Persons with disabilities
Persons with disabilities’ human rights, including their right to decent work, are protected in a wide range of international human rights instruments.
Disability results from the interaction between persons with impairments and attitudinal and environmental barriers that hinders their full and effective participation in society on an equal basis. There is a need to create an enabling environment, including by removing those barriers, so that persons with disabilities can enjoy real equality in society, including in the field of employment.
The International Labour Organization (ILO) estimated in 2015 that there were one billion persons with disabilities globally, with 80% of them living in “development countries”. Out of that figure, approximately 800 million were of working age as of 2016. Persons with disabilities make up the world’s largest and most disadvantaged minority.
+ Read moreThe rights of Persons with Disabilities are recognised in a wide range of international human rights instruments including, amongst many others:
- the UN Charter (1945),
- the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948),
- the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (1966),
- the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (1966),
- the ILO 159 Convention on Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment (Disabled Persons) (1983),
- the UN Standard Rules on the Equalization of Opportunities for Persons with Disabilities (1993),
- the ILO Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work (1998),
- the ILO Code of Practice for Managing Disability in the Workplace (2002),
- the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (2006), and
- the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (2006).
The prevention and elimination of discrimination, on grounds which include disability, is most present in all recent international and regional human rights instruments. The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities states that:
“persons with disabilities have the right to work on an equal basis with others. This includes the right to the opportunity to gain a living by work freely chosen or accepted in a labour market and work environment that is open, inclusive and accessible to persons with disabilities”.
The UN Standard Rules on the Equalization of Opportunities for Persons with Disabilities notes that:
“States should actively support the integration of persons with disabilities into open employment. This active support could occur through a variety of measures, such as vocational training, incentive-oriented quota schemes, reserved or designated employment, loans or grants for small business, exclusive contracts or priority production rights, tax concessions, contract compliance or other technical or financial assistance to enterprises employing workers with disabilities. States should also encourage employers to make reasonable adjustments to accommodate persons with disabilities”
Employment is central to the ability of persons with disabilities to maintain a decent standard of living for themselves and for their families, and is an important factor influencing their opportunities to participate fully in society.
When given the right working environment, persons with disabilities could productively perform most jobs.
Obstacles to equal opportunities in the workplace or to obtain employment included barriers to education, lack of reasonable accommodation, inaccessibility of information and of the physical environment, including transportation, housing and workplaces, limitations related to legal capacity, as well as attitudinal barriers in society. The World Health Organisation reported in 2011 that women with disabilities commonly earned less than men with disabilities and the wage gaps between men and women with and without disabilities were as big as the difference in employment rates,. A 2012 ILO report stated that throughout the world, persons with disabilities were likely to be in jobs with poor promotional prospects and working conditions, especially in the informal economy, and few had access to skills development and other opportunities that would enable them to earn a decent living.
As highlighted in the UN Guiding Principle on Business and Human Rights, Commentary to Guiding Principle 12:
“enterprises should respect the human rights of individuals belonging to specific groups or populations that require particular attention, where they may have adverse human rights impacts on them…including the rights of persons with disabilities.”
International Disability Alliance stated that there was not only an ethical and human rights legal case, but also a business case for employing persons with disabilities, part of which was related to the need for business enterprises to have a diverse workforce, which largely reflects the diversity of consumers. It also has positive effects in rooting the business within the community. Likewise, the ILO also notes that business enterprises employing persons with disabilities will benefit from more diverse workforces, improved productivity, reduced turnover, safer workplaces and increased customer service and community brand loyalty. The UN Global Compact acknowledges that businesses are increasingly realising that fostering diversity that includes persons with disabilities among employees, suppliers, and customers can provide a competitive advantage.
Various measures have been taken at the international arena in order to guarantee the human rights of persons with disabilities. In 2014 the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights designed a Training Guide on the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities while in 2002 the ILO developed a Code of Practice for Managing Disability in the Workplace to guide employers on how to adopt a positive strategy in managing disability related issues in the workplace. The European Union adopted in 2000 the EU Council Directive 78 General Framework for Equal Treatment in Employment and Occupation, that includes a provision related to the need to provide reasonable accommodation for persons with disabilities in order to guarantee compliance with the principle of equal treatment.
