The Office of the Ombudsman has asked government and autonomous regional agencies about their plans to include patients with cancer and other serious illnesses in schemes for fostering employment among people who find it particularly difficult to get into the labour market.
In a letter addressed to all the public employment services, the Ombudsman stresses that medical treatment for people in these circumstances frequently produce “incapacitating effects” and “functional limitations” that prevent them from returning to work as normal.
It points out that the Employment Act foresees the adoption of schemes to promote employment among people who find it particularly difficult to get into the labour market, but does not include, among the beneficiaries, people suffering from or who have overcome cancer or a serious illness, despite the fact that their medical treatment and after-effects provoke “serious impairments that may be permanent”.
As a result, it is asking the agencies responsible for drawing up employment plans to give details of whether, in drawing up and running the schemes, “they are planning to take into consideration the situation of specific vulnerability” of these people, despite the fact that they are not persons with disability.
The information collected will be included in a case study on social protection for cancer patients which is being prepared by the Office of the Ombudsman to better protect these people in the social and labour spheres, at a time when scientific perspectives indicate that the reality of the fight against these diseases is going to undergo major changes in the medium term.
