The aim of the study is to examine the possibilities and limits that the employees working in sheltered workshops perceive as they work with individual clients. Thus, in order to get a better understanding of which strategies are achieving the goal of insertion in the labor market. From a qualitative approach, the study was conducted through six interviews with representatives currently working in sheltered workshops in a community situated in the south of Sweden. The results of the study relates to the process known as ”role exit” theory of Ebaugh, new institutional theory of Johansson and Svensson, Johnsson and Laanemets. Further, accounts theory of Scott and Lyman and Knutagård were used to analyze our data. The study shows that the employees plays an important role in the process which individuals with disabilities go through in order to be established in the labor market. Additional, the study shows that there are limits related to both the capability of the individual and the lack of resources. In conclusion, the study shows that there are no explicit strategies to reach from the sheltered workshop to the labor market.

The diploma thesis on "Support of people with disabilities at work in the context of social work" deals with the social rehabilitation service with the supported employment method and focuses on the target group of people with disabilities. The goal is to find out how useful this service is for its users. The first part of the diploma thesis describes the general issue of people with disabilities, together with the characteristic of the service of supported employment. This part also deals with the historical development of the service, the legislative framework, the methods of working with the users and the role of the social worker in terms of the service of supported employment. Another part of the diploma thesis is focused on the practice in terms of providing this service. There is described the methodological part of the diploma thesis, which is elaborated by qualitative research in the form of structured interviews and is illustrated by case studies. From the point of view of the realization of qualitative research, the assumption of great benefit for persons with disabilities using the services of supported employment was confirmed, which is also indicative of the good quality of this service.

The objective of the paper was to monitor and to evaluate the project of a civic association MESADA, which is one of the possibilities of how to reduce the unemployment rate and it deals with the issue of employing persons who have been unemployed for a long time. These people are mostly low educated, health handicapped, to old or to young without experience or members of ethnic minority. The aim of project is to provide these individuals with better work opportunities and to improve their social status because they are more likely to become socially deprived. Research was carried out in a civic association MESADA. Data for the paper were obtained by the interview method and by the document analysis.

Mentally retarded children, teenagers and adults form a specific, one of the most numerous, group among handicapped people. Mental retardation is a mental impairment characterised by subaverage intelectual functioning, different development of psychic qualities and limitations in adaptive behaviour. It is usually caused by an organic brain damage. The retardation is not a disease, it´s a long-life handicap. The findings of the research has shown that persons with a mild mental retardation hardly ever find a job in the open labour market or in the sheltered workshops. However, the employers are not also concerned in providing these people with a job.

Syftet med aktuell studie är att belysa arbetsgivares erfarenheter av arbetsrehabiliteringsmetoden SE/ IPS för personer med psykisk funktionsnedsättning på den svenska konkurrensutsatta arbetsmarknaden. Lämplighetsurval praktiserades och utforskande kvalitativ ansats valdes utifrån studiens syfte, intervjuer genomfördes som datainsamlingsmetod och kvalitativ innehållsanalys tillämpades. Analysen av intervjutexterna utmynnade i ett övergripande tema och fyra kategorier. Det övergripande temat ”arbetsgivarnas engagemang för att inkludera kontra produktionskrav och resurser” visar på en spänning mellan arbetsgivarnas starka drivkraft att inkludera personen i samhället utifrån personens vilja till arbete och svårigheten att finna meningsfulla arbetsuppgifter vars krav svarar mot personens arbetsförmåga. De fyra kategorierna är: ”Skapar egna förutsättningar för arbete trots utmaningar”, ”oklara yttre förutsättningar äventyrar arbetsrehabilitering”, ”ständigt drivande och samordnande vägledare” och ”arbetslivet som en del av vardagen”. Slutsats: Arbetsgivarna har tydliga ambitioner att utgöra en utgöra en stödjande omgivningsfaktor enligt PEO-modellen. Resultatet presenterar arbetsgivarnas behov för att kunna leva upp till sina ambitioner. Det kvalificerade stöd i form av information och vägledning som arbetsgivarna efterfrågar motsvaras av PEO-matchning, en teoretisk modell tillämpad inom arbetsterapi. / The purpose of current study is to highlight employers' experiences of the SE/IPS vocational rehabilitation method for people with mental disabilities in the Swedish competitive labor market. Purposeful sampling was practiced and an exploratory qualitative approach was chosen based on the purpose of the study, interviews were conducted as a data collection method and qualitative content analysis was applied. The analysis of the interviews resulted in an overall theme and four categories. The overall theme "employers 'commitment to include versus production requirements and resources", shows a tension between employers' strong ambition to include the person in society based on the person's willingness to work, and the difficulty in finding meaningful tasks whose demands correspond to the person's work ability. The four categories are: “Creates their own conditions for work despite challenges”, “unclear external conditions jeopardize vocational rehabilitation”, “constantly driving and coordinating coach” and “vocational life as part of everyday life”.                Conclusion: Employers have clear ambitions to constitute a supportive environmental factor according to the PEO-model. The result presents employers' needs to meet their ambitions. The qualified support in terms of information and guidance requested by employers correspond to PEO-matching, a theoretical model applied in occupational therapy.