States have adopted legislation to realise the rights of persons with disabilities to access employment, t through the adoption of anti-discrimination legislation with applicability to the workplace. This includes, for example the US Americans with Disabilities Act 1990 and Australia’s Disability Discrimination Act 1992 There have also been a number of positive measures to improve the number of persons with disabilities within the workforce, including quota systems and tax incentives. Peru’s General Law on Persons with Disabilities, adopted in 2012, stipulates that businesses with more than 50 employees must hire persons with disabilities in a percentage no less than 3% of the total amount of workers. Companies complying with the law get a reduction on their income tax that could accrue to up to 50 percent if more than 30 percent of their workforce is composed of persons with disabilities. The Danish Act on the Prohibition against Discrimination in the labour market, which implements EU Council Directive 2000/78, covers not only differential treatment due to disability, but includes a requirement on the employer to adjust the workplace to meet the needs of persons with disabilities. Also, the Ugandan Act on Employment entitles private companies who employ ten or more persons with disabilities as apprentices or regular employees to a deduction of 15% on all payable tax.
Various multi-stakeholder initiatives also address the rights of persons with disabilities. The ILO Global Business and Disability Network is a unique worldwide network of multinational companies, national employers’ organisations, business networks and disabled people’s organisations working in collaboration to promote disability inclusion in the workplace. The UN Global Compact has a Guide for Business on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities to improve business’ understanding of the rights of people with disabilities. In addition, the Global Reporting Initiative produced a Guide on Disability in Sustainability Reporting in 2015.
Many companies across the world have policies, practices and initiatives in place that seek to respect and support the rights and inclusion of persons with disabilities as employees, customers, suppliers and community members. This can include both measures to implement human rights legal obligations or can be measures to go beyond minimum standards. Novartis has created Employee Resource Groups for persons with disabilities that provide them with opportunities to network, exchange views, create innovative business focused solutions and continue professional growth and development. L’ORÉAL’s Global Policy favours the professional insertion of persons with disabilities in the company and it focuses on five priorities: infrastructures, maintenance in employment, recruitment, subcontracting and partnerships. SAMSUNG operates, in collaboration with the Korean Research Institute for Vocational Education and Training affiliated with the Korea Employment Agency for the Disabled, customised training programs for persons with disabilities in the electrical and electronic fields. In addition to that, more and more companies include the employment of persons with disabilities in their sustainability or corporate social responsibility reporting. A 2014 ILO study of 40 Multinational Enterprises’ Sustainability reporting found that although disability tended to be poorly reflected in reporting, this did not always imply the absence of strategies or initiatives on disability. In fact, the study revealed that many business enterprises were active in addressing disability but did not report on the initiatives taken, and that this might have been the case due to the absence of indicators on disability following reporting standards at the time.
References
- Marco Fasciglione, Article 27 of the CRPD and the Right of Inclusive Employment of People with Autism, 2015: https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-319-13791-9_6#Fn72_source
- European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights, Implementing the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) An overview of legal reforms in EU Member States, 05/2015: http://fra.europa.eu/sites/default/files/fra-2015-focus-05-2015-crpd.pdf
- ILO, Business as Usual, Making workplaces inclusive of people with disabilities, 2014: http://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/—ed_emp/—ifp_skills/documents/publication/wcms_316815.pdf
- ILO Global Business and Disability Network, Annual Report, 2014: http://www.businessanddisability.org/images/pdf/annualreport/ILOGBDN_AR2014.pdf
- United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Training Guide on the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, 2014: http://www.ohchr.org/Documents/Publications/CRPD_TrainingGuide_PTS19_EN%20Accessible.pdf
- ILO, Disabilities and Corporate Social Responsibility Reporting, 2014: http://www.businessanddisability.org/images/pdf/pubs/ILO_CSRDisability.pdf
- ILO, Disabilities and decent work in the Pacific, the case for disability inclusive employment, 2014: http://ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/—asia/—ro-bangkok/—ilo-suva/documents/publication/wcms_191671.pdf
- World’s Health Organization, World Report on Disability, 2011: http://www.who.int/disabilities/world_report/2011/report/en/
- United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Monitoring the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, Guidance for Human Rights Monitors, 2010: http://www.ohchr.org/Documents/Publications/Disabilities_training_17EN.pdf
- EU Council Directive 2000/78/EC, establishing a general framework for equal treatment in employment and occupation, 2000: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX:32000L0078&from=EN
- UN Standard Rules on the Equalization of Opportunities for Persons with Disabilities, 1993: http://www.un.org/esa/socdev/enable/dissre00.htm
- International Disability Alliance, Submission to the thematic study by the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights on the work and employment of persons with disabilities: http://www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/Disability/Pages/WorkAndEmployment.aspx
- UN, Toolkit on Disability for Africa, the Rights of Persons with Disabilities to Work: http://www.un.org/esa/socdev/documents/disability/Toolkit/Rights-Persons-with-DisabilitiestoWork.pdf
- United Nations Global Compact, Guide for Business on the Rights of Persons with Disability: http://www.usicd.org/doc/Accessible_Disabilities_Guide.pdf
What National Action Plans say on Persons with disabilities
Belgium
The Belgian NAP makes no direct reference to persons with disabilities.
