Unfortunately, persons with disabilities have frequently been denied the right to work.

Attitudes and assumptions about the capabilities of persons with disabilities often lead employers to the false conclusion that a person’s disability makes him or her less capable and thus disqualifies him or her from being able to perform work-related tasks. This misconception results in persons with disabilities not being hired or only being hired for jobs that do not utilize their knowledge or skills.

Similar attitudes lead employers to believe that some employees with disabilities may be “dangerous” to themselves or others in the workplace or that customers will be offended or feel uncomfortable by the presence of persons with disabilities.

Employers also often assume that the costs of implementing reasonable accommodations for employees with disabilities (for example, accessibility features or flexible working schedules) are prohibitively expensive. Some employers use this rationale to pay their employees with disabilities a lower salary than that received by others doing comparable work. In more extreme cases, persons with disabilities may find themselves forced into abusive, exploitative slave-labour or other unsafe working conditions, perhaps with no pay at all.

Alternatively, persons with disabilities are denied opportunities to work in mainstream settings and may have to work in a segregated setting when they might not otherwise choose to do so.

The “right to work” encompasses the right of all people to the opportunity to earn a living by freely choosing or accepting work and to undertake that work in safe and favourable working conditions.

The right to work also includes the right to form and join trade unions, through which people can protect their interests and advocate for safe and favourable working conditions.

According to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD):

1. States recognize the right of persons with disabilities 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.

   States shall safeguard and promote the realization of the right to work, including for those who acquire a disability during the course of employment, by taking appropriate steps, including through legislation, to, among other things:

   1. Prohibit discrimination on the basis of disability with regard to all matters concerning all forms of employment, including conditions of recruitment, hiring and employment, continuance of employment, career advancement and safe and healthy working conditions;
   2. Protect the rights of persons with disabilities, on an equal basis with others, to just and favourable conditions of work, including equal opportunities and equal remuneration for work of equal value, safe and healthy working conditions, including protection from harassment, and the redress of grievances;
   3. Ensure that persons with disabilities are able to exercise their labour and trade union rights on an equal basis with others;
   4. Enable persons with disabilities to have effective access to general technical and vocational guidance programs, placement services, and vocational and continuing training;
   5. Promote employment opportunities and career advancement for persons with disabilities in the labour market, as well as assistance in finding, obtaining, maintaining and returning to employment;
   6. Promote opportunities for self-employment, entrepreneurship, the development of cooperatives and starting one’s own business;
   7. Employ persons with disabilities in the public sector;
   8. Promote the employment of persons with disabilities in the private sector through appropriate policies and measures, which may include affirmative action programs, incentives and other measures;
   9. Ensure that reasonable accommodation is provided to persons with disabilities in the workplace;
   10. Promote the acquisition by persons with disabilities of work experience in the open labour market;
   11. Promote vocational and professional rehabilitation, job retention and return-to-work programs for persons with disabilities.

2. States shall ensure that persons with disabilities are not held in slavery or in servitude, and are protected, on an equal basis with others, from forced or compulsory labour.