[Cabinet Office] “Bill to Partially Revise the Act to Eliminate Discrimination Against Persons with Disabilities” Submitted
On March 9th, 2021, the Cabinet Office submitted a "Bill to Partially Revise the Act to Eliminate Discrimination Against Persons with Disabilities” to the 204th Ordinary Diet Session, on the basis of a decision made at the Cabinet meeting held earlier on the same day. The main points of the amendment are as follows.
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1. Responsibility of the national and local governments for mutual cooperation was added. The national and local governments should take necessary measures to eliminate discrimination against persons with disabilities in an efficient and effective manner, through mutual cooperation and the appropriate sharing of roles. 2. The necessary and reasonable accommodation provided by companies became mandatory. If a person with a disability expresses genuine willingness to eliminate the social barrier, a company, in carrying out its business, must provide reasonable accommodation to implement the elimination of the social barrier. The provision of reasonable accommodation by a company was amended from “obliged to make efforts” to “mandatory”. 3. Support measures to eliminate discrimination against persons with disabilities are to be strengthened. (1) It will be the responsibilities of the national and local governments to develop and secure human resources who will respond to consultations on discrimination against persons with disabilities. (2) In order to eliminate discrimination against persons with disabilities, local governments shall endeavor to collect, organize, and provide information regarding such discrimination. |
One of the major amendments in this revision is making reasonable accommodation mandatory not only for government bodies but also for companies. The revised law will be enforced within 3 years from the date of promulgation. For more information, please visit the following website (Japanese only). https://www.cao.go.jp/houan/204/index.html
