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Article 27 - Right
to work
Background Documents | Article
27 Background
Seventh Session | Sixth Session | Fourth
Session | Third Session
Working Group | References
Fourth Session
Governments
Sudan
Non-governmental organizations
Children's Rights Alliance for England
International Disability Caucus
Working Meeting of NGOs for people with disabilities from Ukraine, Russia, Belarus and Moldova
Comments, proposals and amendments submitted electronically
Governments
PROPOSAL ON DRAFT ARTICLE 22
RIGHT TO WORK:
- Add to article 22 a the phrase in bold so it would read as follows:
Promote a labour market and work environment that are open, inclusive and
accessible to all persons with disabilities, in particular to women with
disabilities.
Non-governmental organizations
CHILDREN's RIGHTS ALLIANCE FOR ENGLAND
Article 22
Right to work
States Parties recognize the right of persons with disabilities to work,
which includes the opportunity to gain a living by work that they freely
choose or accept, with a view to promoting equal opportunity and treatment
of persons with disabilities, and protecting them from poverty.
States Parties shall take appropriate steps to safeguard and promote the realization of this right, including measures to:
(a) Promote a labour market and work environment that are open, inclusive
and accessible to all persons with disabilities;
(b) Enable persons with disabilities to have effective access to general
technical and vocational guidance programmes, placement services, assistive
devices, and vocational and continuing training;
(c) Promote employment opportunities and career advancement for persons
with disabilities in the open labour market, including opportunities for
self-employment and starting one’s own business, as well as assistance in
finding, obtaining and maintaining employment;
(d) Encourage employers to hire persons with disabilities, such as through
affirmative action programmes, incentives and quotas;
(e) Ensure the reasonable accommodation of persons with disabilities in
the workplace and work environment;
(f) Promote the acquisition by persons with disabilities of work experience
in the open labour market;
(g) Promote vocational and professional rehabilitation, job retention and
return-to-work programmes;
(h) Protect through legislation persons with disabilities with regard to
employment, continuance of employment, career advancement, working conditions,
including equal remuneration for work of equal value and equal opportunities,
and the redressing of grievances, and to ensure that persons with disabilities
are able to exercise their labour and trade union rights;
(i) Ensure that persons with disabilities have equal opportunity to employment
in the public sector;
(j) Promote recognition of the skills, merits, abilities and contributions
of persons with disabilities to the workplace and the labour market, and
to combat stereotypes and prejudices about persons with disabilities in
the workplace and the labour market.
Where States Parties have nationally agreed minimum rates of remuneration,
these shall apply to all employees without discrimination.
INTERNATIONAL DISABILITY CAUCUS
Draft Article 22: Right to work
States Parties recognise the right of persons with disabilities to work.
State Parties shall take appropriate steps to safeguard and promote the
realisation of this right, including measures, which apply both to public
and private employers as well as to all forms of employment, to:
a. protect through legislation persons with disabilities, from discrimination
with regard to
- access to employment and self-employment, including selection criteria,
recruitment conditions and promotion;
- vocational guidance and training, including practical work experience;
- employment and working conditions, including dismissal and pay, based
on the principle of equal pay for work of equal value;
- membership of an organisation of workers or employers.
b. ensure through legislation that the denial of reasonable accommodation
is considered as discrimination and that public funding is available to
finance these accommodations. Reasonable accommodation would include the
adaptation of premises and workplaces, the change in patterns of working
time, the provision of support workers and redistribution of tasks.
c. ensure that all mainstream employment, placement, self employment and
vocational and continuing training services are accessible to persons with
disabilities.
d. provide a wide range of employment supports to allow persons with disabilities
of working age to participate in the labour market.
e. ensure through legislation and other measures the retention of employment
by those who acquire a disability.
f. undertake actions to encourage the employment of persons with disabilities,
like awareness raising campaigns and financial incentives.
LANDMINE SURVIVORS NETWORK
Draft Article 22 – RIGHT TO WORK
SYNTHESIS OF PROPOSALS
States Parties recognise the right to work of all persons with disabilities
of lawful working age on an equal basis as others; this includes the right
to the opportunity to gain a living by work freely chosen or accepted. States
Parties shall take appropriate steps to safeguard and promote the realization
of this right, including measures to:
(a) promote labour markets and work environments that are open, inclusive,
and accessible to all persons with disabilities;
(b) enable persons with disabilities to have effective access to general
technical and career guidance programs, placement services, assistive devices,
and job training;
(c) promote equal employment opportunities and career advancement for persons
with disabilities in the open labour market, including opportunities for
self employment, as well as assistance in finding, obtaining and retaining
employment, providing, where necessary, on a transitional basis, for adequately
resourced, alternative forms of employment, in conditions that ensure useful
and remunerative work, and provides opportunities for vocational advancement;
(d) encourage employers to hire persons with disabilities through appropriate
policies and measures;
(e) ensure the reasonable accommodation of persons with disabilities in
the workplace and work environment;
(f) ensure that persons with disabilities are not subjected to slavery,
servitude, forced or compulsory labor;
(g) promote vocational and professional rehabilitation, job retention and
return to work programs for persons with disabilities;
(h) protect through legislation persons with disabilities with regard to
conditions of recruitment, employment, continuance of employment, career
advancement, working conditions, including equal remuneration for work of
equal value and equal opportunities, and the redressing of grievances, and
to ensure persons with disabilities are able to exercise their labour and
trade union rights;
(i) ensure that persons with disabilities have equal opportunity to employment
in both the public and private sectors without discrimination on the basis
of disability; and
(j) promote recognition of the skills, merits, abilities and contributions
of persons with disabilities to the workplace and the labour market, and
to combat stereotypes and prejudices about persons with disabilities in
the workplace and the labour market.
