International Labor Organization Establishes Code of Practice on Managing Disability in the Workplace
Part II - Recruitment
4. Recruitment
4.1. Preparing for recruitment
4.1.1. The principle of non-discrimination should be respected throughout the recruitment process, to ensure maximal benefit to the employer and equitable opportunities for candidates with and without disabilities. Employers could, for example, include a statement about commitment to equal opportunity in their recruitment procedures and in job advertisements, use a logo to signal that such a policy is in force within the enterprise, specifically invite applications from people with disabilities, and state that candidates will be considered solely on the basis of their abilities.
4.1.2. Employers should ensure that the recruitment process attracts applications from as many qualified people with disabilities as possible. They could do this, for example, by consulting with the employment service for disabled persons, or other special agencies by ensuring that job vacancies are publicized in a format which is accessible to people with different disabilities, in print, on radio, on the Internet,by providing job application materials in a range of formats.
4.1.3. Where employers rely on agencies for the management of recruitment, the competent authorities could collaborate with employers' organizations, relevant organizations of persons with disabilities and advertising associations to develop advertising practices which attract applications from jobseekers with disabilities.
4.1.4. Competent authorities should assist employers by facilitating the recruitment of disabled persons through the use of effective job placement services. The competent authorities should also facilitate the arrangement of technical advice, wage subsidies and other incentives as appropriate.
4.1.5. Organizations of employers and workers, and competent authorities, where appropriate, could prepare guidelines to assist in the employment of people with disabilities in urban and rural areas. These guidelines should reflect national and sectoral circumstances.
4.1.6. Employers' organizations could support the recruitment of workers with disabilities by working with service agencies, employment services and organizations of persons with disabilities to ensure that the services provided effectively meet employer needs.
4.1.7. In considering a candidate with a disability for a specific job, employers should be open to making adjustments, if required, in the workplace, workstation and work conditions, to maximize the ability of this candidate to perform the job. Advice and guidance on appropriate adjustments may be obtained from employment services or specialist agencies, including organizations of or for persons with disabilities. Adjustments, where required, should be planned in consultation with disabled and non-disabled workers, and be made with the agreement of workers' representatives and the disabled worker(s) involved (see also section 7).
4.2. Interviewing and testing
4.2.1. Pre-employment tests and selection criteria should focus on the specific skills, knowledge and abilities regarded as essential to the functions of the vacant job. Care should be taken in selecting the tests to ensure that they are in a format which is accessible to disabled applicants. Similarly, selection criteria should be carefully examined to ensure that they do not inadvertently exclude persons with disabilities.
4.2.2. Members of interview panels in the private and public sectors should be provided with guidance on the interview and selection process of persons with disabilities.
4.2.3. Employers should consider ways of enabling candidates with disabilities to participate and perform at interviews on an equal basis with other candidates, for example by permitting a sign language interpreter or an advocate to be present.
4.2.4. In issuing invitations to interview, employers could encourage candidates to state in advance any specific needs or accommodations they may require in order to participate in the interview.
4.2.5. Adjustments in the recruitment process to take account of the different needs of disabled jobseekers, and the rationale for such adjustments should be communicated to disabled candidates and to employees.
4.3. Employee orientation to jobs
4.3.1. Employers should arrange an orientation to the company or service, the work environment and the job for each newly recruited worker with a disability, in the same way as for non-disabled workers.
4.3.2. Employers should ensure that information essential to the job and workplace, such as job instructions, works manuals, information on staff rules, grievance procedures and health and safety procedures are communicated to employees with disabilities in a format which assures that they are fully informed.
4.3.3. In offering a job to a disabled candidate, the employer should indicate any disability-related adjustments to the work environment, workstation, work schedules or training which are proposed and consult with the candidate further on the subject. Any special job training or personal support required should also be discussed at this time.
4.3.4. Workers' representatives and co-workers should be consulted about any substantial adjustments made or planned, to take account of specific needs of an employee with a disability.
4.3.5. Employers should cooperate with the competent authorities or other relevant agencies in facilitating courses for management, supervisors, or co-workers who wish to learn alternative communication techniques, to better communicate with colleagues who have difficulty speaking, hearing or understanding verbal language.
