Isabelle Mousset, Ministry of Labour; Minister Georges Mischo; Mireille Zanardelli, IGSS; Virginie Raymond, Ministry of Labour; Credit: MT

On Monday 17 June 2024, Luxembourg's Minister of Labour, Georges Mischo, held a press conference at which he addressed handicapped/disability wages in Luxembourg.

According to the ministry, handicap/disability is an essential subject and is included on the government’s political agenda. The problem of disability is vast and affects a large and heterogeneous population, particularly because of the nature and gravity of disability.

In March 2024, the Luxembourg state established that nearly one in seven people would be in a situation of disability in Luxembourg, equivalent to around 94,000 people. The needs which people with disabilities face are very different and require cross-governmental action involving several ministries. For its part, the Ministry of Labour is responsible for disability as long as it remains compatible with an insertion and maintenance on the labour market.

It is in this context that, since 2003, a person with a disability can request recognition of the disabled wage status. Beneficiaries of this status are persons who present a reduction in their work capacity of at least 30%. The state can help them gain access and remain at work. For some, the Ministry finances and supports sheltered workshops.

The Ministry has launched an ambitious work programme aimed at better understanding the disabled wage population. The questions that should be addressed are: What are they? Who are they? What are your chances of staying on the job market? Do measures to adapt to your working conditions help improve your professional situation? Are they just about to face situations that aggravate their disability such as disability or income for severely handicapped adults?

This work programme will give rise to several publications addressing the various issues raised above. The results obtained make it possible to develop a table on the handicapped wages. This board offers the Ministry a high-performance monitoring tool that makes it possible to monitor the effects of measurements that could be taken to improve the situation of handicapped workers.