‪L’emploi des personnes handicapées dans la fonction publique‪. Entre quota et non-discrimination, quelles pratiques des employeurs ?

Based on a field survey of seven public employers, this article examines the different ways they use to meet their employment obligations of disabled persons. French disability policy is affected by a tension between a category-based logic of quotas and a universalist logic of non-discrimination, based on the notion of ?reasonable accommodation?. The first logic is well-known and the constantly raising employment rates of disabled persons show that public employers increasingly respect their obligations. The second logic is emerging, but the public sector might be more able than the private one to provide a work environment suitable for any kind of employee. Based on these hypotheses, we conducted interviews ? with human resources managers, disability liaison officers, occupational doctors, managers, workers with disabilities ? and collected documents (agreements, brochures, etc.) and observations in the surveyed workplaces. The observed situations contrast with the positive figures of the employment rate. While quotas prove to be powerful tools, reasonable accommodations and the non-discrimination logic are hardly implemented. The analysis of the factors influencing employers? strategies shows the importance of economic and financial matters and questions the compatibility of the organization of the public workplaces and its human resources management with the objective for employing persons with disabilities.