDPH), a one-stop shop designed to simplify procedures and centralize access to rights and benefits.

And 20 years later…

The Association for the Management of the Fund for the Professional Integration of People with Disabilities (Agefiph) and the FIPHFP have just published their Employment and Disability Observatory, which provides an assessment of the 20th anniversary of this law. Here are the key figures:

– the number of people recognized as disabled has increased considerably, from 1.3 million to more than 3 million (the 2005 law and those that followed have thus enabled better recognition of people with disabilities, for whom disability was previously not recognized).

– the number of people in employment has also more than doubled, reaching 1.2 million;

– in almost twenty years, the number of workers with disabilities has increased significantly among employers subject to the employment obligation:

· in the civil service, the number of agents concerned increased from 164,000 to 270,000;

· in the private sector, the number of employees with disabilities increased from 252,000 to 674,000.

– the unemployment rate of people with disabilities fell from 17% to 12%, still higher than the overall unemployment rate (7%);

– in 2023, 4.3% of people in employment are recognized as disabled, compared to only 2.1% in 2002;

– the increase in the number and proportion of beneficiaries of the employment obligation (BOE) among employed people has been accompanied by a change in the profile of disabled people: a more feminine, older and better educated public.

For Françoise Descamps Crosnier, President of the FIPHFP National Committee: " The civil service is experiencing positive and encouraging momentum. The employment rate of workers with disabilities currently stands at 5.93%. But behind this figure lies a great deal of heterogeneity between sectors, and even within each of them. We therefore still have a long way to go to make disability a fully integrated subject, both in practice and in people's minds ."

The law exists but discrimination persists

Disability remains, year after year, the leading reason for discrimination reported to the Defender of Rights. And it is employment that accounts for the majority of complaints. " In 8 out of 10 cases, it is a career blockage or a risk of job loss," explains Claire Hédon, Defender of Rights. Behind these figures, a clear observation: employers are not respecting the obligation to provide reasonable accommodation*, even though it is enshrined in the law of February 11, 2005. "

* This involves changing certain rules, practices or environments to enable a person with a disability to work under fair conditions.