Inclusion of people with disabilities in companies: Where are we?

People with disabilities still face major difficulties when it comes to employment, despite advances in terms of regulations.

People with disabilities represented 7.5% of the active population in 2023 (Agefiph). However, their unemployment rate was almost twice as high as the rest of the population (12% compared to 7% according to the Drees).

Although those affected face significant challenges in the world of work, this does not in any way call into question their commitment or productivity.

On the contrary, significant advances are being observed. For example, in 2023, 24,385 job retention were carried out using Cap Emploi schemes, an increase of 4% compared to the previous year. This testifies to the growing desire to support these workers over the long term.

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What are the policies related to disability in companies?

‍The employment and integration of people with disabilities is everyone's business. Here are some key steps to take these issues into account in the implementation of your HR, CSR and QVCT policies:

• Making your recruitment process more inclusive : Transform the job market and incorporate inclusiveness in job interviews for people with disabilities. For example, you can offer alternatives to traditional interviews (online interviews, flexible response times). It is also recommended to value diversity and inclusion in job offers and during recruitment events, in order to encourage applications from people with disabilities. From the moment you hire, be sure to promote professional inclusion and diversity by placing them at the heart of the employee experience.
• Create an adapted work environment for your employees : The first step as an employer is to encourage the recognition of disabilities in order to remove taboos and allow your employees to have a potential disability recognized. The association OETH (Objective of employment for disabled workers) helps you to easily start a conversation with an employee who may be concerned. Find the key steps recommended by the association. Once recognition has been established, you can adapt the layout of the premises and establish schedules adapted to the needs of your employees. ‍
• Identify and appoint a disability referent : In order to formalize the procedures and deploy a genuine internal disability policy, you can Appoint a disability advisor or diversity committee. This function is mandatory in all companies with more than 250 employees. Its role is to guide, inform and support the employees concerned within the company, but also to ensure the implementation of actions in favor of inclusion.

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Disability in business: changing its practices internally

3 tips from the founders of HASC

Julie Cherrier, Anne-Laure Baudrillart and Evelyne Moreau-Cormier co-founded the company HASC in 2017. This ESUS certified consulting agency is intended to support companies towards disabled CSR. With their team, they train hundreds of managers, HR managers and employees on the issue of disability in companies.

All three carriers of a disability, they knew how to make it a strength to offer fun and funny formats allowing everyone to take a step back and truly take ownership of the subject. Their latest creation, The Mapping of Fears, for example, allows company employees to question their fears about psychological disabilities and to remove the obstacles to collaboration through a journey through the universe of Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll.

The Komeet team had the chance to meet Julie and Anne-Laure, who gave us 3 of their tips for any company wishing to do better in terms of recruiting and integrating workers with disabilities.

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1. Make disability a criterion in choosing partners and providers

“There are more than 70,000 disabled business leaders in France. We don't necessarily think about us and yet we are there.”
Julie Cherrier

Associations, external service providers, entrepreneurs with disabilities... There is a range of services that businesses must take advantage of in order to go further, to go beyond what they have already put in place. For Julie Cherrier, it is essential:

“When you work with all these actors externally, you can see it, it's felt internally, it has an impact. Committed companies are more successful in attracting and recruiting people with disabilities.”

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2. Communication: change the way you present the subject

Innovating in the way you talk about disability in business is a major challenge in changing the situation. According to Julie Cherrier :

“You have to think outside the box in terms of communication. All the dusty images about disability no longer work. Sometimes, companies are afraid to take the plunge, to leave the traditional discourse, but it is essential.”

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3. Recruiting: think about skills before thinking about disabilities

“Recruiting a disabled person simply to respect their employment rate does not work. You have to take a competent person who wants to work. If she happens to have a disability, we will adapt her position.”
Anne-Laure Baudrillart

883 days. This is the average time it takes for a person with a disability to find a job. For Anne-Laure and Julie, it is imperative that recruiters focus on the skills of candidates and the consistency of their profile with the job description.

