ABSTRACT
Sheltered work became an important instrument of rehabilitation policy. The diversity between sheltered workshops is so great that it's very hazardous to talk about sheltered employment in general. What they have in common is that they all create special employment conditions to activate people with disabilities, and sometimes also other target groups. But the type of activities, the status of the employees and the position of the workshops in the economy and in the field of services for the disabled differ a lot. In some countries the overall majority of the employees are people with a mental disability, whereas in other countries they make up less than half of the workforce. There are workshops where people spend some of their time on occupational activities and social skills training. These workshops resemble someday centres where occupational activities and social skills training are dominant, but part of the time is spent on productive work.
