Palacios Alimentación receives the Discert certificate

Palacios Alimentación has become the first food company in Europe with the Discert certificate

For the last two years Palacios Alimentación has followed a protocol to encourage finding jobs for persons with disabilities in their industrial division *The DisCert certificate is the first in Europe allowing companies to demonstrate that they meet the LISM.

La Rioja business Palacios Alimentación has received the DisCert certificate, the first in Europe that recognises, scores and improves organisations’ commitment to finding jobs for people with disabilities through the TÜV Rheinland verification. Palacios has thereby become the first company in the food sector to obtain the DisCert certificate.

For Palacios, this certificate is fundamental as integrating people with disabilities is a corporate priority as explained by Carlos Barraqué, Human Resources manager, “we have see integration firsthand from two perspectives: in the offices and in the plant.” In the latter, real obstacles to joining the workplace could be seen given that “often when they see their future work station, it is the disabled person who actually thinks they are not capable of doing the job.” As a result of this experience, Barraqué explains that, for the last two years, Palacios Alimentación has followed a protocol that it implements before contracting people with a disability. After applying this protocol and once Palacios picks the worker, they let them actually assess and accept the job, giving them the chance to try and get to know their future job in the factory. This system has been successful as there has been a considerable increase in the number of disabled people who have accepted their job and feel fully part of the company.

Industry, an added difficulty.

Palacios Alimentación recognises that “despite the difficulties, with good selection, a person with a disability can be integrated almost like any other worker into a work environment as complicated as ours.”

Corporate Social Responsibility

By obtaining the DisCert certificate, Palacios Alimentación is not only meeting the legislation in force but also strengthening, improving and demonstrating their commitment to people with disabilities. And they manage it, in addition to integrating disabled staff, by putting alternative measures into practice such as contracting services from employment administration firms.

The DisCert manager in Spain, Francesc Saldaña, explains that with the DisCert certificate “we provide organisations operating in our country with a real, objective way of measuring their social commitment. We are proud to award it to a socially committed company like Palacios Alimentación.

The Discert© Certificate is the first European certificate to recognise organisations (public or private) that meet the legal requirements whilst also scoring other measures that go beyond legislation. This credential is certified by the European leader TÜV Rheinland.

Palacios Alimentación is a food company that sells a wide range of traditional cold meats, fresh pizzas, ready meals, sandwiches and desserts. Since 1998 it has been one of 4 European companies authorised by the United States to sell meat products. Right now, its market includes over 10 European countries, Mexico and Chile.