Protected Employment with Labor Integrity
Entity which complete it
Country
Town
Project name
Stating Year
Where it takes place
Range of age
Type of disability
Project link
Why is it a good practice of the Person-Centered Model?
Samhall AB, Swedish state-owned company founded in 1980, develops a protected employment model that generates meaningful jobs for people with disabilities in different sectors, mainly in services and production. The initiative ensures that contracts are made under ordinary labor conditions, guaranteeing equal rights and full participation in the labor market.
Person-centered approach: Promotes labor inclusion through direct hiring by the state company, placement in open work environments and defense of union rights on equal terms. Places people with disabilities as workers with full recognition and autonomy in their working life.
Integrated Assessment (Person, Family, Housing) and Life History
Samhall does not perform a clinical or social “life-history assessment” for each person as part of its core offer. Instead, its model starts from the premise that people with disabilities who are referred by the public employment services have the capacity to work with the right supports. The focus is on identifying each person’s work potential and matching them to jobs appropriate to their abilities, rather than evaluating their full personal biography, housing or family context. The assumption is that employment — with adaptations and support — can be a pathway to social inclusion, regardless of individual background.
Personalised Care and Support Plan for the Life Project
Rather than care plans, Samhall provides personalised employment plans. Once a person is referred, Samhall assesses their skills and limitations, provides training, and matches them to a suitable job (cleaning, logistics, manufacturing, property services, etc.). This work plan is adapted to their capacities, and support is offered to enable that job: training, adjustments, guidance. The model gives individuals the opportunity to build their own life project centred on work — giving structure, income, social participation and dignity.
Support groups
Samhall does not operate as a social or residential support provider — its main axis is employment. Therefore it does not create formal “support groups” for people with disabilities as part of its core mission. The social dimension comes primarily through work, integration in teams, participation in mainstream labour market tasks and interaction with colleagues. In that sense, social inclusion is mediated by the workplace rather than by dedicated support-group structures.
Case Management and Resource Coordinator
Samhall acts as an employer and workplace support provider rather than a case-management service. Its internal structures take on coordination: recruiting, training, assigning tasks, adapting jobs, ensuring working conditions, and supporting transitions for employees who are ready to move to the open labour market. Through this, Samhall provides the necessary support and coordination to enable sustained employment for persons with disabilities, functioning as a bridging institution between social support policy and real labour market participation.
Highlined results
Has favored wide labor participation of people with disabilities in Sweden, consolidating an inclusive work environment with unionization levels close to the national average. Its model is recognized as a good practice of labor integration with high replicability potential.
Inspiring ideas for other enviorments. It can works! 😉
Samhall demonstrates that a state-owned or public-mission enterprise can operate successfully in the open economy while promoting inclusion. Its model — combining public referral, training, job adaptation and long-term employment — shows that work is a key dimension of inclusion and dignity. This kind of model can be adapted elsewhere: with political will, funding, and commitment to inclusion, similar schemes could provide employment, social participation and independence to people with disabilities. It underscores that inclusive employment is not just a social service — it can be a sustainable business model when structured well.
Other observations
Samhall AB