The thesis is focused on employment of people with special needs as part of Diversity management. The thesis includes the analysis of current situation in IBM focused on Diversity management using special Checklist for diversity. Objective of the thesis is then to identify opportunities for optimization of the processes with focus on employment of people with disabilities. For more effective recruitment process, thesis includes also analysis of agencies of supported employment and the services provided. The practical part is supplemented by mapping of possibilities for getting financial support for employment of people with disabilities. For both analyses, semi structured interviews were used. Together with the basic principles for communication with people with special needs described in theoretical part, the thesis may serve as a manual for employment of those people not only for IBM.

Diploma thesis "Supported employment as a option of solution of handicapped people participation at the labour market " attend to supported employment. It is the service, which provide assistance for handicapped people in participation at the open labour market among people without disability. Such employment, in contrast to sheltered employment, offer a possibility to do a meaningful work, space for self-fulfillment, salary and prevent handicapped people from social exclusion. Supported employment provides benefits for disabled people, for their families and also for employers. In the Czech republic is supported employment quite a new service, which is related to some problems. For example financing and absence of skilled workers at agencies for supported employment. Solving problems of the Czech concept of supported employment can be found in systems of supported employment in some developed European country, where is supported employment quite wide-spread, such as Norway. Future trend is oriented to extension of this service and then it will be more available for all of expectants. The main goal is also in increase of meaning about supported employment in society and establishes supported employment as a part of Czech legislation.

Diploma thesis "Marketing focused on employers by supported employment agencies" deals with marketing environment and tools, which are used by agencies in their effort to place disabled people in the open labour market. The first task is description and comparsion of marketing environment and tools. The next objective is to realese recommendations to this area. The theoretical part is focused on: the employers, long-term unemployment of disabled people, principals of supported employment service and marketing theories of nonprofit organizations. In my qualitative research I used following technics: interviews, analysis of documents and comparison. First: I compared two agencies from Rumburk and Liberec. Second: I compared three agencies from Prague. In the last part of my thesis I listed the same and the different components of the five agencies. Conclusions, recommendations and discussion are based on achieved surveys. Keywords: supported employment agencies, marketing of nonprofit organizations, marketing environment, marketing tools, employers.

