Originally published here.

One of the dominant features of legal thinking in twentieth century has been the recognition of law as a tool of social change. Although legislation is not the only means of social progress, itrepresents one of the most powerful vehicles of change, progress and development in society (UN,2007). Persons with disabilities (PwD) often are excluded from the mainstream of the society and they have difficulties to be integrated in the labour market.

While the importance and increasingrole of international law in promoting the rights of persons with disabilities is recognised by the international community, domestic legislation remains one of the most effective means offacilitating social change and improving the status of disabled persons. International normsconcerning disability are useful for setting common standards for disability legislation.

Those standards also need to be appropriately reflected in policies and programmes that reach persons with disabilities and can effect positive changes in their lives (ibid.).Quality jobs ensure economic independence, foster personal achievement, and offer the bestprotection against poverty. Having a job is fundamental to social inclusion, but employment opportunities of people with health problems or disability are limited. In the late-2000s, on averageacross the OECD countries employment rates of people with disabilities were just over 40 %compared with 75 % for people without disability (OECD, 2010). The rate of employment forpeople aged 15-65 having a basic activity difficulty is only 47 % in average in European Union(Eurostat, 2011).

For people with disabilities the rate of poverty is 70 % higher than the averagepartly due to limited access to employment (EC, 2010). Employment and occupation are keyelements in guaranteeing equal opportunities for all and contribute strongly to the full participationof citizens in economic, cultural and social life and to realising their potential as it is stated in EUCouncil Directive 2000/78/EC.The difficult labour market integration of people with disability will create bigger problems in thefuture for many OECD countries given their rapidly changing demographics.

Population ageing provides a solid argument for enhancing the efforts to mobilise the under-utilised labour potentialamong workers with disability. Higher participation rates for people with disability can help preventfuture labour force declines. This can contribute to raising the productive capacity of the economyand reduce the costs associated with disability benefit programmes (OECD, 2010, p.23-26).

The employment of people with disabilities continues to be a topical subject with regard to theLatvian labour market. 37 % of people with disabilities in working age 18 -62 are employed inLatvia (Ministry of Welfare, 2017). Although various policy and planning documents have beendeveloped and various initiatives have been taken in Latvia in recent years, however, studies showthat employment rate of people with disabilities is changing quite slightly.

Conclusions, proposals, recommendations

1. There are various laws and regulations, various targeted initiatives, but small and slow impactson employment of people with disabilities in Latvia. Along with the legal framework, it isnecessary to find an effective support mechanism for the inclusion of people with disabilities inthe labour market.
2. Although the Labour law Article 109 was intended to protect people with disabilities, it hasbecome an obstacle for the employer to employ disabled people, on the one hand, while it is abarrier for people with disabilities to enter the free labour market, on the other.
3. Regarding the critical factors in employing disabled people, employers are not motivated toemploy people with disabilities. The existing legal norms are bureaucratic and little help inadapting workplaces that do not encourage motivation to employ disabled workers.
4. At the regional and municipal level, initiatives for the employment of disabled people are notplanned efficiency; municipalities focus more on social services. It is necessary to strengthencommunity - based approach for inclusive employment.
5. A motivating cooperation mechanism between the various stakeholders - state institutions,employers, local governments, non-governmental organizations - should be created.
6. An open question is what can be expected from the new Social enterprise law and how it willaffect the employment of people with disabilities.
7. The Ministry of Welfare is working on the introduction of a quota system, which is judgedsceptically by employers. Future studies should examine how quotas will affect the labourmarket for people with disabilities and whether the quota system evolves as a motivating toolfor employers.

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