Print
See related documents
Resolution 2258 (2019)
For a disability-inclusive workforce
1. Throughout Europe, persons with
disabilities encounter multiple obstacles with regard to access
to and participation in the labour market. Lack of accessibility,
prejudice regarding the level of competences, discrimination and
the unwillingness of employers to provide reasonable accommodation
in the workplace hinder participation in the workforce. The Parliamentary
Assembly is convinced that it is time to combat negative attitudes,
practices and stereotypes, to dispel the myth according to which
persons with disabilities cannot work as efficiently as others,
and to highlight abilities instead of disabilities.
2. Various measures have been taken in recent years in several
Council of Europe member States to increase the participation of
persons with disabilities in the labour market. However, many barriers
remain and the employment rate of persons with disabilities in both
the public and private sectors is unsatisfactory.
3. The United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with
Disabilities, ratified by 46 of the 47 Council of Europe member
States, lays down the fundamental principle of inclusion of persons
with disabilities in society. The holistic vision of inclusion promoted
by the convention depends on both inclusion in the mainstream education
system and inclusion in the labour market. Its Article 27 recognises
the right of persons with disabilities to work on an equal basis
with others and the obligation to provide reasonable accommodation for
them in the workplace.
4. Promoting a disability-inclusive workforce means preventing
and combating discrimination against persons with disabilities in
access to employment and in the workplace. Effective implementation
of anti-discrimination legislation needs to be ensured. In the spirit
of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, failure
to provide reasonable accommodation in the workplace, such as the
adjustment of equipment, the modification of a job description,
of working time and of the organisation of work, and the adaptation
of the work space, can be qualified as discrimination.
5. The Assembly reiterates its call to develop policies fostering
the employment of persons with disabilities made in its Resolution 2039 (2015) on
equality and inclusion for persons with disabilities. In addition,
it fully supports the Council of Europe Disability Strategy 2017-2023,
which calls on Council of Europe bodies, member States and other
relevant stakeholders to seek to promote equality of all persons
with disabilities and non-discrimination with regard to them, in
particular through an inclusive education system and the development
of training, communication and employment initiatives.
6. The participation of persons with disabilities in the workforce
is a condition for their full inclusion in society. The Assembly
believes that tangible progress can be achieved with regard to the
participation of persons with disabilities in the workforce if political
will is translated into concrete action and sufficient financial resources
are allocated to this end.
7. In the light of these concerns, the Assembly calls on Council
of Europe member States to:
7.1. commit
to making the inclusion of persons with disabilities a priority
by adopting comprehensive national disability action plans, where
this is not yet the case, and allocating sufficient funding for
their implementation;
7.2. implement legislation on preventing and combating discrimination
in access to work and in employment, and adopt specific provisions
on non-discrimination on the grounds of disability, if this has not
yet been done;
7.3. ensure that public transport and public buildings are
accessible to persons with disabilities;
7.4. provide inclusive education and ensure the access of children
with disabilities to mainstream schools, with the provision of specific
assistance when needed;
7.5. engage in or support awareness-raising activities on the
added value and positive results of the participation of persons
with disabilities in the workforce with a view to combating negative
stereotyping;
7.6. provide an inclusive, accessible and safe working environment
for persons with disabilities which allows them to work in fair
conditions and enjoy equal opportunities, as laid down in the United
Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities;
7.7. invest in specific programmes on access to traineeships
and first jobs for persons with disabilities to enable them to gain
work experience;
7.8. encourage the creation of specific human resource services
or foundations providing coaching and implementing projects to boost
the employability of persons with disabilities and helping them
to develop their potential;
7.9. provide financial incentives for companies to make working
spaces accessible and to propose training on disability-inclusive
working environments for managers and potential co-workers;
7.10. protect persons with disabilities from vulnerability in
the labour market by ensuring specialised support, including at
the financial level, both when in employment and when looking for
employment;
7.11. set up specific programmes, where they do not yet exist,
for the reintegration of people who become disabled when already
in employment;
7.12. step up investments in assistive technologies for persons
with disabilities;
7.13. collect data on the employment of persons with disabilities
disaggregated by gender, age and type of disability so as to enable
the adaptation of measures to existing situations;
7.14. consider creating inclusion awards or inclusion labels
for companies and administrations which are proactive with regard
to the recruitment of persons with disabilities and promote a disability-inclusive working
environment.
8. The Assembly calls on national parliaments to ensure the accessibility
of their premises and encourages them to lead by example with regard
to the employment of persons with disabilities.
9. The Assembly praises the essential role played by non-governmental
organisations with regard to the promotion of the participation
of persons with disabilities in the labour market and calls for
these organisations to be financially supported.