障害者雇用の在り方を問い直す「障害者雇用ビジネス」/The “Disability Employment Business” that Challenges the Nature of Employment for Persons with Disabilities

　日本では障害者雇用促進法により民間企業等に障害者法定雇用率を課しています。2018（平成30）年には2.2％でしたが、その後3回の引き上げを経て2026（令和8）年7月1日から2.7％となっています。障害者法定雇用率の上昇に伴い近年急速に拡大しているのが、障害者法定雇用率未達成企業が障害者雇用サービスを手掛ける企業との契約でなされる、いわゆる「障害者雇用ビジネス」です。障害のある方が、雇用されている企業とは別の企業が開設する冷暖房完備の水耕栽培の野菜工場や地方の農場やサテライトのオフィスなどで働くのです。採用から日常の業務管理と雇用管理はサービス提供企業が行い、障害のある労働者が雇用契約を締結している企業とは日常的なやりとりがほとんどない状況が指摘されています。サービス提供企業によっては就業時間の中でほとんど仕事がない、「出社するのが仕事です」と説明されたというケースもあります。

障害者法定雇用率未達成企業が実際には障害のある労働者とほとんど接触することなく雇用する形態のいわゆる「障害者雇用ビジネス」は何が問題なのでしょうか。第一に、能力開発に対する懸念です。2022（令和4）年の障害者雇用促進法改正では、第5条（事業主の責務）が改正され、「職業能⼒の開発及び向上に関する措置」が企業に義務付けられています。雇用されている企業の本業と関係がなく、人的交流もほとんどなく、範囲が限定的な仕事を続けていて、果たして能力開発できるでしょうか。今行っている仕事の上流工程や下流工程など今の仕事に関連が深い他の仕事に挑戦する機会とその際に行われるOJT（on-the-job-training：仕事の中で行われる職業訓練）がどれほど保障されるでしょうか。

第二に、雇用の場における包摂性への懸念です。「障害者雇用ビジネス」を利用する企業の社員のほとんどは、自社の社員である障害のある労働者とほとんど接触することなく、障害のある同僚が遠く離れた農場や水耕栽培の工場で働いていることを知りません。一方で1960（昭和35）年の障害者雇用促進法の制定時から60有余年にわたり障害者雇用を進めてきた企業の多くは、障害者雇用促進法第5条にある「障害者の雇用に関し、社会連帯の理念に基づき、障害者である労働者が有為な職業人として自立しようとする努力に対して協力する責務を有する」として、障害の特性に応じた合理的配慮、自社の仕事とのマッチングや雇用管理に関わる知見を蓄積し、障害のある人もない人も共に働く職場を作り上げるべく不断の努力を続けています。そして障害者雇用率の達成というコンプライアンスのみならず、多様な人材を戦力として新たなサービスを生み出す、誰もが働きやすい職場を構築することで生産性を高めるといった価値を見出している企業もあるのです。

障害者雇用に関わる知見の蓄積には障害者雇用促進法で定められ厚生労働大臣の認定を受けて設立される特例子会社^注１）も大きな役割を果たしてきました。一方でいわゆる「障害者雇用ビジネス」を提供する企業には、特例子会社の認定要件のような障害のある社員の雇用管理や相談に対応する人員の配置や適切な雇用管理を通じた雇用の安定を担保することなどの枠組みはありません。労働基準法など労働法規と照らしての解釈とともにそれぞれの領域の研究者を交えて障害者雇用に携わる関係者が、障害者雇用促進法にある社会連帯の理念とは何かを問い直すことが求められていると思います。

注

１）特例子会社とは、身体障害者雇用促進法の 1976（昭和 51）年改正により、障害者の雇用の促進と安定を図る目的で創設された制度です。親会社が一定の要件のもと子会社を設立し、その子会社が障害者を雇用した場合、雇用した障害者を親会社の雇用率に算入できる仕組みです。主な設立の要件は以下の 5 つとされています。

① 親会社は子会社の意思決定機関を支配していること

② 親会社と特例子会社との間には人的関係が緊密（役員派遣など）であること

③ 障害者を新規に 5 人以上雇用し、なおかつ全従業員に占める障害者の割合が 20％を超

え、さらに障害者のうち 30％は重度身体障害者か知的障害者、精神障害者であること

④ 障害者特性に配慮した雇用管理を適切に行うこと

⑤ その他重度障害者の雇用促進や雇用の安定が確実に達成できると認められること

The “Disability Employment Business” that Challenges the Nature of Employment for Persons with Disabilities

