Fórsa welcomes NDA report on reasonable accommodation at work
Fórsa has welcomed the publication of the National Disability Authority’s (NDA) report on reasonable accommodation at work.
The report was drafted as a response to ongoing concerns expressed by both persons with disabilities and employers about barriers to attaining and providing reasonable accommodations, and the lack of documented good practice in this area.
Head of Fórsa’s Education division Andy Pike said the report included a number of helpful recommendations, including a call for a statutory code of practice on facilitating a reasonable accommodation for disabled workers: “A statutory code of practice would be a significant step forward for disability rights in the workplace.
“We also welcome the report’s recommendations for an information campaign and a training fund for employers. Taken together, the implementation of these recommendations would improve accessibility in the workplace as well as providing improved equality of opportunity for workers with a disability,” he said.
The report was drafted as a response to ongoing concerns expressed by both persons with disabilities and employers about barriers to attaining and providing reasonable accommodations, and the lack of documented good practice in this area.
Earlier in December Fórsa backed the launch Workplace Accommodation Passport scheme to enable workers with a disability to carry out their work on an equal footing with others. The scheme was jointly launched by the Irish Congress of Trade Unions and the employer body IBEC.
The scheme provides for reasonable accommodation ‘passports’ whereby workers needing an adjustment to assist them in staying in their job, or accessing training, can set out the accommodation required due to their disability and agree an action plan with management.
The NDA’s report – Reasonable Accommodations: Obstacles and Opportunities to the Employment of Persons with a Disability – is available here.