Corporate social responsibility and the right to employment of persons with disabilities

Access to employment is recognized as a fundamental human right in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (hereinafter CRPD). However, and as far as the European Union, which is a Party of CRPD, the proportion of persons with disabilities not participating in the labour market is at least twice as high as that of average EU citizens. This situation increases their poverty risk that social benefits cannot compensate, especially in presence of severe economic crisis impairing the allocation of resources for public expenditures in welfare field area. The adoption of the CRPD in 2006 has further strengthened the social model of disability and granted persons with disabilities with a wide spectrum of human rights including the right to employment based on the principles of equal treatment, accessibility and non-discrimination. Employment is considered one of the important aspects of social inclusion, that is especially important for the employment of persons with disabilities in the mainstream labour market. However, the official unemployment rates for persons with disabilities of working age in most of the developed countries are still reported at least twice low than for those with no disability. Since persons with disabilities are pronounced to be equal members of society by international institutions and are recognized as an important group of human diversity who have rights including the right to employment, their integration into employment sphere has been progressively included within the CSR policy agenda at international and at regional level recognizing disability as a relevant item in CSR agendas. Nowadays, hiring persons with disabilities is increasingly recognized as a part of the philosophy of corporate social responsibility (CSR) and an essential dimension of the workforce diversity.