4.3.6. Once the recruitment of a person with a disability has taken place, follow-up services may be important in ensuring that any problems which may arise are swiftly identified and resolved. In this context, employers and the employee with a disability could benefit from continued contact with the employment services and other relevant agencies. Employers should consult these services and agencies directly, if necessary, and facilitate workers with disabilities in also maintaining contact, with a view to promoting their satisfactory integration into the workplace.
4.4. Work experience
4.4.1. Where employers are not immediately in a position to employ a disabled worker, they could consider providing work experience opportunities to jobseekers with disabilities, to enable them to acquire the skills, knowledge and work attitude required for specific jobs in the workplace. Such workplace-based experience can help make the jobseeker's skills more relevant to the employer's requirements. It also provides the opportunity for an employer to gauge a disabled worker's abilities and capacity, and perhaps to consider recruitment once the training period has been completed.
4.4.2. Where work experience is provided, employers may assign a supervisor or senior worker to assist the person. Alternatively, the services of a job coach may be provided through the employment services.
4.5. Work trials and supported employment placements
4.5.1. The competent authorities should facilitate work experience, work trials and supported employment by providing employers and persons with disabilities with technical advice, as required, and by informing them of incentive schemes available to subsidize any costs involved, such as wage costs or costs of adaptations to premises, tools or equipment.
4.5.2. As an alternative to immediate recruitment or the provision of work experience opportunities, employers could consider giving a disabled person a work trial or a supported employment placement, in accordance with national law and practice. As with work experience, these will provide the employer the opportunity to assess ability and capacity. In some cases, recruitment may follow. Even where this does not result, a work trial or a supported employment placement provides disabled jobseekers with valuable work experience which increases their subsequent employability.
4.5.3. In the case of supported employment, the competent authorities could facilitate the provision of job coach services and ongoing follow-up throughout the placement, either directly through the public employment services, or through other specialist agencies.
4.5.4. On completion of work trials, the competent authorities or other specialist agencies could follow up with the employer, to review the trial's success and make other arrangements, if necessary. These could include the transfer of the work trial to a different job within the company or elsewhere, or the organization of additional training or other supports for the disabled person.
4.6. Progress review
4.6.1. Employers should keep their recruitment process under review, in order to ensure that it is accessible to people with different types of disability.
4.6.2. The competent authorities should undertake regular reviews of the effectiveness of measures to promote employment opportunities for disabled persons, and take steps to improve the effectiveness of these measures, where necessary. These reviews should be carried out in consultation with employers and worker representatives, as well as representatives of disabled persons.
Part III - Promotion, Job retention and adjustments
5. Promotion
5.1. Career development
5.1.1. Workers with disabilities should be afforded equal opportunities with other workers at the workplace to acquire the skills and experience necessary to advance in their careers.
5.1.2. Information about career development and promotional opportunities should be made available and communicated in a range of formats accessible to workers with different disabilities in the enterprise. Particular attention should be paid to accessibility, where such information is provided electronically.
5.1.3. Workers with disabilities should be encouraged to apply for promotion, particularly where it appears that they may be reluctant to do so, because of an impairment or other obstacle arising from their disability, or perceived obstacles in their working environment.
5.1.4. In considering workers for promotion, employers should take account of their prior experience, if any, competencies, present performance and capabilities, in addition to formal qualifications suitable to the essential requirements of the job.
5.2. Employer-sponsored training opportunities, manuals and courses
5.2.1. Opportunities for workers with disabilities to avail of in-service training programmes should be developed and publicized. The use of readers, interpreters and adapted materials should be facilitated, where required, by the competent authorities, or by organizations of or for persons with disabilities.
5.2.2. Employers should consider adjusting time schedules, venues and programmes to facilitate and maximize the participation of persons with disabilities in measures intended for the career development of all employees.
5.2.3. In developing training opportunities, employers or groups of employers should ensure that these are accessible to disabled persons.
5.2.4. Workplace training handbooks and materials should be accessible to persons with communication impairments and intellectual disabilities, including, when the need arises, alternative formats for printed materials and use of visual illustrations, in place of text.