COMMENTS
Draft Article 22 addresses a key life area in which people with disabilities
frequently face a variety of forms of discrimination. Employers are often
unwilling to hire people with disabilities because of stereotypes about
the capabilities of people with disabilities as employees. Many employers
fail to provide accessible work environments and/or are unwilling to provide
reasonable accommodations that would make possible conditions of work. In
addition, people with disabilities are often forced to accept conditions
of work and compensation that are lower than those received by other members
of society doing comparable work.
Many proposals were submitted during the third session of the Ad Hoc Committee
regarding the chapeau of Draft Article 22. The formulation provided here
incorporates the proposal (EU) to ensure consistency with precedent found
in Article 6 of the ICESCR. Thus, references to “prevention of poverty”
(an issue better addressed in articles concerning adequate standard of living),
have been removed. In addition, the proposals to reference “all” persons
with disabilities (Canada) and of “lawful working age” (Uganda, Jordan)
have also been included. Some proposals (Uganda, Jordan) called for the
chapeau to reference “men and women” rather than “persons with disabilities,”
because of concerns about potential exploitation of child labor. However,
other States (EU, New Zealand) noted that such a formulation could restrict
the rights of children with disabilities who may lawfully work and who benefit
from the protections against exploitation found in instruments such as the
CRC. Thus, the reference to “lawful working age” has been utilized to ensure
that Draft Article 22 does not unduly limit those who may benefit from its
provisions.
Draft Article 22(a) has been amended to refer to labor markets and work
environments in the plural (Canada), thus ensuring appropriate breadth of
the provision.
Draft Article 22(b) replaces terms such as “vocational guidance programs”
and “vocational and continuing training” with terms felt to be more current,
such as “career guidance programs” and “job training.” (New Zealand)
Draft Article 22(c) removes the reference to “starting one’s own business,”
as it is redundant in light of the prior reference to “self-employment.”
(South Africa) In addition, “equal” has been included, (Sierra Leone, New
Zealand) to highlight the non-discrimination aspect of the article. Draft
Article 22 (c) also incorporates the proposal of the ILO, which addresses
the transitional needs of people who may experience difficulty finding work
in the open market.
Working Group Draft Text, Draft Article 22(d) provided several examples
of potential means that could be used to encourage employers to hire people
with disabilities, including the use of “incentives and quotas.” Although
some States (Brazil, Bahrain, Israel, Thailand, Viet Nam) felt that the
reference provided useful guidance for States, others (EU, New Zealand,
Sierra Leone, Canada) expressed concern that the references could be too
prescriptive and that it was up to States to develop policies most relevant
and useful for their specific contexts. Thus, the references have been deleted
and replaced with the more general reference to “appropriate policies and
measures.” (EU)
With regard to Draft Article 22(e), it was proposed that the provision be
deleted, because the concept had been adequately addressed elsewhere in
the convention. (Peru) However, the reference to reasonable accommodation
has been retained, because of its direct relevance to the ability of people
with disabilities to obtain work and favourable conditions of work.
Former Draft Article 22(f) has been deleted because of concerns that it
was not only redundant in light of Draft Article 22(c) (Canada), but also
because of the concern that some employers have historically used work experience
as a means to exploit the labour of people with disabilities. (New Zealand,
Costa Rica) It has been replaced with a provision expressly requiring States
to protect people with disabilities from exploitation such as slavery or
forced labour. (Cf. ICCPR, Article 8) Although the chapeau of Draft Article
22 refers to the right to “gain a living by work freely chosen or accepted,”
such provisions do not go far enough in requiring States to proactively
prevent people with disabilities from being subjected to economic exploitation.
Draft Article 22(h) has been amended to include a reference to “conditions
of recruitment” (EU), in order to better capture the need for equality in
hiring practices.
Draft Article 22(i) originally referred only to the right of equal opportunity
to employment in the “public sector.” A number of members (Thailand, Palestine,
Viet Nam, Lebanon) expressed concern that the provision did not extend the
protection of equal opportunity to employment in the private sector. Thus,
the proposal to reference the private sector has been incorporated, and
strengthened with an additional clause expressly prohibiting discrimination
in this regard on the basis of disability. (Thailand)
Although the Convention includes provisions on awareness-raising in Draft
Article 5, Draft Article 22(j) has been retained because of the important
degree of specificity that it brings to awareness-raising in the context
of the right to work.
WORKING MEETING OF NGOs FOR PERSONS WITH DISABILITY FROM UKRAINE, RUSSIA, BELARUS & MOLDOVA
Article 22
Right to work
To add one more issue:
(k) to provide daily occupation and supported employment to people with
disabilities who have low labour productivity and thus can not compete in
the open labour market.