Did you know that one unfilled workplace for a person with a disability can cost an employer in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina 426.50 KM per month, or 5,118 KM per year?
For a company with 160 employees that does not meet the legal quota, that amount can exceed 51,000 KM per year. This is exactly why employing people with disabilities is a matter of social responsibility, but also a concrete business, financial and reputational decision.
In the Federation of BiH, employers who operate on the open labor market have a legal obligation to employ persons with disabilities in relation to the total number of employees. The law stipulates that the employer is obliged to employ at least one disabled person for every 16 employees. When this obligation is not fulfilled, the employer pays a special sum of money to the Fund for Professional Rehabilitation and Employment of Persons with Disabilities every month when paying salaries.
“We are telling employers that funds that today go to passive expense can be turned into a development resource, a new workplace and a stronger organizational culture. Employing people with disabilities is not only a legal obligation, but a business decision that brings value to both the employer and society,” said Ahmet Baljić, director of the Fund.
Legal obligation
According to the current model, an employer who does not employ the prescribed number of persons with disabilities pays 25 percent of the average salary in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina for each person he was obliged to employ. Observed through the latest publicly available data on the average net salary in FBiH, it is 426.50 KM per month per unfulfilled obligation. At the annual level, it amounts to 5,118 KM. In the case of larger systems, the amounts are significantly higher: a company with 100 employees that does not employ a single person with a disability can have a cost of more than 30,000 KM per year.
That is why the Fund’s message is aimed at changing the business logic. Instead of seeing the employment of people with disabilities as an administrative obligation, the Fund positions it as an opportunity for workforce development, strengthening socially responsible standards, improving the company’s image and actually involving people who can, want and know how to work.
“Prejudice is the most expensive cost an employer can have. When we look at a person with a disability through competencies, work habits and potential, and not through a stereotype, we gain an employee, the team gains new value, and the company gains stronger credibility,” explained Baljić.
Fund support as a concrete benefit for employers
By employing a person with a disability, the employer not only avoids the monthly cost of not fulfilling the quota, but can also achieve concrete forms of support. Through public calls, the Fund allocates monetary incentives for new employment and self-employment of persons with disabilities, which can amount from 15,000 KM to 32,400 KM per newly employed person, depending on employment conditions, percentage of disability and period of employment.
“The fund wants to be a partner to employers who want to take a step forward. Our role is to show that inclusive employment is not a burden, but a sustainable model that connects legal obligation, financial support and real social benefit,” said Baljić.
In the end, the choice is such that the employer can pay every month for not opening the door to a person with disabilities, or turn that same challenge into a new opportunity for a person who wants to work, for a team that can get a valuable member and for a company that wants to do business responsibly. That is why it is important that employers check their legal obligations, recognize workplaces that can be accessible to people with disabilities and take advantage of the Fund’s support, because each new workplace means a step closer to the labor market where people are valued for their knowledge, effort and potential.
