Disability inclusion makes
good business sense
How the Global Business and Disability Network can
support you to become a disability-smart company
Are you ready to be
a business leader on
disability inclusion?
Members of the ILO Global Business and
Disability Network (ILO GBDN) have three
key characteristics in common. They
have:
Realised the many opportunities
disability inclusion offers for increased
business success.
A presence in different countries and
the aim to promote disability inclusion in
most or all of their branches.
Understood the benefits of peer-to-
peer support among global companies
on disability inclusion.
The more than 25 global companies
that are members of the ILO GBDN vary
in terms of workforce size, ranging from
25,000 to 400,000 employees.
In total, ILO GBDN members have a
combined workforce of approximately 4
million employees. On average, each of
these global companies operates in 30
different countries.
FOUR CONCRETE BENEFITS
of being a member of the ILO GBDN:
1
Learn from and
share with other
global leaders
2
Access country-specific
business and disability
insights
3
Generate
cutting-edge
knowledge
4
Showcase your
disability inclusion
work
1 Learn from and share with
other global leaders
The ILO GBDN understands that sharing is caring, so we have made
the exchange of ideas, knowledge and approaches a pillar of our
work. As a member you can learn from other leading companies at
the global level:
To convince your colleagues in local branches of your company
about the benefits of employing persons with disabilities.
To monitor progress in the area of disability inclusion, taking
into account varying definitions of “disability” and the right to privacy
of disability-related information.
To get advice on creating globally applicable policies on
accessibility and reasonable accommodation.
To use the most effective strategies to combat stigma and
stereotypes faced by persons with disabilities.
To find out which terminology is best to use when presenting
your disability inclusion work, and what terms or approaches to
avoid.
To promote digital and physical accessibility to benefit both
employees and clients with disabilities.
To know how you can promote disability inclusion through your
supply chain.
Access country-specific
2 business and disability
insights
National Business and Disability Networks linked to the work of the ILO GBDN:
• Australian Network on Disability Empresas Inclusivas
• Austrian DisAbility Business Forum • Mauritius - Business Mauritius
• Bangladesh Business and Disability • Mexico - Movimiento Congruencia
Network • New Zealand - BusinessNZ
• Brazil - Rede Empresarial de Inclusão • Peru - Red Peruana de Empresas y
Social Discapacidad
• Canadian Business SenseAbility • Poland - Come CloSeR to Disability Task
• Chile - Red de Empresas Inclusivas Force
• China Chapter of the ILO GBDN • SaudiArabia - Qaderoon Business
• Costa Rica - Red de Empresas Inclusivas Disability Network
• Egyptian Business and Disability Network • Spain - Foro Inserta Responsable
• El Salvadon - Círculo de Empresas • Sri Lanka - Employers’ Network on
Inclusivas Disability
• Ethiopian Business and Disability Network • UK - Business Disability Forum
• Germany - UnternehmensForum • US - National Business & Disability Council
• Indonesia Business and Disability Network • Vietnam - Blue Ribbon Employer Council
• Latin America - Red Iberoamericana de • Zambia - Business and Disability Network
ILO GBDN members seek to promote disability inclusion in the
different countries they operate in. Questions they bring to the ILO
GBDN include the following:
What is the legal framework in the Philippines? Is there a quota
system and a sanction for non-compliance?
Where can I find suitable candidates with disabilities in Egypt
for a job or an internship?
Are there vocational training centers and universities in Peru
that have a good pool of candidates with disabilities?
Which other global companies operate in Indonesia? And do
these have experience in disability inclusion?
Is there a national business and disability initiative in China?
Are there civil society organizations that you could recommend
in South Africa to advise us on disability-related matters?
The ILO GBDN provides support in addressing these and similar
questions. This knowledge is shared through country-specific
information available on the ILO GBDN website, as well as through
ad hoc support to individual requests made by ILO GBDN members.
The ILO GBDN has exclusive access to:
The offices of the ILO in more than 40 countries.
The institutional link of the ILO with the most representative
employer federations in the 187 member States of the ILO.
The more than 20 national business and disability networks
that are connected to the ILO GBDN.
The globally operating disability NGOs in the ILO GBDN. These
NGOs are present in a large number of developing countries and can
provide technical advice and support to private sector companies.
3 Generate cutting-edge
knowledge
The ILO GBDN working groups are a unique way to access the
expertise of other ILO GBDN members and other internationally
recognized experts. These working groups prepare materials and
tools which are especially relevant for global companies on topics
of particular interest.
The current ILO GBDN working groups cover the topics of digital and
physical accessibility, combatting stigma and stereotypes, mental
health at work as well as job matching. In the area of mental health
at work, the ILO GBDN will offer its members a knowledge platform
bringing together good practices, practical guidance and tools. Any
ILO GBDN member can suggest the creation of a working group on
a new topic.
