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 expanding the number of eligible workers through 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, 2002 (pdf 212 KB)

On this page: Find information on disability through Labordoc • International Labour Standards • Statistics • In the media • Key ILO documents • ILO databases • ILO links • External links • Photos • Slideshows • Videos

Find information on disability through Labordoc

• ILO publications on disability
• All publications on disability available in Labordoc

By theme

By region

International Labour Standards

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

International labour standards can be found in the NORMLEX database.

Statistics

• UN Statistics Division: Human functioning and disability
• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC): Washington Group on Disability Statistics


• You will find statistics on the topic in the following selection of publications.

Statistical methods

• ILO: The employment situation of people with disabilities : towards improved statistical information, 2007 (pdf 193 KB)
• ILO: Statistics on the employment situation of people with disabilities: a compendium of national methodologies, 2004 (pdf 1.30 MB)

In the media

News & articles

• “Opportunities for all”: promoting employment for disabled jobseekers and persons with HIV/AIDS, 16 May 2011
• Working together for development: including people with disabilities, 1 December 2010
• Questions and answers on intellectual disabilities, 4 March 2010
• Helping women and men with disabilities fulfil their potential, 2 December 2009
• Marlee Matlin urges that people with disabilities be counted in economic recovery efforts, 12 November 2009
• Questions and answers on the impact of the crisis on people with disabilities, 11 November 2009
• Facts on disability and decent work (pdf 574 KB), November 2009

World of Work, the magazine of the ILO

• Paving a way out of poverty for people with intellectual disabilities (World of Work n°69, August 2010)
• ILO addresses people with disabilities and economic crisis and recovery (pdf 3.1 MB) (World of Work n°67, December 2009, p: 39-41)

More videos

• Ms. Marlee Matlin - Voices on Social Justice, 2010
• Ms. Marlee Matlin on Disabilities and Decent Work, November 2009