Resource Guide on Disability

A disabled person is "[a]n individual whose prospects of securing, returning to, retaining and advancing in suitable employment are substantially reduced as a result of a duly recognized physical, sensory, intellectual or mental impairment."

There is a strong business case for employing people with disabilities since they are often qualified for a particular job. Employers [may] benefit from the employment of people with disabilities, who can make a significant contribution at their place of employment, in jobs matched to their skills and abilities, if disability-related issues are appropriately managed. [They] may also gain by ....continuing the employment of those who become disabled, since valuable expertise acquired on the job and through work-related training is retained.

• Managing disability in the workplace: ILO Code of Practice, Geneva, 2002, pdf 212 KB

The objective of "vocational rehabilitation [is] to enable a disabled person to secure, retain, and advance in suitable employment and thereby further such person’s integration or reintegration into society".

• ILO Convention No. 159 concerning Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment of Disabled Persons, 1983

On this page: How to find more information on disability through Labordoc • International Labour Standards • Statistics • In the Media • Key ILO Documents • ILO Links • External Links

How to find more information on disability through Labordoc

The following themes are intended to guide users performing Labordoc searches for documents on various topics related to disability. For further assistance, users may consult the Labordoc help page or Ask a Librarian.

By themes:

By regions:

International Labour Standards

• Managing disability in the workplace: ILO Code of Practice, Geneva, 2002, pdf 212 KB

Conventions

• C77 Medical Examination of Young Persons (Industry) Convention, 1946
• C78 Medical Examination of Young Persons (Non-Industrial Occupations) Convention, 1946
• C88 Employment Service Convention, 1948
• C102 Social Security (Minimum Standards) Convention, 1952
• C111 Discrimination (Employment and Occupation) Convention, 1958
• C128 Invalidity, Old-Age and Survivors' Benefits Convention, 1967
• C135 Workers’ Representatives Convention, 1971
• C142 Human Resources Development Convention, 1975
• C159 Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment (Disabled Persons) Convention, 1983

Recommendations

• R22 Workmen's Compensation (Minimum Scale) Recommendation, 1925
• R71 Employment (Transition from War to Peace) Recommendation, 1944
• R79 Medical Examination of Young Persons Recommendation, 1946
• R83 Employment Service Recommendation, 1948
• R99 Vocational Rehabilitation (Disabled) Recommendation, 1955
• R111 Discrimination (Employment and Occupation) Recommendation, 1958
• R150 Human Resources Development Recommendation, 1975
• R168 Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment (Disabled Persons), 1983
• R195 Human Resources Development Recommendation, 2004

Statistics

• Statistics on the employment situation of people with disabilities, ILO, Geneva, 2004, pdf 1335 KB
• UN Statistics Division - Human functioning and disability
• Washington Group on Disability Statistics

In the Media

• Facts on Disability in the World of Work

Press Releases

• ILO report calls for new efforts to support people with disabilities in the world of work
• Activists, including an academy-award winning actress, call for decent work and more rights for people with disabilities
• ILO welcomes new UN Convention on rights of people with disabilities
• ILO Code seeks to improve job prospects for the disabled
• ILO meeting on the management of disability at the workplace
• Worker Disability Problems Rising in Industrialized Countries: Solutions Sought in Washington, D.C. Conference

Feature stories

• Fully Fit at Work: disabled workers in Poland
• Equality at work: Tackling the challenges of disability
• International Day of Disabled Persons 2005 - Disabled people in Ethiopia: Making public services work for poor people

Videos

• Disability in Ukraine

World of Work, the magazine of the ILO

• Disabled people in Ethiopia: Making public services work for poor people