An area that the ILO GBDN is starting to address is the Future of Work
and how it can provide even more opportunities for the inclusion of
persons with disabilities and business success.
4
Showcase your disability
inclusion work
The ILO GBDN provides a platform for global companies to present
their disability-inclusive actions and approaches to a global audience.
This has proved to be particularly relevant for practices implemented
by branches of global companies, as this global recognition provides
additional motivation to them. Further, it serves as an incentive to
other branches of the company or other multinational companies
to emulate such practices.
Global and regional events organized by the ILO GBDN, the ILO
GBDN website, the ILO GBDN bi-monthly newsletter in English and
Spanish as well as the LinkedIn page of the ILO GBDN are the main
communication tools through which these practices are presented
and shared with tens of thousands of visitors and followers each
year.
The ILO GBDN Charter
The ILO GBDN Charter is the only global Charter for business in the
context of disability that provides a global recognition to its members.
Thus, Charter signatories position themselves as respected global
leaders on disability inclusion.
THE ILO GLOBAL BUSINESS & DISABILITY NETWORK CHARTER
KNOWLEDGE SHARING RESPECT AND PROMOTION OF RIGHTS
Report on company efforts to promote the Promote and respect the rights of persons with
employment of persons with disabilities to all disabilities by raising awareness and combatting
relevant stakeholders and share information stigma and stereotypes they face.
and experiences with our members.
EVALUATION
1 NON-DISCRIMINATION
Review regularly the company 10 2 Develop policies and practices that
protect persons with disabilities from all
types of discrimination.
disability inclusion policies and
practices for their effectiveness.
EQUALITY OF TREATMENT &
COLLABORATION 9 3 OPPORTUNITIES
Promote equal treatment and equal
Promote employment of persons opportunities for persons with
with disabilities among business disabilities by providing reasonable
partners and other companies and accommodation in all aspects and
collaborate with national employer
and business networks, as well as 8 4 conditions of employment.
with organizations working to
ACCESSIBILITY
advance the rights of persons with
disabilities. Progressively make the company
ATTENTION TO ALL TYPES OF 7 5 premises and communication to staff
accessible for all employees with
DISABILITIES
Consider the needs of those persons with 6 disabilities.
JOB RETENTION
disabilities who face particular challenges
accessing the labour market, including Undertake appropriate measures to enable
persons with intellectual and psychosocial CONFIDENTIALITY current employees who acquire a disability to
disabilities. Respect confidentiality of personal retain or return to their employment.
information regarding disability.
Infostory: “The win-win of disability inclusion”
http://www.ilo.org/infostories/Stories/Employment/The-
win-win-of-disability-inclusion#header
Explore this InfoStory to find out why employing people
with disabilities makes good business sense for private
companies, and how you can help promote inclusion.
Guide for business on the rights of persons with
disabilities
Selected publications and tools of
http://www.ilo.org/global/topics/disability-and-work/
WCMS_571094/lang--en/index.htm
Developed jointly by the UN Global Compact and the
ILO, the “Guide for business on the rights of persons
with disabilities - How business can respect and support
the rights of persons with disabilities and benefit from
inclusion” suggests concrete actions and measures
companies can take to implement good practices that
are inclusive of persons with disabilities in the workplace,
marketplace and in the community - in alignment with
the ILO GBDN and the ILO
relevant UN conventions and frameworks.
Promoting diversity and inclusion through workplace
adjustments: A practical guide
http://www.ilo.org/global/topics/equality-and-
discrimination/WCMS_536630/lang--en/index.htm
Reasonable adjustments at the workplace, often times
also referred to as reasonable accommodations, may
include adaptations to the job, including modification of
machinery and equipment and/or of an employee’s job
content, working time and work organization. Reasonable
adjustments aim to provide equal opportunities for
employees at the workplace, so their skills and talents
can be used to full capacity. By recognizing and
accommodating individual needs, companies create
work environments that truly welcome the diversity of
their staff and thereby contribute to greater business
success.
Business as unusual: Making workplaces inclusive of
people with disabilities
http://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---ed_emp/---
ifp_skills/documents/publication/wcms_316815.pdf
The inclusion of people with disabilities in the workplace
is no longer absent from the business agenda.
Nonetheless, managers still struggle in implementing
inclusion strategies effectively. Based on examples from
15 multinational companies, employers’ organizations
and business networks, this publication presents key
factors leading to the successful inclusion of people with
disabilities in the workplace.
To find out how to become a member,
please contact us at
International Labour Organization
Route des Morillons 4
1211 Geneva, Switzerland
Tel. +41 22 799 7273
www.businessanddisability.org
https://linkedin.com/company/
ilo-global-business-and-disability-
network