This thesis' aim is to describe and assess employment opportunities of people with a criminal record. The theoretical part deals with the phenomenon of unemployment in general. The social and psychological aspects of the unemployment are described, as well as the possible impact of unemployment on society. Individual tools of social politics, which may be used to deal with unemployment, are discussed. The next part focuses on legislative features of the institution of Criminal record and on legislation that regulates the relationships between employers and employees. The practical part contains an analysis of job advertisements offering positions suitable for people with a criminal record. In the next chapter my aim was to analyse the situation of people released from prison; and to present opportunities for their support. The work of probation officers from municipal offices is described in detail. The thesis contains three case studies of people with a criminal record looking for a job. In the last chapter, organizations providing help and support for people with a criminal record during job searching are presented. Next chapter focuses on the international experiences with employing people with a criminal record. Key words Criminal record Unemployment Unemployment benefit Social benefit...

Les personnes ayant un trouble du spectre de l’autisme (TSA) ont un taux d’emploi bien inférieur à celui de la population générale. Les difficultés éprouvées lors des interactions sociales sont l’un des facteurs principaux faisant obstacle à leur recherche d’emploi et à leur maintien en emploi. Pourtant, plusieurs personnes ayant un TSA possèdent des caractéristiques qui peuvent être valorisées sur le marché du travail. Notre étude évalue la mise en œuvre et les extrants d’un programme de soutien à l’emploi d’Action main-d’œuvre (AMO), un organisme communautaire situé à Montréal, conçu pour les personnes ayant un TSA sans déficience intellectuelle. Plus spécifiquement, nous nous sommes intéressée aux caractéristiques de leurs clients, aux services offerts, aux extrants du programme et à la satisfaction par rapport à leurs services. De plus, nous cherchions à comprendre comment se déroulait l’intégration des employés soutenus par AMO et quels facteurs influençaient le succès de cette intégration. Pour comprendre la mise en œuvre, les extrants et la satisfaction des clients d’AMO, nous avons commencé par recruter 37 participants recevant des services d’AMO. Ces participants ont rempli des questionnaires au début de leur accès aux services, ainsi qu’après 6 semaines en emploi ou après 6 à 9 mois de recherche d’emploi infructueuse. De plus, nous avons consulté leurs dossiers à AMO au cours des 12 mois suivant le début de leur participation à l’étude. Lorsqu’un participant ayant trouvé un emploi nous donnait l’autorisation de contacter son employeur, nous l’avons invité à remplir un questionnaire sur sa satisfaction quant aux services d’AMO et son appréciation quant à son employé. Onze employeurs ont accepté de participer à l’étude. Le premier article de cette thèse montre que les participants avaient des manifestations associées à l’autisme autant de niveau faible, que de niveau modéré ou grave. De plus, 38 % des participants avaient des capacités adaptatives sous la moyenne. Une grande proportion des participants (62 %) présentaient des niveaux élevés d’anxiété. Nos résultats indiquent que 62,1 % des participants ont obtenu un emploi rémunéré. Toutefois, seuls 59,2 % des participants ayant trouvé un emploi sont demeurés en emploi. Le temps de soutien consacré aux participants en emploi était très variable, soit de 0 à 21 contacts selon les dossiers des clients. Les conseillers devaient aussi à collaborer avec d’autres professionnels, comme les travailleurs sociaux ou des éducateurs spécialisés pour soutenir les besoins complexes des participants dans les autres sphères de leur vie. La satisfaction par rapport aux services d’AMO était élevée, autant chez les participants ayant un TSA que chez les employeurs. Pour comprendre le processus d’intégration en emploi d’une personne ayant un TSA dans une organisation et la contribution des facteurs organisationnels dans ce processus, nous avons rédigé neuf études de cas basées sur des entrevues auprès de 18 autres participants. Selon des critères permettant d’assurer la diversité des cas étudiés, nous avons d’abord recruté un échantillon de 4 gestionnaires en collaboration avec AMO. Par la suite, nous avons recruté un autre échantillon de 5 clients, ainsi que leurs conseillers en intégration, et leur gestionnaire (pour 4 de ces clients). Dans notre deuxième article, nous avons constaté que la qualité de la relation entre le superviseur et son employé était la dimension la plus importante expliquant le succès ou l’échec du processus d’intégration des employés ayant un TSA. Cette dimension était importante à toutes les étapes du processus, à partir de l’embauche et jusqu’à ce que l’employé soit en situation d’inclusion ou ne soit plus employé. Ce constat s’inscrit dans la théorie des échanges leader-membre (LMX) qui