Background information

In the last years, the issue of the advancement of reasonable accommodation and accessibility in the workplace and beyond has been high on the EU and international non-discrimination agendas.

If adopted, the proposal of the EU Horizontal Equal Treatment Directive would complement the Framework Employment Directive by obliging the EU Member States to provide persons with disabilities with general accessibility and reasonable accommodation in areas beyond employment.

In the context of the review of the EU’s performance in implementing the UNCRPD, the UN Committee published its concluding observations. It formally recommends the EU to take effective action to ensure that persons with disabilities receive the reasonable accommodation they need, including by moving forward on the proposals of the European Accessibility Act and the Horizontal Equal Treatment Directive.

The concept of reasonable accommodation is also essential for other grounds of discrimination. The example of accommodation of religious and cultural practices and needs in the workplace is particularly relevant in a context of rising discrimination on the grounds of religion and belief.

In light of this, the Equinet 2013 Good Practice Guide “Equality bodies supporting good practice on making reasonable accommodation for people with disabilities by employers and service providers” and the 2014 perspective “Realising Rights. Equality bodies and people with disabilities. Supporting the review of the European Union Disability Strategy 2010-2020” both highlight significant challenges for equality bodies in promoting reasonable accommodation and accessibility.

These reports served as bases for discussion at the Seminar on Reasonable Accommodation and Accessibility.

Objectives

Equinet organised a one and a half day capacity-building seminar for equality bodies’ staff members on accessibility and reasonable accommodation.

The seminar took stock of the experiences of equality bodies on accessibility and reasonable accommodation and built on previous work by Equinet in this field, notably on the 2014 Perspective and the 2013 Good Practice Guide.

In particular, the seminar aimed to:

• Build capacity of equality bodies’ staff members in understanding, promoting and ensuring reasonable accommodation and accessibility by:
   Facilitating the exchange of good practices
   Initiating discussions on challenges encountered by equality bodies in this area
   Providing equality bodies with practical advice on how to implement effectively the concepts of accessibility and reasonable accommodation

• Update equality bodies on recent EU and international developments related to reasonable accommodation and accessibility

Summary

The summary of the Seminar is available here:

Summary_Vienna_Seminar

Speakers’ Presentations

OPENING SESSION

• Welcome and opening by Equinet (Evelyn Collins, Chair of Equinet, Chief Executive of the Equality Commission for Northern Ireland)
• Opening address by the Austrian Disability Ombudsman (Erwin Buchinger, Austrian Disability Ombudsman, Austria)
• Accessibility and reasonable accommodation on the ground of disability: definitions, scope and challenges (keynote address by Professor Anna Lawson, Leeds University)

SESSION 1 - Setting the Scene: Specific challenges and ways forward on accessibility and reasonable accommodation for persons with disability

• The EU legal and policy framework for accessibility and reasonable accommodation (Jessica Machacova, Equinet)
• The UNCRPD, accessibility and reasonable accommodation: implementation and challenges (Sara Brunet, Chair of ENNHRI’s CRPD Working Group and Senior Lawyer, Equality and Human Rights Commission, Great Britain)

WORKSHOP 1 - Discussion groups: Promoting accessibility and reasonable accommodation for persons with disabilities in employment

• Making accessibility and reasonable accommodation a reality in the workplace (Peter Noflatscher, Austrian National Council of Disabled Persons, Austria)
• What must equality bodies do and say if they are to enable disabled people to be treated fairly in the workplace? (Susan Scott-Parker OBE, Founder and CEO, Business Disability International, United Kingdom)

WORKSHOP 2 - Discussion groups: Promoting accessibility and reasonable accommodation for persons with disability beyond employment

• Accessibility and reasonable accommodation beyond employment: overview and challenges (Ignacio Sola-Barleycorn, European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights - FRA, European Union)
• Access to goods and services: the Easy-to-Read project (Aleksandra Ivanković, Executive Director, Inclusion Europe, Belgium)

WORKSHOP 3 - Discussion groups: Equality bodies’ good practices

• Cooperation with duty bearers: the case of municipalities (Vibeke Huge Rehfeld, Danish Institute for Human Rights, Denmark)
• Accessibility, reasonable accommodation and arbitration in Austria (Aaron Banovics, Office of the Austrian Disability Ombudsman, Austria)
• Information project: “Come on in – access to everyone” project (Liisa Pakosta, Gender Equality and Equal Treatment Commissioner, Estonia)
• Raising awareness: “Every customer counts” project (Frank Fleming, Equality Commission for Northern Ireland, Northern Ireland)

SESSION 2 and WORKSHOP 4 - Reasonable accommodation beyond the ground of disability

• The ground of religion or belief and gender: issues in counselling-practice (Sandra Konstatzky, Ombud for Equal Treatment, Austria)
• The grounds of race and ethnic origin (Joël Le Déroff, ENAR – the European Network against Racism, Belgium)
• The ground of age (Nena Georgantzi, AGE Platform Europe, Belgium)

CONCLUDING SESSION

• Anne Gaspard, Equinet Executive Director
• Birgit Lanner, Office of the Austrian Disability Ombudsman

Agenda

The agenda of the seminar is available here:

Final_agenda_ARA_Seminar

Photographs

Accessibility and Reasonable Accommodation - Vienna, April 2016

Reading Material

Equinet

• Equality bodies supporting reasonable accommodation for people with disabilities
• Realising Rights: Equality Bodies and People with Disabilities. Supporting the Review of The European Union Disability Strategy 2010-2020

European Equality Law Network

• Reasonable accommodation for disabled people in employment contexts
• Reasonable Accommodation beyond Disability in Europe?

European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights

• Implementing the UN CRPD: An overview of legal reforms in EU Member States
• The right to political participation for persons with disabilities: human rights indicators
• The legal protection of persons with mental health problems under non-discrimination law
• Inequalities and multiple discrimination in access to and quality of healthcare
• Choice and control: the right to independent living

European Disability Forum

• EDF Alternative Report to the CRPD Committee
• EDF initial position on the proposal for a European Accessibility Act