Combatting disability discrimination: A comparison of France and Great Britain

Abstract

This article examines disabled people's employment in Great Britain and France. Although both countries have poor rates of employment for disabled people compared to non-disabled people, Great Britain's disabled people's employment rate is lower than France's. Possible explanations include weak enforcement mechanisms in Great Britain, British judicial resistance, the lack of an institutional role for British trade unions resulting in an implementation gap and the proactive form of French law, a quota-levy scheme, which has no British parallel. The conclusions suggest which of these explanations are the most plausible and propose that Great Britain considers adopting some French provisions, thus tempering Britain's voluntarist approach.

Employability of Disabled Graduates: Resources for a Sustainable Employment

“…Even if quota systems may help to increase the participation of disabled people in the labor market, at the same time, it fosters the underlying assumption that disabled people are unable to compete on equal terms [91]. As noticed by Corby, William, and Richard [92], quota systems focus on the number of disabled people employed, rather than on their skills and position in the organization's hierarchy. That is probably why disabled graduates don't rely primarily on the available legal provisions.…”

When Can a Disability Quota System Empower Disabled Individuals in the Workplace? The Case of France

“…'Disability therefore involves dysfunctioning at one or more of these same levels: impairments, activity limitations and participation restrictions' (WHO, 2002: 10). Disabled workers remain an untapped labour force (Corby et al, 2019;Jones and Wass, 2013). In the EU in 2016, 48.1 per cent of disabled individuals were in employment, compared with 73.9 per cent of non-disabled persons (Grammenos, 2018).…”

Justice obtained? How disabled claimants fare at Employment Tribunals

“…In this article, we have focused on disability discrimination claims taken to Employment Tribunals, but such claims should not be considered in isolation, and a holistic approach to combatting disability discrimination should be taken. In particular, Corby et al () previously argued that if disability discrimination is to be reduced, proactive measures need to be embraced as well, including Britain adopting a quota/levy scheme in respect of the employment of disabled people, as in many countries in continental Europe.…”