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Disability Movement To Submit Draft Employment Equity Policy Draft To Gender Minister

By Adam Abdul Wahab
General News Disability Movement To Submit Draft Employment Equity Policy Draft To Gender Minister
SEP 3, 2019 LISTEN

Disability Movement To Review And Submit Draft Employment Equity Policy Document To The Minister For Gender, Children And Social Protection For Facilitation To Be Adopted By Government.

The Disability Movement in Ghana, led by Ghana Federation of Disability Organisation is submitting a draft proposed Employment Equity Policy to the Minister for Gender, Children and Social Protection for her support to facilitate the process for government’s adoption` to address the employment challenges among persons with disabilities in Ghana.

The purpose of this policy is to achieve equity in the workplace by promoting equal opportunity and fair treatment in employment through the elimination of discrimination and implementing affirmative action measures to redress the disadvantages in employment experienced by persons with disabilities, in order to ensure their equitable representation in all occupational categories and levels in the workforce.

By principle, the policy seeks to promote an inclusive, culturally competent workforce that values diversity, and assist with the identification and removal of systemic barriers to employment and advancement of persons with disabilities, and aims at achieving equality in the National Public, Civil Service and the private sector so that no person is denied employment opportunities or benefits for reasons unrelated to ability.

In operation, the policy will apply to all companies set up under sections 2 and 33 of the Company’s Act of Ghana (Act 179) and the Public Service of Ghana as specified in Article 190 of Ghana’s 1992 Constitution as well as to public Corporations and Civil Society Organizations.

The policy will require Companies, Ministries, Departments and agencies to inform management and employees of the policy, obtain the commitment and active support of all managers in order to ensure successful policy implementation, and maintain all records.

The overall strategy of this policy is to maximize the merits of the implementation of an affirmative action that seeks to use a quota system to significantly promote the employment of Persons with Disabilities in line with section 10 of Ghana’s Disability law (Act 715) and Section 46 of Ghana’s Labour Act (Act 651) by increasing the number of Persons with Disabilities working in the formal Private and Public sectors of employment.

The call on the government to put measures in place to identify and eliminate employment barriers, including unfair discrimination, which adversely affect persons with disabilities and promote diversity in the workplace based on equal dignity and respect of all people.

The policy also calls on employers to the of making reasonable accommodation for persons with disabilities in order to ensure that they enjoy equal opportunities and are equitably represented in the workplace.

Reference to the sustainable development goals, particularly goal eight ‘decent work and economic growth’ which aims at promoting sustained economic growth and higher level of productivity, the federation calls on the media and the general public to support the advocacy to ensure that this gesture is a success.

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