Chile
Pillar 1: State duty to respect human rights
Strand 1: Training in the Field of Business and Human Rights
Action Point 1.5 [pages 31-32]
The Ministry of Social Development will:
Through the Division of Public-Private Cooperation, include the focus on business, human rights and sustainable development in training activities about Public Incentives to Benefit Social Development by means of:
- Train public and private business enterprises to include inclusive for disabled people in inductions and training programmes.
- Organise seminars to public services and bodies, business enterprises and the civil society to address subject concerning disability. Also, a course about Human Rights and Disability will be given at universities, and outreach actions will be carried out involving public services and bodies, business enterprises and the civil society
Strand 3: Inclusion and Non-Discrimination
Action Point 3.2 [page 37]
The Ministry of Social Development will:
Prepare, through the Division of Social Policy of the Under-Secretariat of Social Evaluation, a statistical report about the socio-economic situation of risk groups including… disabled people…, based on the Socio-Economic Qualification (SEQ) including income generated by work, capital and pensions, contained in the Household Social Register, divided by territory (regional division). This has the purpose of having available information regarding vulnerable groups within certain territory
Promote, through the National Disability Service, the labour insertion of people with disabilities by taking the following specific steps:
- The Programme +Capaz en Línea Especializada para Personas con Discapacidad, will be executed and adapted in conjunction with the National Training and Employment Service (Sence).
- An initiative to strengthen the work of Municipal Offices for Labour Intermediation (OMIL) will be carried out to attend people with disabilities – through a Local Development Strategy.
- Create an Inter-Sectoral Board aimed at urging mass media, including digital media, to be accessible to people with disabilities (by using sign language, captions, making reading easier, access to information or images for people with sight disabilities.)
Strand 5: Public Contracts
Action Point 5.4 [page 44]
The Ministry of Social Development will:
The National Disability Service will review the operation of Guideline 17 about inclusive public purchases that promote equal opportunities in the public marketplace, with the purpose to improve its enforcement in line with the Guiding Principles.
Colombia
The State Duty to Protect
IV. The State’s guidance towards respect for Human Rights in the business activities [page 15]
4.5 The Ministry of Labor will advise the businessmen on the labor inclusion of people with disabilities and employment mediation services, in agreement with the National Public Policy on Disability and Social Inclusion.
Czech Republic
The Czech NAP does not make an explicit reference to Persons with Disabilities.
Denmark
The Danish NAP does not make an explicit reference to Persons with Disabilities.
Finland
The Finnish NAP does not make an explicit reference to Persons with Disabilities.
France
III – Access to Remedy
2. Non-Judicial Mechanisms – At the International Level
2.3 The Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights [page 56]
… This protocol introduces a procedure for individuals or groups seeking to establish their rights under the Covenant, after exhausting all domestic remedies, to submit communications to the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. … Communications can also be submitted to … the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities …
Georgia
Objective 25.9.1: Ensure accordance between construction legislation and human rights protection standards (including standards ensuring adaptive environment for persons with disabilities).
Objective indicator: Prepared and initiated to the Parliament of Georgia project of “Georgian code of Construction and Spatial Planning”.
Activity: Initiating package of amendments in construction legislation.
Responsible agency: Human Rights Secretariat of the Administration of the Government; Ministry of Economy and sustainable development of Georgia.
No partnership agency.
Objective 25.19.1: Ensure implementation of necessary actions for ratifying additional minutes of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
Objective indicator: National legislation brought into accordance.
Activity: Bringing national legislation in accordance with additional minutes of international convention.
Responsible agency: Ministry of Economy and sustainable development of Georgia.
Partnership agency: Parliament.
Germany
1. The State Duty to Protect
1.1 Basic rules of economic policy
Development Policy
Measures [page 20]
The Federal Government will also take specific action to step up its wide-ranging commitment to the protection of human rights defenders when applying the UN Guiding Principles. In the field of business and human rights, as elsewhere, development policy is about standing up for the rights of vulnerable groups, such as …persons with disabilities.
Ireland
The Irish NAP makes no explicit reference to Persons with Disabilities.
