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Severe Disability: Severely Disabled Persons Do Not Have to Pay for Work Assistance Themselves – Court Ruling Against Hartz IV
German employers who fail to meet the mandatory 5% disability employment quota now face significantly higher penalties, with the Ausgleichsabgabe reaching €815 per month per unfilled mandatory position at the highest tier — payable for the first time at these rates in March 2026. All private and public employers with 20 or more positions must meet the quota for employees with a recognised disability (GdB ≥ 50). The increased rates, raised from 1 January 2025, are now showing up as material cost factors in employer controlling systems. Germany is also implementing the Barrierefreiheitsstärkungsgesetz (BFSG), transposing the European Accessibility Act, requiring businesses to make products and services accessible. For employers, the message is clear: hiring inclusively is now both a legal obligation and a financial imperative, with support available through integration offices and the Federal Employment Agency.
Germany's significantly raised compensatory levy (Ausgleichsabgabe) for employers who fail to meet the 5% disability employment quota became practically effective in 2026 for the first time. Employers with 20+ staff who employ zero disabled workers now face €815 per month per unfilled mandatory position — a steep increase from previous rates. The new rates applied to the 2025 employment year and were due by 31 March 2026. The reform, part of broader changes under SGB IX (§160), is designed to create a genuine financial incentive for inclusive hiring. Alongside the levy increase, Germany also modernised disability documentation via electronic GdB (degree of disability) reporting to tax authorities and implemented the Barrierefreiheitsstärkungsgesetz (BFSG), transposing the EU Accessibility Act. For inclusive employers already meeting or exceeding the quota, this reform levels the playing field against competitors who previously treated the levy as a minor cost of doing business. HR teams should audit their quota compliance and explore the subsidies and workplace adaptation grants available for hiring disabled workers.
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New data from the German Federal Employment Agency, highlighted by DGB Saxony on 11 August 2026, reveals a stark compliance gap in disability inclusion. Of the 8,281 private employers in Saxony required by law to maintain a 5% severely disabled workforce quota, 2,058 — roughly one in four — employ not a single disabled worker. In the private sector overall, only 3.5% of employees are severely disabled, compared to 5.7% in public-sector organisations. DGB Saxony Vice Chair Ralf Hron called the figures unacceptable, warning that many businesses continue to treat penalty payments as a cheaper alternative to inclusive hiring, rather than recognising disabled employees as a genuine asset. Since March 2026, employers failing the quota face sharply increased levies: up to €815 per month per unfilled position for companies with no disabled staff at all — an increase from €720 in 2024. Hron urged employers to make better use of available integration subsidies and workplace adaptation funds rather than simply paying fines. The data reinforces calls for culture change beyond compliance in the German labour market.
Inclusion in Working Life: Hesse Sees Social Court System as Success Model EU Severe Disability
## An: Staat und die Invalidenversicherung!  TS Gestartet von !
A sweeping update to Germany's disability law, effective July 30, 2026, is changing how hundreds of thousands of workers with severe disabilities navigate their jobs, job applications, and tax...
Agricultural operations can have their EU funding reduced for violations of labor and social protection standards. Research by Report Mainz shows that this rarely happens in practice. By Daniel Hoh.
From 31 March 2026, German employers faced significantly higher financial penalties for failing to meet their legal obligation to employ severely disabled workers (Schwerbehinderung). Under SGB IX, companies with 20 or more employees must fill at least 5% of positions with severely disabled or equivalent workers. Those who fall short now pay a monthly Ausgleichsabgabe (compensation levy) per unfilled position at sharply increased rates: €155/month (quota met 3–5%), €275/month (quota met 2–3%), €405/month (quota 0–2%), and €815/month for employers who employ not a single severely disabled person. The March 2026 deadline covered the 2025 reporting year. According to journalist Carolin-Jana Klose, writing for gegen-hartz.de, the direction is clear — companies should be more strongly motivated to create and expand suitable workplaces for people with severe disabilities. For HR managers at larger German firms, 2026 is the year compliance stops being optional: the levy rates now represent a material cost in annual workforce planning.
Germany Updates Guidance on Disability Rights at Work: What Employees Need to Know AD HOC NEWS
A wave of legislative changes and court decisions is forcing German employers to overhaul how they handle employees with disabilities and long-term illnesses.
The number of severely disabled employees in Germany rose to 1.14 million in 2024, a 1.5 percent increase from the previous year.
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