Employment

Employment and People with Disabilities

EPR and its members are committed to support competitive employment opportunities for people with disabilities and meaningful inclusion in the mainstream workforce, as set forth in international legal instruments. The right to work on an equal basis with others and the right to “just and favourable conditions of work” are human rights recognised in Articles 6 and 7 of the ICESCR and Article 27 of the UNCRPD.

People with disabilities should enjoy the right to work in a labour market and work environment that is open, inclusive and accessible. The International Labour Organisation (ILO) points out that the right of people with disabilities to decent work, however, is frequently denied. Additional challenges for people with disabilities to access the job market are mainly in terms of attitudinal, physical and informational barriers to equal opportunities. Higher unemployment and inactivity rates can also prevent people with disabilities to fully enjoy other rights, creating exclusion from society and leading to insufficient social protection. By assisting and working with leading service providers across Europe, EPR promotes the development of quality services to overcome barriers to the employment of people with disabilities. EPR brings together service providers from different countries to share and continuously improve employment services. EPR activities equip members to strengthen partnerships with companies to better match people with disabilities’ needs and rights, companies’ demands and labour market changes.

• Resources:

One of our main fields of policy analysis is Employment. See here for our work.

We created a briefing to help social enterprises in accessing finance to support the employment of people with disabilities. Read the study here. 

• Events:

National Awareness raising event on Employment; focus on reasonable accommodation (Slovenia, 2017)

Workshop: Cooperation with Employers (Germany, 2017)