Italy
I. Statement of Commitment [page 5]
… To protect human rights, Italy undertakes to:
- Continue to protect, promote universal respect for, and observance of, all human rights, fundamental freedoms and non-discrimination principles, with special attention to the rights of most vulnerable groups, such as … disabled; …
…
IV. Government responses: current activities and future commitments
A. Operational Principles
General State Regulatory and Policy Functions
GP 3 (a)
Planned Measures [page 16]
…
- Implement the provisions included in the draft of the II Program of Action on Disability – currently under approval – with particular focus to line of intervention n. 5 “Labour and occupation” and to the dispositions concerning the definition of supporting measures and of a system of incentives for the I and II level collective negotiations on matters of flexibility, part-time and treatment-work-life balance for persons with disabilities or affected by chronic disease or for caregiver workers for persons with serious disabilities; Ø Strengthen – also in line with the implementation of art. 25 of the UN Convention of Rights of people with disabilities – respect of fundamental rights of people with disabilities with regard access to medical treatment in hospitals and their quality, through the promotion and dissemination of the “Carta dei diritti delle persone con disabilità in ospedale” realized by the Coop. Sociale Onlus Spes contra Spem in 2010;
…
GP 3 (c,d)
Planned Measures [page 20]
…
- Encourage companies in the dissemination of anti-discrimination culture by: …ii) promoting bodies (such as the Osservatorio Aziendale and the Disability Manager) that will have the aim of promoting the inclusion of workers with disabilities within the workplace, as foreseen in the draft of the II Program of Action on Disability; …
…
Lithuania
1. Objectives and Measures
Objective 1: Ensuring State’s duty to protect, defend and respect human rights
C. Measures related to research and training on non-discrimination and other human rights [page 2]
- Promotion of employment of persons with disabilities. The National Programme on Social Integration for persons with disabilities for 2013-2019, approved by Resolution No 1408 of the Government of the Republic of Lithuania of 21 November 2012, aims to create a harmonious environment for the effective development and social integration of persons with disabilities in Lithuania and to ensure the implementation of national legislation relating to the social integration of persons with disabilities and their equal opportunities, and of the provisions of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
Measures foreseen:
to organise training of the employers with a view to encourage their social responsibility as regards employment of persons with disabilities.
Luxembourg
Introduction (pg. 7)
… Regular contacts with, among others, the four national human rights institutions took place in the context [of drafting the NAP]:
- The purpose of the Equal Treatment Center is to promote, analyze and monitor the equality of all persons without discrimination on the grounds of … disability…
Netherlands
The Dutch NAP does not make an explicit reference to Persons with Disabilities.
Norway
The Norwegian NAP makes no explicit reference to Persons with Disabilities.
Poland
Pillar I: The State Duty to Protect Human Rights
3. Regulations on European Funds [page 18]
Article 7 of Regulation No 1303/2013 of the European Parliament and of the European Council of 17 December 2013 laying down common provisions on five EU funds obligates all Member States to take appropriate steps to prevent any form of discrimination, including based on disability. In view of the above, in 2015, the Ministry of Infrastructure and Development developed the Guidelines for the implementation of the principle of equal opportunities and non-discrimination, including accessibility for people with disabilities… The above-mentioned Guidelines aim to ensure the compatibility of operational programmes (OPs) with the principle of equal opportunities and non-discrimination, including accessibility, for people with disabilities… as well as to ensure a coherent approach in this respect under the European Social Fund (ESF), the European Regional Development.
…“The Member States and the Commission shall take appropriate steps to prevent any discrimination based on sex, racial or ethnic origin, religion or belief, disability, age or sexual orientation during the preparation and implementation of programmes. In particular, accessibility for persons with disabilities shall be taken into account throughout the preparation and implementation of programmes.”
The Guidelines are addressed to all institutions that participate in the implementation of operational programmes cofinanced by the ESF, the ERDF and the CF, in particular managing authorities (MAs), intermediate bodies (IPs) and implementing authorities (IAs). MAs ensure that the competent decision-making body or which is a party to a project co-financing agreement under an OP will commit the beneficiary in a decision or project cofinancing agreement to apply the current Guiding Principles. The provisions adopted in these Guiding Principles are also an expression of the inclusion of the provisions of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, ratified by Poland in 2012, within the framework of structural funds. According to the Guiding Principles, the managing authorities of operating programmes develop criteria for the evaluation of applications for co-financing allocation in such a way that co-financing (also projects implemented by enterprises) is offered to projects that have a positive or neutral impact on the principle of equal opportunities and non-discrimination, including accessibility for people with disabilities…The creation of administrative capacity to implement equal opportunities and nondiscrimination policies, including accessibility for people with disabilities… in relation to the European Structural and Investment Funds (EFSI) was regulated in the Action Plan for Equality and Nondiscrimination 2014-2020 (22 April 2015). 8 This document is primarily an action plan for the measures that should be taken by the institutions involved in the implementation of EU funds to ensure accessibility for people with disabilities. The above-mentioned documents provide a strategic and operational framework for the disbursement of structural funds corresponding to EU policies on equal opportunity. They also represent the government’s efforts to implement and promote the provisions of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. In practice, the intention is to give disabled clients of European funds an opportunity to participate in the EU budget, i.e., the opportunity to use the funds, choose a career without barriers, and thus enjoy full inclusion in society. Hence, the introduction of a number of tools intended to ensure such accessibility, e.g., universal design, rational improvements, digital accessibility, or architectural availability.
