Reasonable accommodation - at what cost?
(2023) JURM02 20222Department of Law
Faculty of Law
- Abstract
- The United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities is not only the main instrument of international disability law, but also connects the field with a multitude of other areas of international human rights law. In its 27th Article it guarantees the right to work for persons with disabilities, thereby bridging the gap between international disability- and international labour law. Adopting a respect-protect-ensure framework, the right to work for persons with disabilities is ensured through a right to reasonable accommodation. This right lacks a clear definition in the Convention but is not unlimited and accommodation measures can be denied where they would be unreasonable or impose an undue burden on the party... (More)
- The United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities is not only the main instrument of international disability law, but also connects the field with a multitude of other areas of international human rights law. In its 27th Article it guarantees the right to work for persons with disabilities, thereby bridging the gap between international disability- and international labour law. Adopting a respect-protect-ensure framework, the right to work for persons with disabilities is ensured through a right to reasonable accommodation. This right lacks a clear definition in the Convention but is not unlimited and accommodation measures can be denied where they would be unreasonable or impose an undue burden on the party responsible for implementing them. At the same time, the right to reasonable accommodation is extensive and accommodations can in-principle not be ruled out entirely. This thesis seeks to clarify the limits to reasonable accommodation in the labour market.
As the limitations are not further defined than excluding what would be unreasonable or impose an undue burden in the Convention itself, an interpretive method based in the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties is employed, consisting of a textual analysis of the relevant Articles of the UNCRPD in their context, supplemented and completed by General Comments and Communications of the United Nations Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities as well as some published scholarly commentaries to the Convention.
Through this analysis it is found that no clear definition of the limits is discernible, but some themes can be identified. Reasonable accommodation can only justifiably be denied when it would present an undue burden or be unreasonable and the bar for this should be understood to be high. Essentially, the only factors which can be taken into account are material and financial costs, and when doing so a holistic view should be taken of the employer’s resources, considering the employing organization as a whole, where those with greater resources are also expected to tolerate greater costs, and net-cost of the measure rather than any actual sum. As a common theme to all examined Communications, the CRPD Committee has declined to make statements on the material contents of the assessment, focusing instead on the need for procedural correctness through the performance of an objective reasonability test performed in accordance with the principles of the Convention.
However, common to all auxiliary sources used is also the emphasis on the existence of a margin of appreciation. This margin of appreciation only encompasses the how, and not the if, of reasonable accommodation, but it appears that it is within its width and definition that the answer to the question of where the limits to reasonable accommodation are is to be found. (Less) - Abstract (Swedish)
- FN’s konvention om rättigheter för personer med funktionsnedsättningar är
inte bara det ledande instrumentet inom internationell funktionshindersrätt
utan knyter även samman fältet med en rad andra områden inom den
internationella människorättsjuridiken. I konventionens 27e artikel garanteras
rätten till arbete för personer med funktionsnedsättningar, och därigenom
kopplas den internationella funktionshindersrätten samman med den
internationella arbetsrätten. Genom konventionens respektera-skyddagarantera-ramverk knyts rätten till arbete samman med rätten till skälig
anpassning, genom vilken den garanteras. Denna rättighet är inte närmare
definierad i konventionen men är inte obegränsad, och skålig anpassning kan
nekas i fall där... (More) - FN’s konvention om rättigheter för personer med funktionsnedsättningar är
inte bara det ledande instrumentet inom internationell funktionshindersrätt
utan knyter även samman fältet med en rad andra områden inom den
internationella människorättsjuridiken. I konventionens 27e artikel garanteras
rätten till arbete för personer med funktionsnedsättningar, och därigenom
kopplas den internationella funktionshindersrätten samman med den
internationella arbetsrätten. Genom konventionens respektera-skyddagarantera-ramverk knyts rätten till arbete samman med rätten till skälig
anpassning, genom vilken den garanteras. Denna rättighet är inte närmare
definierad i konventionen men är inte obegränsad, och skålig anpassning kan
nekas i fall där åtgärden skulle vara orimlig eller ålägga den som ska vidta
den med en oskälig börda. Samtidigt är rätten till skälig anpassning mycket
omfattande och anpassningar kan i princip inte uteslutas helt. Den här
uppsatsen strävar efter att tydliggöra gränserna för skälig anpassning i
samband med arbete och arbetsmarknad.