5.3. External vocational training
5.3.1. A policy of equal opportunity should be implemented in workplace-based enrolment for vocational training by making courses available and accessible to all employees, including those with disabilities and modifying course manuals and materials, where necessary.
5.3.2. The competent authorities should ensure that educational and training structures are accessible to persons with disabilities to enable them to have access to open employment.
5.3.3. In selecting external training services and opportunities, employers should take account of the venue accessibility for workers with disabilities.
5.4. Review and appraisal
5.4.1. The performance appraisal of workers with disabilities should take place according to the same criteria applied to holders of the same or similar jobs.
6. Job retention
6.1. Policy on acquired disabilities
6.1.1. Where existing employees acquire a disability while in employment, employers can continue to benefit from their accumulated expertise and experience by taking steps to enable them to retain their employment. In developing a strategy for managing disability in the workplace, employers should include measures for job retention including:
- early intervention and referral to appropriate services;
- measures for a gradual resumption of work;
- opportunities for workers with disabilities to test work or obtain experience in an alternative job if they are unable to resume their previous jobs;
- the use of support and technical advice to identify any opportunities and any adjustments which might be required.
6.1.2. In seeking to facilitate job retention or return to work by a disabled employee, employers should be aware of the range of possible options. In some cases, the employee may be able to return to the same job as before, with no changes. In other cases, some adjustments may be required to the job itself, to the workstation or the working environment. In yet other cases, it may be necessary for the person to move to a different job in the workplace. The disability management strategy should include measures to promote job retention in each of these forms. These may include training or retraining for the person concerned, the provision of information to supervisors and co-workers, the use of devices and appliances, the right to access to other supports as appropriate, as well as modifications or alternative options in the procedures needed to perform the job so that any existing condition is not exacerbated.
6.1.3. In developing measures for the redeployment of workers with disabilities, employers should take into account the occupational preferences of those workers and consult with worker representatives, if necessary.
6.1.4. When a worker acquires a disability, the employer should ensure that accommodation measures are fully considered in order to utilize the residual potential and skills of that worker, before other steps are taken.
6.1.5. The competent authorities should provide guidance, services and incentives to employers, groups of employers and employers' organizations, in order to maximize opportunities for people with disabilities to retain their employment, and to resume work speedily following an accident, injury, disease, changed capacity or disabling condition. These could include measures which allow for individual counselling, individual rehabilitation plans or job retention programmes, aiming to promote opportunities for these workers in their current or another occupation in which they can make use of their talents and experience, as far as possible without loss of earnings. Such measures should be developed in consultation with employers' organizations and workers' organizations, relevant professionals and organizations of persons with disabilities.
6.2. Assessment and rehabilitation
6.2.1. The competent authorities, upon request of the employer, should facilitate employers to assess the abilities and work experience of workers who have acquired a disability or reduced capacity for their job, with a view to their continuing in the same job, if necessary with some modification of their job tasks, the working environment or work schedule, or through retraining.
6.2.2. The competent authorities should promote the availability of opportunities for workers who become disabled, experience work-related injuries, or develop occupational diseases in the course of their working life to remain economically active through:
- vocational retraining opportunities including those suited to a variety of sectors on the open labour market;
- the promotion and support of information and advisory services relating to job retention and return to work;
- the development of materials, if possible in the form of an electronic database, illustrating examples of successful job-retention practices and experiences suited to women and to men, to older and younger workers and to urban and rural areas, and appropriate to national conditions;
- active programmes to facilitate the integration or reintegration of persons with disabilities into the labour market;
- monitoring the compatibility of social security systems supporting workers with disabilities with the goals of job retention and return to work.
6.2.3. The competent authorities should ensure that the appropriate services required by people who acquire a disability while in employment are available promptly, are of high quality and are well coordinated.
6.2.4. The competent authorities could bring to the attention of all employees the range and scope of provisions, both in cash and in kind, within their social security schemes which are intended to have a preventative, compensatory or rehabilitative function in relation to disability.
6.2.5. The competent authorities should establish model practices and procedures for job retention in the public sector.
6.2.6. Workers' representatives should establish policies for job retention by persons with disabilities in their own organizations and in their proposals for collective bargaining.
