State-owned company opens up to people with disabilities: “People with disabilities belong to Switzerland – and to Swiss Post”

This gives people with disabilities the opportunity to participate in the primary labor market. An individual solution is being sought for up to 50 of them to gain experience in a small part-time job at Swiss Post.

Up to 800 places

Originally there should have been many more disabled people. According to Post circles, the number of places for people with disabilities should be left open. And because De Post currently has almost 800 branches, the same number of places were initially expected. In principle, it should be possible for a disabled person to work in any post office. commendable!

But not from the point of view of an old postman who can no longer perform at the same level due to an accident or a psychological problem. “There was a risk that people with disabilities would put underperforming Post employees under pressure,” says David Roth (38) of trade union Syndicom.

Old postmen tremble

A months-long struggle for the project began. The unions feared that older postmen in particular would be squeezed out by the disabled. “Also because disabled people are cheaper for Swiss Post than underperforming employees,” says Roth.

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Finally, disabled people continue to work for institutions on the secondary labor market. For example, in workshops for the disabled. IV receivers are thus “loaned” to Swiss Post. Swiss Post pays a fee to the institutions for the disabled for this. However, this is not nearly as high as the salary of a regular postman.

GAV special solution

Ideally, the disabled person could not only work for the post office for a year, but as long as it is good for everyone involved. However, this is contrary to Swiss Post’s collective labor agreement. Temporary employment contracts are possible there for a maximum of twelve months.

However, Swiss Post has agreed an exception with the social partners for the integration project. In return, the unions persuaded the state-owned company to set up a project to improve the reintegration of workers who had an accident or fell ill. This is to prevent long-term mail carriers from falling by the wayside.

“A Matter of the Heart” by Swiss Post

According to the mail group led by Roberto Cirillo (52), this danger never existed. The company even describes the inclusion project as a “matter of the heart”. “People with disabilities belong to Switzerland and therefore also to Swiss Post,” explains spokesperson Stefan Dauner.

This also saves you no costs. “On the contrary! We invest a lot in this inclusion project.” As one of Switzerland’s largest employers, Swiss Post also takes its responsibility for social sustainability seriously.

Several test runs preceded the official start of the integration project, for example at the Murten FR site. After all, the extra work required to start such a project is likely to be a challenge for a small team at a post office. Nevertheless, the conclusion after the pilot tests was positive.

project could grow

The final project with up to 50 places for disabled people will run until the end of 2024. And disabled people who already work part-time in a post office will continue to be employed in one way or another – regardless of whether the project is buried afterwards or at most even with one more number of disabled places .

If the inclusion project proves its worth and shows that it does not drive out permanent workers, the unions will lend a hand to continue it.

That would be a role model – also for private companies. And the yellow giant benefited from an image gain, which companies always hope for with such projects. It is owned by the post office.