On the 11th of November the Council of the European Union published its draft Council Conclusions on the inclusion of persons with disabilities in the labour market. It will be put for approval by the Employment, Social Policy, Health and Consumer Affairs Council configuration (EPSCO) on Thursday the 8th of December.
Although Council Conclusions are not binding, they are used to identify specific issues of concern for the EU and outline particular actions to take or goals to reach among the Member States. They can therefore be significant in directing EU and national actions in different policy areas.
EDF worked extensively to influence the text of these latest council Conclusions, with an aim of ensuring alignment with Article 27 of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UN CRPD), and the new General Comment 8 on work and employment.
The Council Conclusions contain a number of elements we support, and signs that EDF’s positions were taken into consideration. We do, however, see areas where points we consider to be crucial when discussing quality employment for persons with disabilities were underdeveloped or simply not taken into account in the final draft.
Positive aspects
The Council Conclusions hit the mark on a number of topics. For instance, it underlines the extra barriers faced by women with disabilities when it comes to employment, albeit not to the extent we would have liked to see.
It also highlights the issue of persons with disabilities being unable to retain disability allowance when in employment, and the barrier this creates to entering the labour market. The text points out that “the transition from economic inactivity into employment should be supported by inclusive social security systems and should not lead to a reduction in disability benefits compensating for the extra costs of living related to disability”, a position that EDF has been promoting for a long time now. This is underlined further in the text when it states the importance to “strive to ensure that social protection policies effectively contribute to facilitating the employment of persons with disabilities, including where appropriate through compensation for the extra cost associated with disability even for those who are employed (…)”.
There was also an acknowledgement of the need for personal assistance, sign language interpretation and other support services to be made available in the workplace to assist in the provision of reasonable accommodation. In general, reasonable accommodation was something that was significantly present within the Conclusions, as was the importance of remote working, although our strong suggestion to underline that remote working should be optional and never imposed were not taken on board.
Other significant points include the need to invest in self-employment and entrepreneurship, the need to invest in inclusive education and the transition towards the labour market, and recognition of the pressing issue of in-work poverty among persons with disabilities.
Where the Council Conclusions fall short
As mentioned above, there were some points that we found positive yet underdeveloped. The issue of barriers faced by women with disabilities was one of these points where, despite EDF’s input, no mention reference was made to the gender and disability pay gap faced by women with disabilities. Actions around avoiding harassment at work were also unfortunately not mentioned.
There are also ambiguous references to sheltered employment within the text, with some wording suggesting that is seen as a good way to support employment in the open labour market. Paragraph 12, for example, concludes by saying “Inclusive education and adequate social services, effective employment services, including affirmative action, reasonable accommodation in the workplace, vocational rehabilitation and sheltered employment are all important factors that play a role in ensuring that persons with disabilities can access and participate in the open labour market.” This statement groups sheltered employment together with positive actions, and presents it as a good practice, whereas the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) and General Comment 8 state quite the opposite. On the other hand, the Council Conclusions do then go on to explain this point of view by stating that “the role of employers in the sheltered labour market as well as social enterprises in supporting progressive inclusion and transition to the open labour market needs to be recognised and promoted.”
While there were many points to be commended in these Council Conclusions, therefore, we would urge the Council to be more receptive to messages coming from the disability movement, particularly on issues of intersectionality and the particular barriers faced by women with disabilities. Member States should take their lead from organisations of persons with disabilities when distinguishing what the biggest barriers to employment are for persons with disabilities. We also urge the Member States to align their approach to inclusive employment with the provisions laid out in General Comment 8, particularly with regards to women with disabilities, reasonable accommodation and the issue of sheltered employment.
Contact
Haydn Hammersley – Social Policy Coordinator
haydn.hammersley@edf-feph.org