[MHLW] Disclosure of Consultation Results on the Prohibition of Discrimination against Persons with Disabilities and their Provision of Reasonable Accommodation in the Field of Employment

On May 31, 2023, the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (MHLW) disclosed the "Results of Consultations concerning the Obligation to Prohibit Discrimination against Persons with Disabilities and to Provide Them with Reasonable Consideration in the Field of Employment (FY2022)" that was received at Prefectural Labour Offices and Public Employment Security Offices (Hello Work).

The Act to Facilitate the Employment of Persons with Disabilities establishes an obligation for all employers to "prohibit unfair and discriminatory treatment of persons with disabilities on the basis of disability in comparison with persons without disabilities" (Articles 34 and 35), an obligation to “provide reasonable accommodation to persons with disabilities" (Articles 36-2 to 36-4), to "make efforts to establish a system in response to consultations, and to voluntarily resolve complaints from persons with disabilities." (Article 36-4 and Article 74-4 ).

The Act stipulates that advice, guidance, or recommendations are to be given by the Public Employment Security Office, and similar bodies, in cases of violation of laws and regulations by employers (Article 36-6).

The Act also sets out that if it is difficult to resolve the dispute voluntarily through discussions between workers with disabilities and employers based on the appeal of the parties concerned,

  •  advice, guidance, or recommendation are to be given by the Prefectural Labour Director (Article 74-6), or
  •  early resolution of the dispute by the Conciliation Council for the Employment of People with Disabilities (Articles 74-7 and 74-8).

The main points of the aggregate results are as follows:

  • The Public Employment Security Offices received 225 consultation cases concerning discrimination against persons with disabilities and the provision of reasonable accommodation (down 7.8% from the previous year).
  • Of these, 37 cases were consultations concerning discrimination against persons with disabilities (down 32.7% from the previous year), and 188 were consultations concerning the provision of reasonable accommodation (down 0.5% from the previous year).
  • The Public Employment Security Office gave advice to employers in one case (advice relating to violations of the Act is recorded). The number of guidance cases and recommendations given by the directors of Prefectural Labour Offices was zero, as in the previous year.
  • The application for assistance in dispute resolution received by the Director-General of the Labour Bureau was just one case (two cases in the previous year).
  • The applications for resolution by the Conciliation Council for the Employment of Persons with Disabilities were nine cases (ten cases in the previous year).

For more information, visit the website below:
https://www.mhlw.go.jp/content/11704000/001100985.pdf

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