Pillar II: The Corporate Responsibility to Respect Human Rights
7. Social entrepreneurship as an instrument for creating high-quality jobs for individuals at risk of poverty and social exclusion [page 33]
When considering a responsible approach to doing business and respect for human rights, also by entrepreneurs, it is impossible not to mention the specific form of economic activity known as social entrepreneurship. Social entrepreneurship plays a very important role in the process of social and occupational reintegration of people from different groups who, for various reasons, find themselves in particularly difficult living and working conditions, e.g.,… people with disabilities. These people can return to professional life and full participation in the life of their local community in particular through work and the ability to co-decide about the future of the enterprise they are involved with, but also through other types of activities that are firmly rooted in the local community.
8. Equal opportunities for people with disabilities [page 35]
As regards equal opportunities for disabled people, entrepreneurs should take into account the following issues: – architectural accessibility: conducting accessibility audits, application of solutions that meet the needs of people with various disabilities, including systems supporting hearing, e.g., in conference rooms, main reception areas, facilities for the blind and visually impaired, ensuring the availability of sanitary facilities; – developing products, services, goods, and space based on the universal design concept or designing for everyone, including the disabled, seniors, pregnant women, people with baby strollers; – digital accessibility: accessible websites that should meet the WCAG 2.0 accessibility standard; accessibility of all digital content should be ensured, i.e., online publication of editable documents (e.g., open PDF, Word), avoiding scans of paper documents; – human resources policy: accessible working environment, employing disabled people (also other disadvantaged groups in the labour market); – application of rational improvements, i.e., changes and adjustments, in accordance with the needs of disabled employees and customers; – accessibility in information and promotion activities: social clauses in orders for the performance of tasks and services, communications (e.g., PR) expressed in a language that is easy to understand, respect for diversity, organisation of accessible events; – treatment of accessibility as the operating standard and the philosophy of the subject rather than a one-off operation. These issues are addressed both to the public administration and the business sector, and their implementation will enable the creation of modern-looking entities that are open to serving clients with diverse needs and effectively meet their expectations.
South Korea
D. Tasks for the Third NAP
Institutionalization of Human Rights Management
3. Public procurement considering social responsibility [page 5]
- Highly recommend to apply the guidelines which reflects the corporate social responsibility.
– Give additional credit points to companies which are ‘female·disabled friendly companies’ and which offer work-learning dual program following the guidelines of qualification examination on goods purchase(Public Procurement Guidelines).
– Give additional 10% point on management condition mark when female·disabled friendly companies or social enterprises record construction ratio over 30% according to detailed guidelines of qualification examination on facility construction (Public Procurement guidelines).
…
Spain
Guiding Principle 1
Spain is party to all of the main treaties on human rights and, specifically, to the following: …
- Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities;
Guiding Principle 21
Measure 5
Likewise, an awareness-raising strategy will be carried out on how to avoid discriminatory practices in public and private companies (by distinction, exclusion or preference) because of… disability…
Sweden
The Swedish NAP does not make an explicit reference to persons with disabilities.
Switzerland
The Swiss NAP does not make an explicit reference to Persons with Disabilities.
United Kingdom
The UK 2013 NAP
2. The State Duty to Protect Human Rights
The existing UK legal and policy framework
New actions planned
The Government will do the following to reinforce its implementation of its commitments under Pillar 1 of the UNGPs:
(vi) Promote new project activity on raising awareness and tackling the negative impacts of business activity, including on the human rights of groups like… persons with disabilities…,by tasking our diplomatic missions in countries where these are concerns.
The UK 2016 Updated NAP
2. The State Duty to Protect Human Rights
The existing UK legal and policy framework
Government commitments [page 11]
Consider new project activity on raising awareness and tackling the negative impacts of business activity, including on the human rights of groups like…persons with disabilities…,by tasking our diplomatic missions in countries where these are concerns.
United States
The US NAP does not make an explicit reference to Persons with Disabilities.
