Accessibility Services

Applicants with officially recognized severe disabilities or equal status benefit from legal and contractual regulations that are intended to prevent discrimination in the labor market.

Bielefeld University is an employer in the public service of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia and is therefore subject to the Obligation to employ severely disabled persons or persons with equal status in at least 5% of its jobs. Women are to be given special consideration in this regard. In addition, Bielefeld University has committed itself with the framework agreement for good employment conditions (PDF) to hiring professionally suitable Applicants beyond this minimum quota.

These obligations result, among other things, in requirements that must be taken into account in the application of severely disabled persons and persons with equal rights. For future employees, these regulations are particularly relevant when deciding whether or not to disclose a disability or chronic illness in their application.

Severe disability or equality in the application procedure

Applicants for publicly advertised positions at Bielefeld University generally decide voluntarily whether to disclose a disability during the application process. There are only a few exceptions that require disclosure.

However, disclosure can be useful if Applicants are severely disabled with a GdB of 50 or more, or equally disabled with a GdB of 30 or 40. In this case, the employer is obliged to invite severely disabled persons or persons with an equivalent disability to an interview, provided that the applicant generously fulfills the professional requirements for the advertised position.

If applicants wish to make use of this regulation, they must state their disability either in the cover letter or in their CV. It is sufficient to state the degree of disability and, if applicable, the equality (", diagnoses do not have to be stated. Either a copy of the severely disabled person's ID card or the equalization notice must be attached to the application documents as proof.

The university is responsible for disability-related modifications at the interview, e.g. the provision of an inductive hearing system or barrier-free approval of the interview room. Applicants with such needs must notify the University in a timely manner.

Applicants who are chronically ill or at risk of disability without an officially determined disability are not covered by the above regulations.

If applicants with a GdB of 30 or 40 are seeking equality, the application for equality can also be submitted in the course of a current application or recruitment process.

Information and participation of the representative body for severely disabled persons

As an employer in the public sector, the University is obliged to inform the Representative Council for Severely Disabled Persons (SBV) and the relevant Staff Council immediately after receiving an application whether applications from persons with disabilities have been received. This applies to both internal and publicly advertised vacancy procedures.

If severely disabled applicants or applicants with equal rights take part in the application procedure, the SBC may inspect all documents relevant to the decision. This includes not only the application documents of the severely disabled applicants or applicants with equal status, but also the documents required for assessing the professional suitability of non-disabled applicants.

The SBV has the right to participate in all interviews, degree and decision-making meetings during the application procedure. In addition, it can issue statements on the severely disabled applicants or applicants with equal rights, provided that the applicants do not expressly reject the involvement of the SBC.

If a severely disabled or similarly disabled applicant is not hired after the interview, the representative body for severely disabled employees must approve the rejection. In addition, the candidate must receive a written rejection from the university stating the reasons for the rejection.

In principle, however, severely disabled applicants or applicants with equal status are to be given preference in the case of otherwise equal suitability. The university must initiate any necessary measures for a disability-friendly workplace design, e.g. equipping the workplace with assistive technologies, and involve the representative of the severely disabled persons or their deputies in this process.