Disabled Workers and the Developing Rights Agenda

The paper considered a number of aspects of disabled peoples' rights at work, including recruitment and selection processes, support from systems aimed at promoting welfare-to-work, and the difficulties that affecting disabled people in the transition to work. The paper offered an analysis of the extent to which disability discrimination rights had 'made a difference'. Further information about the programme is in the Institute of Industrial Law conference archives: http://www.staffs.ac.uk/research/iils/conferences/archive/ and in the conference programme: http://www.staffs.ac.uk/assets/disability_welfare_work_2002_tcm44-64506.pdf

The paper was one of a number of other papers in the day's programme organised around the theme of rights at work of disabled people and carers. As the conference chair, Richard Exell, observed in his introduction, the conference came at an important time, with at least four major welfare and employment Bills affecting disability rights being debated in Parliament at the time of the conference. The rights of disabled people – including disabled and incapacitated workers in waged employment – were also the subject of wide-ranging consultations, some of which arose out of the government's Disability Rights Task Force recommendations, and proposals in 'Towards Inclusion'. One of the measures being considered at the time of the conference was the Disability Discrimination (Amendment) Bill (Lord Ashley’s Bill, published on 8th January 2002). The views and concerns of the conference’s 200 participants, including representatives from the country’ leading disability organisations, trades unions, academics, advisers, and others, informed debates on the new legislation, and contributed to government consultations.