News

Iberdrola has launched, through its Legal and Tax Services and together with the law firm Broseta, a collaboration agreement for pro bono activities with Fundación Adecco and Fundación Prodis to reduce barriers to access to the labour market for people with intellectual disabilities.

This collaboration is part of the "Construyendo Juntos" ("Building Together") project, a multidisciplinary programme in which the company's legal professionals, in collaboration with over 10 law firms, provide training services and legal and tax advice of the highest quality to non-profit organisations.

The signing ceremony, which took place at Iberdrola's offices in Valencia, was attended by Santiago Martínez Garrido, Iberdrola's General Secretary and Secretary of the Board; Rosa Vidal Monferrer, Managing Partner of Broseta; Valle Oñate Dancausa, Managing Director of Prodis; and Arancha Jiménez Ceballos, Director of Strategy, Fundraising and Development of the Fundación Adecco. 

According to Iberdrola's General Secretary, thanks to this agreement, ‘Broseta and Iberdrola's legal professionals intend that the legal knowledge transmitted through this alliance will act as a lever to reduce inequalities and in favour of the labour inclusion of people with disabilities, as well as the informed guidance of both their families and the entities that support them’.

According to Broseta's Managing Partner, this alliance ‘represents a very interesting opportunity for pro bono work, a practice to which Broseta feels very committed, as well as the satisfaction of working together with Iberdrola, one of the firm's reference clients, and with the Fundación Prodis and the Fundación Adecco - with which we have been collaborating regularly on various pro bono initiatives’.

The Director General of Fundación Prodis highlighted the importance of this type of alliance, that is ‘key for organisations such as Prodis, which allows us to continue supporting people with disabilities and their families - who are often uninformed. Encouraging clear, simple and reliable communication from experts such as Iberdrola's legal services and the Broseta law firm is an immense opportunity, which will undoubtedly facilitate access to the labour market for our users’.

Director of Strategy of Fundación Adecco emphasised that they are ‘deeply grateful to the legal terms of Iberdrola and Broseta, who so generously put their knowledge at the service of the people who need it most. Through this collaboration we are going to respond to one of the major barriers that have traditionally hindered access to employment for people with intellectual disabilities - lack of knowledge of the legal framework, which triggers fears in both themselves and their families’.

‘After 25 years working for inclusion, we can see that when a person with an intellectual disabilities knows and understands their employment rights, they face the job search process with much greater confidence, knowing that they have the necessary resources to face the challenges and/or difficulties that may arise. Similarly, the training of families, entities and, in general, of those who accompany people with intellectual disabilities, is also decisive to support and guide, ensuring that people with disabilities can develop a fair and sustainable professional career over time’ added the representative of the Fundación Adecco. 

A major challenge

People with intellectual disabilities continue to face major obstacles in finding a job, as the latest official figures show. In particular, their activity or labour participation rate (36.4%) is 41.4 percentage points lower than that of the rest of the population - 63.6% of people with intellectual disabilities of working age are neither employed nor looking for a job

Likewise, the employment rate is another major indicator of this inequality: only 23.8% of people with intellectual disabilities are in employment, a percentage that is 27.3 points lower than the national average.

Legal knowledge: key to labour market inclusion

Behind these figures lie structural barriers that hinder access to employment for people with disabilities: prejudice, overprotection, lack of previous experience and a general lack of knowledge that slows down the process of inclusion. In this sense, training in the legal field is essential, not only to protect and guarantee the rights of people with intellectual disabilities, but also to open the doors to the labour market, providing them with the necessary tools to access opportunities and develop sustainable professional careers.

Furthermore, it is also important to provide specific legal knowledge to the entities and those accompanying people with intellectual disabilities in their work pathway, so that they can serve as a guide and support in the most relevant legal aspects.

The alliance aims to provide people with intellectual disabilities, their families and the entities that accompany them, with the legal knowledge necessary to deal conscientously with their access to employment, enabling them to make informed decisions and prevent abuse or discrimination.