Editor’s Note: Access Awareness Week is a yearly celebration to highlight the importance of accessibility and the many ways that it impacts our lives. Each day of this week we will feature an article looking at accessibility in its many forms.
Brock University is continually working to incorporate accessible employment practices into all of its onboarding and employee retention.
As mentioned in a previous article this week, the U.N. Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities acts as a guiding tool for laws in Canada. A large issue that arises at all levels, from the national perspective all the way down to local communities, is the question of employment. The big question is how to best remove barriers so that people with disabilities can become active within the labor force?
Rates of employment rise and fall over time for a multitude of complex economic factors. Looking at national statistics from 2012, the participation rate hovers at 49 per cent for those individuals who report having a disability that limits their daily activity versus, 79 per cent for those who reported no disability. This is where accessibility comes into the fold, because without appropriate foresight to ensure an inclusive workforce can be built and maintained, people who have traditionally been excluded from the potential of obtaining work at the same level as their peers will continue to be under-represented.
Ontario is a forerunner in terms of attacking this systemic issue because it has incorporated a set of employment standards into the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act that every organization — Brock included — has to follow.
These employment standards act to level the playing field for those who have been disenfranchised from joining the workforce due to a disability, but they are by no means a new set of rights. Essentially, they work to open the door for equal participation by actively promoting the engagement of qualified employees with disabilities.
The dynamics that make accessibility and employment a Human Rights issue can be seen if we take a step back to view what those rights principles are. The principles of dignity, non-discrimination, participation and inclusion, respect for difference, equality of opportunity, and accessibility are ultimately what drive us as an institution to create an atmosphere where everyone can have the same opportunities in life. These principles are universal and cannot be separated or diminished and are what guide human rights law and activities across the world, including here in St. Catharines.
• This article was written by Chris Lytle and Alana Sharpe
