A/HRC/45/15/Add.1
paid a few hundred Swiss francs per month, and receive a number of social insurance
benefits. Transitions from the sheltered labour market to the open labour market are rare.
Existing federal invalidity insurance mechanisms (job coaching for a fixed period, limited
assistance services and job placement) do not provide the support necessary for a job in the
open labour market to be guaranteed. Disincentives within social insurance law further
complicate the situation.
74.
In addition, persons with disabilities who work in the open labour market face issues
concerning the financing of reasonable accommodation. Persons with disabilities have
expressed concern that if they work more than a certain number of hours, they will lose
their invalidity pension. Since they often work for minimum wage, that fear becomes a
disincentive to seek work. The Special Rapporteur is further concerned that the federal nondiscrimination law does not adequately protect persons with disabilities against
discrimination by private persons in the areas of employment relations and of publicly
accessible services.
75.
Persons with disabilities working in the open labour market are also frequently
confronted with disadvantages, such as in the application process and in the event of
dismissals, due to such things as refusals to make reasonable accommodations at work. The
Disability Discrimination Act is not applicable to employment relationships governed by
private law and thus does not provide persons with disabilities with a judicial remedy
against discrimination.37
76.
The Special Rapporteur was informed that there were few or no incentives for
employers to hire persons with disabilities, such as quotas in the private sector or tax
incentives, and that only the federal administration as an employer needed to meet certain
targets concerning the level of employment of persons with disabilities.
77.
The Special Rapporteur learned of the commitment made by Switzerland to
implement the marker for the inclusion and empowerment of persons with disabilities
introduced by the OECD Development Assistance Committee. 38
V. Conclusions and recommendations
78.
The Special Rapporteur recalls that the right to development is defined in
article 1 of the Declaration on the Right to Development as an inalienable human right
by virtue of which every human person and all peoples are entitled to participate in,
contribute to, and enjoy economic, social, cultural and political development, in which
all human rights and fundamental freedoms can be fully realized. Under article 2 (3)
of the Declaration, States are required to formulate appropriate national development
policies that aim at the constant improvement of the well-being of the entire
population and of all individuals, on the basis of their active, free and meaningful
participation in development and in the fair distribution of the benefits resulting
therefrom. In article 3, the Declaration invokes the duty of States to cooperate with
each other in ensuring development and eliminating obstacles to development. These
underlying principles were reaffirmed throughout the 2030 Agenda, which recognizes
the need to build peaceful, just and inclusive societies that provide equal access to
justice and that are based on respect for human rights (including the right to
development), on effective rule of law and good governance at all levels and on
transparent, effective and accountable institutions.
79.
The Special Rapporteur has assessed selected aspects of the laws, policies and
practices of Switzerland, relying on the above principles. As noted in the present
report, he found many good practices that could be useful to other States in striving to
achieve sustainable development based on human rights. Notably, the country’s
37
38
16
Ibid., pp. 23–24.
See www.oecd.org/officialdocuments/publicdisplaydocumentpdf/?cote=DCD/DAC/STAT/RD
(2019)1/RD1&docLanguage=En.
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