For PWDs who do not have enough productivity to work as a contracted worker in open labor market, there are several sheltered workshops according to types of disability in Japan, which provide persons with disabilities suffering employment difficulty with work preparation and sheltered work opportunities, and help them achieve self support in the community.
(1) Types of Sheltered Workshops and their characteristics
| Type of Disability | Name of Sheltered Workshops | No. Facilities | Capacity of placement | averaged wage *1 (monthly) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| physical disability | Sheltered Workshops for Persons with physical Disability (residential) | 85 | 4,228 | 11,390 yen |
| Sheltered Workshops for Persons with Physical Disability (non-residential) | 195 | 4,872 | 19,873 yen | |
| Sheltered Workshops for Persons with severe physical disability (residential) | 127 | 8,311 | 14,449 yen | |
| Industrial Workshops for Persons with physical disability | 35 | 1,782 | 204,934 yen | |
| Intellectual Disability | Sheltered Workshops for Persons with intellectual disability (residential) | 21 | 13,660 | 10,638 yen |
| Sheltered Workshops for Persons with intellectual disability (non-residential) | 656 | 24,980 | 10,625 yen | |
| Industrial Workshops for Persons with intellectual disability | 25 | 735 | 123,844 yen | |
| Psychiatric Disability | Sheltered Workshops for Persons with psychiatric disability (residential) | 11 | 314 | 22,805 yen |
| Sheltered Workshops for Persons with psychiatric disability (non-residential) | 91 | 2,091 | ||
| Industrial Workshops for Persons with psychiatric disability *2 | 4 | 110 | 112,250 yen *2 |
|
| (Open Labor Market) Persons with physical disabilities (full time, involved in companies with more than 5 employees) |
283,000 yen *3 |
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| Persons with intellectual disability (full time, involved in companies with more than 5 employees) | 118,000 yen *3 |
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| Vocational Training Allowances | 130,000 yen (approx.) *4 |
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| minimum wage (national average) | 104,260 yen *5 |
*1 as of 1997 *2 as of 1998 *3 as of 1998 *4 as of 1999 *5 as of 1999
(2) Problems sheltered workshops are facing
- Few transition from sheltered workshop to competitive work settings Approximately 1.0% of PWDs in the workshops move to open employment annually.
The reasons of very low transition rate are ; Lack of experiences of PWDs involved in workshops Attitudes of their parents Attitudes of staffs of workshops - Difference of services, wages and functions among sheltered workshops
- Expansion of aged users and ones with severe disabilities
(3) Future tasks for the improvement of sheltered workshops
- Changes of role of sheltered workshops
Reform of functions of workshops have been discussed for the introduction of new welfare law for PWDs. - Separating accommodation from work sites
- Promoting integrated services beyond different types of disabilities
- Opening sheltered workshops to the community
- Improvement the productivity of sheltered workshops