7. Adjustments
In recruiting or retaining workers with disabilities, employers may need to make an adjustment or adjustments in some cases to enable the individual to perform the job effectively. For the sake of convenience, provisions regarding the different types of possible adjustments are grouped together in this section. It is emphasized, however, that in many cases, such adjustments are not required.
7.1. Accessibility
7.1.1. To facilitate the recruitment of persons with disabilities and job retention by workers who acquire a disability, employers should take steps to improve the accessibility of the work premises to people with different types of disability. This should include consideration of entrance to and movement around the premises and of toilet and washroom facilities.
7.1.2. Accessibility should also be understood to include signage in use, manuals, workplace instructions and electronic information. These should be reviewed, where necessary, for accessibility to people with visual impairment and for people with intellectual disability in particular.
7.1.3. Accessibility for people with hearing impairment includes access to information frequently conveyed by sound, such as the ringing of a bell, a fire alarm, whistle or siren. Such facilities should be reviewed and complemented, where necessary, with alternative devices such as flashing lights.
7.1.4. In planning to improve accessibility, employers should consult with the disabled worker and with specialist technical advisory services, which might include organizations of persons with disabilities, and refer to any criteria established by the competent authorities.
7.1.5. Emergency planning should ensure that persons with disabilities are able to safely and effectively evacuate the workplace to an area of safety.
7.2. Adaptations
7.2.1. Adaptations may be required to the workstation to enable the worker with a disability to perform the job effectively. In planning adaptations, employers should consult with the disabled worker involved and with worker representatives.
7.2.2. Similarly, adaptations may be required to tools and equipment to facilitate optimal job performance. These, too, should be planned in consultation with the disabled worker, and worker representatives.
7.2.3. For some workers with disabilities, it may be necessary to review the job description and make changes for example by deleting a part of the job which the person is unable to perform and replacing this with another task or tasks.
7.2.4. Flexibility of work schedules can be a significant factor in enabling some individuals with disabilities to perform a job satisfactorily. This too should be considered, in consultation with the workers concerned and their representatives.
7.2.5. Performance requirements may need to be reviewed, in consultation with the disabled workers and their representatives, particularly at an early stage after recruitment, or after an existing employee has acquired a disability.
7.3. Incentives and support services
7.3.1. The competent authorities should make available to employers incentives for workplace adjustments, as well as a technical advisory service which provides up-to-date advice and information on adjustments to the workplace or to the organization of job tasks, as required.
8. Confidentiality of information
8.1. With the consent of the person concerned, any relevant information relating to a disabled worker's reduced function or impaired health status should be assembled and kept by the employer, in a manner that maintains confidentiality.
Appendix 1
Relevant international disability initiatives
Relevant international disability initiatives include:
- The World Programme of Action Concerning Disabled Persons, adopted by the United Nations in 1982 (http://www. un.org/esa/socdev/enable/diswpa00.htm).
- The United Nations Decade of Disabled Persons, 1983-92
- (http://www.un.org/esa/socdev/enable/dis50y60.htm).
- The United Nations Standard Rules on the Equalization of Opportunities for People with Disabilities, adopted in 1993 (http://www.un.org/esa/socdev/enable/dissre00.htm).
- International Labour Organization Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment (Disabled Persons) Convention, 1983 (No. 159), its accompanying Recommendation (No. 168), 1983, and Vocational Rehabilitation (Disabled) Recommendation, 1955 (No. 99) (http://www.ilo.org/public/english/ standards/relm/ilc/ilc86/r-iii1ba.htm).
- The Asian and Pacific Decade of Disabled Persons, 1993- 2002) (http://www.unescap.org/decade/index.htm).
- The Copenhagen Declaration on Social Development, 1995 (http://www.earthsummit2002.org/wssd/wssd/wssdr1.htm).
- The African Decade of Disabled Persons, 2000-09 (http:// www.un.org/esa/socdev/enable/disecn017e2.htm).
These initiatives aim to promote the full participation of disabled persons in all aspects and sectors of society. The 1995 Copenhagen Declaration views disability as a form of social diversity and points to the need for an inclusive response which strives to build a "a society for all."