　In Japan, the Act on Promotion of Employment of Persons with Disabilities imposes a statutory employment rate of persons with disabilities on private companies. It was 2.2% in 2018 (Heisei 30), but after three subsequent increases, it will be 2.7% from July 1, 2026 (Reiwa 8). The so-called “disability employment business,” which has been rapidly expanding in recent years in conjunction with the rise in the statutory employment rate for persons with disabilities, enters into contracts with companies that have not met the statutory employment rate for persons with disabilities enter into contracts with companies that provide employment services for persons with disabilities. Persons with disabilities work at locations such as fully climate-controlled hydroponic vegetable farms, rural farms, or satellite offices established by a company different from their employer. The hiring, daily operational management, and employment management are handled by a service provider, and workers with disabilities have almost no daily interaction with the company with which they have concluded an employment contract. In some cases, depending on the service provider, there is actually less work to do during working hours, and workers are told that “coming to work is the job.”

However, there are problems with the so-called “disability employment business,” a form of employment in which companies that have not met the statutory employment rate for persons with disabilities, employ workers with disabilities while having virtually no contact with them. First, there is a concern regarding capability development. In the 2022 (Reiwa 4) amendment of the Act on Promotion of Employment of Persons with Disabilities, Article 5 (Responsibilities of Employers) was revised, and “measures for the development and improvement of vocational abilities” are now mandated for companies. Can you develop your skills if you continue to do work that is unrelated to your employer’s core business, involves almost no interpersonal exchange, and is limited in scope? To what extent are opportunities guaranteed to take on other work closely related to your current job, such as its upstream and downstream processes, and what is the guarantee for the OJT (on-the-job training: vocational training conducted as part of the job) that is provided on such occasions?

Second, there are concerns regarding inclusivity in the workplace. Most employees of companies that utilize “disability employment businesses” have almost no contact with their own employees with disabilities and are unaware that their colleagues with disabilities are working at distant farms or hydroponic factories. On the contrary, many companies have been promoting the employment of persons with disabilities for over 60 years since the enactment of the Act on Employment Promotion of Persons with Disabilities in 1960 (Showa 35), on the basis of Article 5 of the Act—which states they “have a responsibility to cooperate, based on the principle of social solidarity, with the efforts of workers with disabilities to become self-reliant as productive members of the workforce.” These companies have accumulated knowledge concerning reasonable accommodations according to the characteristics of disabilities, matching individuals with company jobs, and employment management, and are making continuous efforts to create workplaces where people with and without disabilities work together. Moreover, some companies are finding value not only in complying with the mandatory employment rate for persons with disabilities but also in creating new services by leveraging diverse talent as a strategic asset and increasing productivity by building a workplace that is accommodating for everyone.

Special subsidiary companies1), stipulated under the Act on Employment Promotion etc. of Persons with Disabilities and established with certification from the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare, have also played a major role in the accumulation of knowledge and expertise related to the employment of persons with disabilities. In contrast, companies that provide “disability employment business” services lack any framework comparable to the certification requirements for special subsidiary companies, such as the assignment of personnel to handle employment management and consultations for employees with disabilities, or ensuring employment stability through appropriate employment management. Stakeholders involved in the employment of persons with disabilities are required to re-examine the principle of social solidarity in the Act on Promotion of Employment of Persons with Disabilities, along with an interpretation in light of labor laws such as the Labor Standards Act and together with researchers from their respective fields.

1)Note

1) A Special Subsidiary Company is a system established under the 1976 (Showa 51) amendment to the Physically Handicapped Persons’ Employment Promotion Act, with the aim of promoting and stabilizing the employment of persons with disabilities. This is a system under which, if a parent company establishes a subsidiary under certain requirements and that the subsidiary hires persons with disabilities, the hired persons can be included in the calculation of the parent company’s employment rate. There are five important requirements for establishing the company:

(1) The parent company must control the subsidiary’s decision-making body.

(2) The personnel relationship between the parent and special subsidiary companies is close (e.g., secondment of directors/executives).

(3) The subsidiary must newly hire at least five persons with disabilities; these employees must comprise more than 20% of the subsidiary’s total workforce, and at least 30% of those hired must have severe physical, intellectual, or mental disabilities.

(4) The subsidiary must appropriately manage employment considering the characteristics of persons with disabilities.

(5) The promotion and stabilization of employment for persons with severe disabilities can be reliably achieved.