Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2010, published 100th ILC session (2011)

Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment (Disabled Persons) Convention, 1983 (No. 159) - Mauritius (Ratification: 2004)

Vocational rehabilitation and employment policies. The Committee notes the detailed replies provided by the Government to the 2007 direct request in a report received in August 2009. It notes that the Mauritius Employers’ Federation (MEF) has observed that it is important to create greater awareness of the rights of persons with disabilities and thus to sensitize employers on this issue and equip them with the tools, ways and means to handle specific needs of persons with disabilities to integrate them in the world of work. The Committee further notes with interest that new policies, like requesting parastatal organizations to recruit more persons with disabilities and asking the private sector to devote part of their corporate social responsibility (CSR) budget to assist the handicapped, are being taken by the Training and Employment of Disabled Persons Board (TEDPB) (Article 2 of the Convention). Practical effects of the actions undertaken include new opportunities for persons with disabilities in new sectors like business process outsourcing (BPO), higher training provided to persons with disabilities, more persons with disabilities being recruited on the basis of their abilities rather than on a charity basis (Article 3). Activities were organized by the MEF in collaboration with the TEDPB and the Ministry of Social Security with a view to ensuring the employability of persons with disabilities. Some 154 persons with disabilities were placed in employment from May 2007 to May 2009. The Committee invites the Government to continue supplying in its next report information on the measures taken in cooperation with the social partners in the context of the national policy on vocational rehabilitation and employment of persons with disabilities, with specific reference to educational and training opportunities both in public and private sectors. Please include information on the measures taken to evaluate vocational guidance, training, placement, employment and other related services to enable persons with disabilities to secure, retain and advance in employment (Article 7) and provide any statistics, studies or surveys on the matters covered by the Convention (Part V of the report form).

 Article 4. Equality of opportunity and treatment. The Committee notes that provision has been made in the Equal Opportunities Act 2008, which was passed in the National Assembly on 16 December 2008, to prohibit direct and indirect discrimination on the ground of a person’s status which includes impairment in areas of activities such as employment and education. The Committee further notes that the Act has not yet come into operation. The Committee requests the Government to specify in its next report if the new legislation has been enforced and its impact on the Training and Employment of Disabled Persons Act.