Eftersom begränsningarna inte preciseras bortom ett uteslutande av sådant
som skulle vara orimligt eller skapa en oskälig börda i själva
konventionstexten används en tolkningsmetod grundad i Wienkonventionen
om traktaträtten. Denna består av en textanalys av relevanta delar av
konventionen i sitt sammanhang, stödd och kompletterad genom FN’s
Kommittee för rättigheter för personer med funktionsnedsättningars
kommentarer till konventionen och kommunikationer, samt vissa akademiska
kommentarer till konventionen.
Genom denna analys framkommer att inga klara begränsningar kan utläsas,
men vissa teman kan ändock identifieras. Skälig anpassning kan bara nekas i
fall där den skulle vara orimlig eller skapa en oskälig börda, och tröskeln för
detta är hög. De faktorer som får tas hänsyn till är materiell och finansiell
kostnad och när detta görs ska en helhetsbedömning av arbetsgivarens
förutsättningar göras med hänsyn till organisationen i sin helhet och åtgärdens
nettokostnad snarare än faktiska prislapp. Således kan större organisationer
förväntas tåla större kostnader. I samtliga studerade kommunikationer har
kommittén låtit bli att uttala sig om bedömningens materiella innehåll för att
i stället fokusera på den processuella riktigheten genom utförandet av ett
objektivt rimlighetstest i linje med konventionens principer.
Gemensamt för samtliga stödkällor är dock framhävandet av en ”margin of
appreciation”. Denna bedömningsmarginal finns för hur, men inte om, sakliga
anpassningsåtgärder ska vidtas, men det framstår som klart att det är inom
bedömningen av denna marginal som svaret på var gränserna för skälig
anpassning går återfinns. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
http://lup.lub.lu.se/student-papers/record/9114252
- author
- Edling, Axel LU
- supervisor
- organization
- course
- JURM02 20222
- year
- 2023
- type
- H3 - Professional qualifications (4 Years - )
- subject
- keywords
- Public international law, International labour law, International disability law, Reasonable accommodation, Right to work, Persons with disabilities, UNCRPD, Article 27, Jungelin, Sahlin, V.F.C.
- language
- English
- id
- 9114252
- date added to LUP
- 2023-06-21 09:55:00
- date last changed
- 2023-06-21 09:55:00
@misc{9114252,
abstract = {{The United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities is not only the main instrument of international disability law, but also connects the field with a multitude of other areas of international human rights law. In its 27th Article it guarantees the right to work for persons with disabilities, thereby bridging the gap between international disability- and international labour law. Adopting a respect-protect-ensure framework, the right to work for persons with disabilities is ensured through a right to reasonable accommodation. This right lacks a clear definition in the Convention but is not unlimited and accommodation measures can be denied where they would be unreasonable or impose an undue burden on the party responsible for implementing them. At the same time, the right to reasonable accommodation is extensive and accommodations can in-principle not be ruled out entirely. This thesis seeks to clarify the limits to reasonable accommodation in the labour market.
As the limitations are not further defined than excluding what would be unreasonable or impose an undue burden in the Convention itself, an interpretive method based in the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties is employed, consisting of a textual analysis of the relevant Articles of the UNCRPD in their context, supplemented and completed by General Comments and Communications of the United Nations Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities as well as some published scholarly commentaries to the Convention.
Through this analysis it is found that no clear definition of the limits is discernible, but some themes can be identified. Reasonable accommodation can only justifiably be denied when it would present an undue burden or be unreasonable and the bar for this should be understood to be high. Essentially, the only factors which can be taken into account are material and financial costs, and when doing so a holistic view should be taken of the employer’s resources, considering the employing organization as a whole, where those with greater resources are also expected to tolerate greater costs, and net-cost of the measure rather than any actual sum. As a common theme to all examined Communications, the CRPD Committee has declined to make statements on the material contents of the assessment, focusing instead on the need for procedural correctness through the performance of an objective reasonability test performed in accordance with the principles of the Convention.
However, common to all auxiliary sources used is also the emphasis on the existence of a margin of appreciation. This margin of appreciation only encompasses the how, and not the if, of reasonable accommodation, but it appears that it is within its width and definition that the answer to the question of where the limits to reasonable accommodation are is to be found.}},
author = {{Edling, Axel}},
language = {{eng}},
note = {{Student Paper}},
title = {{Reasonable accommodation - at what cost?}},
year = {{2023}},
}