PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES IN THE LABOUR MARKET OF THE CITY OF SPLIT: REALITY AND PERSPECTIVES

Unemployment of persons with disabilities is a widely recognised problem, also present in the Republic of Croatia. Therefore, it is important to make efforts to improve the position of persons who are particularly "sensitive" and "vulnerable" in the labour market, which is certainly the case for persons with disabilities. Their employment is influenced by a number of factors, such as the potential of a country's economy, aggravating factors such as prejudice, spatial and psychological barriers, etc. As compared to the rest of the population, there are differences with respect to persons with disabilities, not only in employment but also in personal income and other activities. Despite the stimulating measures, in the Republic of Croatia it is difficult to recruit persons with disabilities who often fall under the burden of family and social welfare. Such persons are last to get a job and first to lose it. For this reason, vocational training and employment of disabled persons is a basic measure of their protection. In this paper, an overview of the research results on the employment of persons with disabilities in the city of Split, conducted in August 2016, is presented. The research deals with the implementation of the Act on Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment of Persons with Disabilities. To this end, opinions and attitudes of persons with disabilities have been explored regarding their employment problems and shortcomings of the aforementioned Act. A survey was used as a research method. The research sample included an age group of 20 to 61, planned in accordance with the Report of the Croatian Institute of Public Health (2015). A sample of 49 respondents was realised in cooperation with NGOs dealing with persons with disabilities in the City of Split. According to the research results, most respondents believe that employers are not familiar with the difficulties that persons with disabilities face. The most common problems with their employment are the lack of employers' understanding, stereotypes about work efficiency, architectural barriers, few jobs available, and a lack of qualifications.