Notification on the Employment of Severely Disabled Employees Due Until March 31, 2023

Employers who employ an annual average of at least 20 employees per month are required by law to employ at least 5 % severely disabled persons.

Companies with fewer than 40 or fewer than 60 employees are privileged as they are always allowed to round off when calculating the quota.

Consequently, employers who employ an annual average of 20-39 employees per month must fill one position with a severely disabled person.

If the number of employees is 40-59, it is mandatory to fill two positions accordingly.

Starting from a number of at least 60 employees a precise calculation has to be made, in which fractions are to be rounded according to the general rules.

Example:

An annual average of 65 employees work in a company:

• 5% of 65 = 3.25 ≈ 3 → Employment obligation of three severely disabled persons

An annual average of 75 employees work in a company:

• 5% of 75 = 3.75 ≈ 4 → Employment obligation of four severely disabled persons

The following positions/jobs are not taken into account when determining whether the quota has been met:

• Jobs filled by trainees,
• Jobs that are occupied for a maximum period of 8 weeks,
• Workplaces where employees are employed for less than 18 hours per week, unless a severely disabled person is employed in a part-time position for less than 18 hours per week because the nature and severity of their disability make this necessary

If employers do not meet the mandatory quota, they must instead pay a so-called compensatory fee.

This compensatory fee is due per unfilled position per month:

• EUR 140, if an employer with up to 39 employees does not employ at least one severely disabled person.
• EUR 245, if an employer employs more than 39 but not more than 59 employees and does not employ at least two severely disabled persons. If the quota was only achieved proportionally, i.e. only one instead of the specified two positions was occupied by a severely disabled person, the employer must pay a compensatory fee of EUR 140.
• If the number of employees exceeds 60, the compensatory fee is EUR 140 if the quota of severely disabled employees is between 3% and below 5%, EUR 245 if the quota is between 2% and below 3%, and EUR 360 if the quota is below 2%.

In order to be able to check whether employers are fulfilling their obligation, the number of severely disabled employees must be reported in an annual reporting procedure.

Employers must notify the Federal Employment Agency of this notification of severe disabilities for the previous year no later than by March 31 of the following year. An identical deadline applies to the payment of the compensatory fee.

Notification or submission for the year 2022 must therefore be provided no later than  March 31, 2023!

The severe disability notification can be made completely electronically using the IW-Elan program; the download and use of the software is free of charge.

Alternatively, it is also possible to report in paper form; the corresponding forms can be obtained from the order service of the Federal Employment Agency.

The notification must be made to the employment agency responsible for your place of residence. You can find out here, which agency is responsible for your location.

Further information can also be found in the “Explanatory notes on the 2022 notification procedure” (German version) of the Federal Employment Agency.