explique comment la qualité de la relation du superviseur avec chacun de ses subordonnés contribue à des résultats positifs pour lui-même et pour chaque employé. La qualité de cette relation était influencée par l’action du conseiller en intégration qui facilitait la communication entre le superviseur et l’employé. Le type et l’intensité du soutien variaient en fonction des difficultés de communication et d’interaction sociale propres à chaque employé. Les résultats de ces deux articles permettent de démontrer la diversité de la clientèle d’AMO et ses besoins en soutien ainsi que l’utilité des services pour permettre à sa clientèle de se trouver un emploi. Les résultats moins favorables en matière de maintien d’emploi et la compréhension des facteurs influençant l’intégration en emploi démontrent l’importance d’offrir du soutien aux clients ayant un TSA à plus long terme. / Individual with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have a much lower employment rate than the general population. Difficulties experienced during social interactions are some of the main factors hindering their job search and their job retention. However, many adults with ASD have characteristics that are valued by the labour market. Our study evaluates the implementation and the outputs of the employment program at Action main-d’œuvre (AMO), a community organization located in Montreal, offering employment services for individuals with ASD who do not have an intellectual disability. More specifically, we examined the characteristics of their clients, the services offered, the outcomes of the program and the satisfaction with their services. In addition, we aimed to understand the integration process into a new job of employees supported by AMO and what factors influenced the success of this integration. To understand the program implementation, outcomes and customer satisfaction at AMO, we recruited 37 participants receiving AMO services as a first step. These participants completed questionnaires at the start of their access to the services, as well as after 6 weeks of employment or after 6 to 9 months of unsuccessful job search. In addition, we consulted their files at AMO during the 12 months following the start of their participation in the study. When a participant who had found a job gave us permission, we invited their employer to complete a questionnaire on their satisfaction with AMO’s services and their appreciation of their employee. Eleven employers agreed to participate in the study. The first article of this thesis shows that the participants had autism manifestations of all possible levels: mild, moderate or severe. In addition, 38% of participants had adaptive abilities below the normal range. A large proportion of the participants (62%) had high levels of anxiety. Our results indicated that 62.1% of the participants obtained paid employment. However, only 59.2% of participants who found a job remained employed. The time spent on employed participants varied widely, from 0 to 21 contacts according to the files of the clients. Counsellors also had to work with other professionals to support participants’ complex needs in other areas of their lives, such as social workers and special educators. Satisfaction with services was high, both among participants with ASD and among employers. To understand the process of integrating an employee with ASD into an organization and the contribution of organizational factors to this process, we wrote nine case studies based on interviews with 18 other participants. According to criteria ensuring the diversity of the cases studied, we first recruited a sample of 4 managers in collaboration with AMO. Subsequently, we recruited another sample of 5 clients, as well as their counsellor, and their manager (for 4 of these clients). In our second article, we found that the quality of the relationship between the supervisor and his employee was the most important dimension explaining the success or failure of the integration process for employees with ASD. This dimension was important at all stages of the process, from hiring and until the employee was in a situation of inclusion or was no longer employed. This finding can be understood with the leader-member exchange theory (LMX), which explains how the quality of the supervisor’s relationship with each of his subordinates contributes to positive results for himself and for each employee. The quality of this relationship was influenced by the action of the employment counsellor (also named job coach) who facilitated communication between the supervisor and the employee. The type and intensity of support varied depending on the unique communication and social interaction challenges of each employee. The results of these two articles demonstrate the diversity of AMO’s clients and their support needs as well as the usefulness of the services in supporting them in finding employment. The less favorable job retention results and our understanding of the factors influencing job integration demonstrate the importance of providing support to clients with ASD in the longer term.