Disability Employment Package

The European Commission is presenting the Disability Employment Package to help Member States ensure that people with disabilities enjoy social inclusion and economic independence through work. The package forms part of the Strategy on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities 2021–2030 and is in line with the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

Currently, only half of the 42.8 million people with disabilities of working age in the EU are in employment. The Disability Employment Package will help develop national policies that involve people with disabilities in a fair green and digital transition.

Increasing the labour market participation of people with disabilities and narrowing the participation gap will also contribute to the EU headline targets for 2030 on employment and adults participating in training each year.

The package consists of six pillars:

1. Strengthening the capacities of employment and inclusion services;
2. Promoting recruitment prospects through positive action and combating stereotypes;
3. Ensuring reasonable accommodation in the workplace;
4. Keeping people with disabilities in work: preventing disabilities linked to chronic illnesses;
5. Ensuring vocational rehabilitation in the event of illness or accidents;
6. Examining quality jobs in sheltered workshops and pathways to open up the labour market.

Regarding the first pillar, a practical toolkit has been adopted to enable public employment services to improve access to work for people with disabilities. The toolkit provides guidance across six areas of action:

1. Internal policies targeting staff of public employment services;
2. Service delivery;
3. Active labour market measures;
4. Reasonable adjustments and accessibility;
5. Outreach programmes enabling employment services to identify and contact people with disabilities and employers;
6. Partnerships with other employment services, public and private sector organisations, as well as organisations representing people with disabilities.

The remaining five pillars will be rolled out with a range of concrete services in 2023.

Find out more about the employment package for people with disabilities