It is with great pleasure that I accepted the invitation to participate in the Annual Rheumatic Disease Week events on the theme: "Invisible Rheumatic Diseases in the Workplace" to highlight the issue of rheumatic diseases and their impact on our country's workforce.
Rheumatic diseases are a wide range of conditions that affect the joints, muscles and bones, affect people of all ages and can significantly affect a person's ability to work. Rheumatic diseases can cause severe disability and can be a cause of early retirement from work, although recent studies have shown that early identification and treatment lead to better outcomes in their course.
Our responsibility and goal at the Department of Labor is to ensure that all workers have access to safe and healthy working conditions and are able to perform their jobs to the best of their ability. This includes workers with rheumatic conditions, who face daily challenges in the workplace that may go unnoticed by those around them because the potential disability they cause is not visible but invisible, such as pain, stiffness and fatigue.
These challenges may include discrimination or difficulty adjusting or accessing support services. For the working rheumatic patient, equal participation in daily activities involves many times more effort than others. As a result, many workers with rheumatic diseases may feel forced to leave their jobs or may not be able to work to their full potential.
Bearing in mind the adverse socioeconomic impact that rheumatic diseases can have if left untreated, it puts us, as the Ministry of Labour, in a position to stand with and assist in recruiting rheumatics into jobs.
The Ministry of Labour, in collaboration with the Cyprus Federation of Patients' Associations (CPA), the organisation representing all patients' organisations, including the Cyprus Rheumatology Association, has launched Sponsorship Schemes for the recruitment of people with chronic conditions, with a total budget of five million euros.
The Schemes, co-financed by the European Social Fund of the European Union and the Republic of Cyprus, aim to encourage employers to recruit people with chronic conditions and are included in the measures of the active employment policies promoted by the Government to combat poverty and social exclusion, in particular with regard to the active inclusion of vulnerable groups of the population in the labour market.
The 3rd Incentive Scheme, launched in 2021, is still in force with a budget of €2 million and a target of 100 people. To date, 84 placements of unemployed people with chronic diseases have been made. This is a sponsorship granted for 24 months with a specific ceiling.
It is our responsibility as a State to ensure that people with rheumatic diseases can thrive in work. To this end, among the Department's policies is the provision of personalised assistance from Public Employment Service (PES) Employment Advisers to help find a suitable job for the claimant.
The Ministry of Labour is also promoting alternative forms of employment, such as the teleworking bill that we aim to pass in 2023, as a means to help employ vulnerable groups and also to make it easier for workers with rheumatic and other conditions. The flexibility in working hours, reduced physical strain and the ability to work during a person's most productive time, offered by telecommuting, are expected to both alleviate and increase the employability of people with chronic conditions.
Providing a safe and healthy working environment is an inalienable and fundamental right for every worker, without discrimination. A right that should be even more guaranteed for people belonging to vulnerable groups including those struggling with rheumatic diseases. The safety, health and well-being of these people is a priority for us and should be a priority for every employer. To this end, the Ministry promotes the use of written occupational risk assessment, taking the necessary preventive and protective measures, and adapting work to the needs and capabilities of workers, measures that will be instrumental in continuing to utilize the services of these individuals while ensuring their job satisfaction and self-confidence.
In conclusion, I would like to stress the importance of ensuring that workers with rheumatic diseases can participate fully in the labour market. I am confident that together we can improve the lives of workers with rheumatic diseases by raising awareness, defending their rights and implementing policies that create a more empowering and enabling working environment.
MP/EP/SX
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