Disability and Work: Inclusion and Integration in the Labour Market
Panelists, including Normand Boucher and Gift Tshuma, will explore the barriers facing people with disabilities when entering the labour market. The discussion will explore discrimination, economic precarity, and the short-term goals of employers, as well as developments in labour law and community efforts to employ people with disabilities.
The UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD) guarantees people with disabilities the right to the opportunity to gain a living through work, as well as a work environment that is open, inclusive and accessible (art 27). However, there are still many challenges facing people with disabilities when entering the labour market, including discrimination, the employer鈥檚 economic concerns and short-term goals, and a decrease in funding and organizational capacity of the disability community services sector.
The topic of labour market integration policy and disability will be examined by comparing the multiplicity of legislation and policies from different Canadian jurisdictions throughout history. Labour market integration policy for people with disabilities varies, specifically in terms of the importance of the process and time of disablement, the type of work that is encouraged within these policies, and the formal acknowledgement of other barriers facing people with disabilities, such as discrimination and intersecting oppressions. These policy variances will be explored to strategically identify best practices, partnerships, and聽 areas for future policy expansion across jurisdictions.
The aim of this event is to engage law students, legal professionals, and academics with the intersections of labour law, policy, and disability rights.
A light lunch will be provided. Please RSVP and, if needed, specify accessibility requests to human.rights [at] mcgill.ca. The room is wheel-chair accessible. The 3th and 7th levels of the McIntyre parking garage have accessible parking spots. The spots on the 7th floor are connected to the basement of Chancellor Day Hall, from which one can take an elevator to the ground floor. See also: mcgill.ca/transport/parking/downtown/disabilities
The 2017-2018 Disability and Human Rights Initiative explores the theme of 'Disability, inclusion and integration in big cities', examining compelling issues in disability with a focus on law and policy, in keeping with the Faculty of Law鈥檚 tradition of analysis, scholarship and promotion of human rights and social justice.
A request for accreditation for 1.5 hours of Continuing Legal Education for jurists has been made to a recognized provider.