Appendix 2
Other related ILO Conventions and Recommendations
Basic human rights
Discrimination (Employment and Occupation) Convention, 1958 (No. 111), and Recommendation, 1958 (No. 111).
Employment
Employment policy
Employment Policy Convention, 1964 (No. 122), and Recommendation, 1964 (No. 122);
Termination of Employment Convention, 1982 (No. 158);
Employment Policy (Supplementary Provisions) Recommendation, 1984 (No. 169);
Employment Promotion and Protection against Unemployment Convention, 1988 (No. 168).
Employment services
Employment Service Convention, 1948 (No. 88), and Recommendation, 1948 (No. 83).
Vocational guidance and training
Human Resources Development Convention, 1975 (No. 142), and Recommendation, 1975 (No. 150).
Employment of specific categories of persons
Medical Examination of Young Persons (Industry) Convention, 1944 (No. 77);
Medical Examination of Young Persons (Non-Industrial Occupations) Convention, 1946 (No. 78);
Medical Examination of Young Persons Recommendation, 1946 (No. 79);
Older Workers Recommendation, 1980 (No. 162).
Labour relations
Co-operation at the Level of the Undertaking Recommendation, 1952 (No. 94).
Conditions of work
Occupational safety and health
Working Environment (Air Pollution, Noise and Vibration) Convention, 1977 (No. 148);
Occupational Safety and Health Convention, 1985 (No. 155), and Recommendation, 1985 (No. 164);
Occupational Health Services Convention, 1985 (No. 161), and Recommendation, 1985 (No. 171);
Chemicals Convention, 1990 (No. 170).
Wages
Minimum Wage Fixing Machinery (Agriculture) Convention, 1951 (No. 99);
Equal Remuneration Convention, 1951 (No. 100).
Social security
Income Security Recommendation, 1944 (No. 67);
Social Security (Minimum Standards) Convention, 1952 (No. 102);
Employment Injury Benefits Convention, 1964 (No. 121), and Recommendation, 1964 (No. 121);
Invalidity, Old-Age and Survivors' Benefits Convention, 1967 (No. 128), and Recommendation, 1967 (No. 131).
These Conventions and Recommendations are available on the ILO web site (http://www.ilo.org).
Appendix 3
Examples of legal and policy frameworks concerning disability adopted by some ILO member States
The last decades of the twentieth century witnessed significant changes in the legal and policy frameworks concerning disability in countries around the world. Many governments have adopted policies which aim to promote the rights of people with disabilities to participate as fully as possible in society. These include policies to improve employment opportunities for people with disabilities which are frequently backed by legislation.
In some countries, this comprises legislation or regulations which require employers to reserve a certain proportion of jobs for people with recognized disabilities - generally referred to as quota legislation. If employers do not fullfil this obligation, many countries require them to pay a contribution into a central fund to be used to promote the accessibility of workplaces or for vocational rehabilitation purposes. Countries with this type of legislation include many European countries, such as France, Germany and Italy, and several Asian countries, such as China, Japan and Thailand.
Other countries have introduced anti-discrimination or employment equity laws which make it unlawful for employers to discriminate on the basis of disability in recruitment, promotion, dismissal and other aspects of employment. Countries with this type of legislation include Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the Scandinavian countries, South Africa, the United Kingdom and the United States.
Many governments have introduced a range of measures to support the implementation of these policies and laws. These include financial supports to employers, to serve as an incentive or to ensure that the employment of the person does not cause any additional cost or other problems to the employer, and support services to ensure that the relevant technical advice is provided and any problems are quickly resolved.
Against the background of these changes in policy and laws, employment opportunities for people with disabilities have evolved dramatically over the past ten to 20 years. Far more emphasis is now placed on integrating jobseekers with disabilities into competitive employment, rather than providing them with work in special centres. Some employers have recruited candidates with disabilities directly, while others have been more cautious in their approach, preferring to offer a work trial or a period of work experience before committing themselves to recruitment. And many employers now retain employees and workers who acquire a disability while in their employment, sometimes because they are required by law to do so, as well as facilitating the return to work of those who have dropped out of employment due to their disability. Valuable lessons have been learned about the abilities of people with disabilities, which should be borne in mind by employers and others providing employment-related supports to ensure that they can perform their jobs effectively.
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