“The issue of disability only comes later because it involves technical adaptation.”
Julie Cherrier

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Get involved during the European Disability Employment Week (SEEPH)

From Monday 17 to Sunday 23 November 2025, it is the 29th edition of the European Employment Week for people with disabilities.

This annual event brings together associations, civil society actors, politicians and workers with disabilities to reflect on integration and awareness-raising measures.

It is also a key moment for the recruitment of the persons concerned: all over France, events are organized to promote meetings between companies and job seekers with disabilities.

During this week dedicated to the inclusion of talent with disabilities, you can offer resources, awareness-raising and training related to different types of disabilities (physical, sensory, mental, etc.).

This initiative led by The ADAPT association, allows everyone to mobilize to facilitate the professional integration of people with disabilities and to act for more inclusion.

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Raise awareness among your teams about disability in business

The employment and inclusion of people with disabilities are hampered by persistent stereotypes, fear of difference, and a lack of information.

And the difficulties continue even when a person with a disability finds a job.

It is therefore essential to change the way we look at disability and to break prejudices through concrete awareness-raising actions.

It is obvious that effective awareness-raising requires the company to take charge of the subject: implementation of clear internal policies that are known to all, organization of internal events, dissemination of messages and common tools...

Here are some ideas to raise awareness among your teams:

• A fun and educational quiz to test your knowledge and prejudices about disability

The mission of Agefiph is to promote the integration and retention of persons with disabilities in the private sector. The association has developed A quiz in the form of a HandiPursuit to raise awareness among as many people as possible about the inclusion and professional integration of people with disabilities. You can broadcast this quiz to your collaborators or even organize a collective session to play and raise awareness as a team!

• Stories to better understand invisible disabilities

Did you know that 80% of disabilities are invisible? Disability is often associated with wheelchairs, yet only 2% of people with disabilities are in wheelchairs. Motor, sensory, mental or psychological disability... There are different types of disabilities with their specific characteristics and associated needs. On the site of theAPF France Handicap, find video testimonies of invisible people with disabilities to better understand this often unknown subject.

• Communicate with the people concerned

There is nothing more effective in changing the way we look at disability than talking directly with the people concerned. Do you have colleagues with disabilities internally? If they want to, give them the floor to talk about their daily work life. You can also organize speeches by external speakers during breakfasts or team meetings. Get in touch with associations (such as APF France Handicap, ADAPT, Agefiph or the Fondation Agir Contre l'Exclusion - FACE) to better know the methods of their interventions.

Also to read: 5 ideas to unite a team around solidarity values

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Employee engagement around disability: associations need you

Allowing your teams to carry out missions of general interest around this cause is a good way to raise awareness among your employees and to meet the needs of the many associations mobilized on the issue. Here are some examples of solidarity missions to offer to your teams around disability:

• Participate in Duo Day which takes place every year in November and welcome a person with disabilities into your company for one day.
• Become a mentor and accelerate the success of an entrepreneur with disabilities by supporting them in their project with H'Up Entrepreneurs.
• Provide CV writing advice to people with disabilities looking for a job with APF France Handicap.
• Help a disabled person to get around during trips on foot, by transport or by car with the association My Co-pilot.
• Organize a collection of plastic plugs intended to finance equipment for people with disabilities with the association Les Boucorks d'Amour.
• Participate in a solidarity team-building with the agency HASC to raise awareness among your employees in a fun way.
• Get involved in the Network of successes with ADAPT by sponsoring a person with disabilities to help them get a job or by raising awareness about disability.

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Did you know that?

Engaging with your company during your working time is entirely possible via the Komeet platform. We can help you become a more inclusive business by building a comprehensive and robust engagement program. Through an intuitive platform, Komeet is the solution that facilitates social commitment in companies through actions with associations during their working time. Whether through one-off or longer-term missions, we allow you to engage your employees.

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