Many people living with Disabilities face widespread segregation, exclusion, and discrimination. According to a World Bank report, over one billion people globally experience some form of Disability. This figure reflects about one in every seven people of the entire world’s population. Even though disability doesn’t affect an individual’s ability to perform a good job, exclusion and discrimination in the job market show a critical employment barrier. Governments and human rights organizations worldwide have passed legislation to safeguard the rights of people with disabilities.

Additionally, these regulations also help them to access the jobs they require. In the US, the ADA’s anniversary (Americans with Disabilities Act) legislation is celebrated on the 26th of July every year. This post will help you learn more about disabled people and disability rights laws.

Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)

The ADA prohibits any exclusion or discrimination based on disability in employment. This also applies to public facilities, commercial accommodations, state and local government, and the United States Congress. If you want to be protected by the ADA, the team at laportelawfirm.com/ points out that one must have a relationship or connection with a person living with a disability. An individual with a disability is defined as a person with a mental or physical impairment that potentially limits one or several major life activities. It also covers an individual who has a proven history of such impairment, or an individual perceived by others as having the said impairment. However, the ADA doesn’t highlight all the impairments that are covered.

Rights at Work if You Have a Disability

Statistics have revealed that many employers miss out on employing talented candidates to not see past their disabilities. Globally, one in four disabled people feels there’s a lot of disability prejudice among employers and workplaces. However, Disability Laws require employers with more than 15 employees to provide qualified persons with disabilities an opportunity equal to their counterparts without disabilities. Additionally, it prohibits discrimination in hiring, recruitment, pay, social activities, promotions, and various employment privileges. The act also prohibits questions that can be asked about an applicant’s disability before an employer makes a job offer. This also requires employers to make suitable accommodation to the known mental or physical impairments of qualified applicants with disabilities unless it incurs undue hardships.

Is Every Person with a Disability Covered by Disability Laws?

The answer is not as straightforward as you think: it depends. Ideally, every person who meets the ADA definition of disability is covered by the ADA in general. However, they may not have some rights under particular sections within the ADA. For instance, there’s a whole section of the ADA that only deals with employment discrimination. If an individual with a disability isn’t employed and is not seeking to be employed, such a person would not need to be covered by that ADA section. However, he or she may be covered by other parts of the ADA.

Enforcement of Disability Laws

Disability laws (ADA) are enforced through the Department of Justice complaints and legal action. Ideally, many employers take charge of creating inclusive spaces or work environments for persons with disabilities. If there are any issues, it is up to the person with a disability to file a complaint or lawsuit. If this has happened to you, you need to work with a professional law attorney who understands the legal process to help with your disability claim.

Disability Laws on Public Transportation

This covers transportation services such as public rail transit (includes commuter rails, subways, Amtrak) and city buses. Any authority delegated to offer public transport shouldn’t discriminate against persons with disabilities in providing their services. Additionally, they are required to comply with requirements for accessibility in newly bought vehicles. Public transportation agencies will also need to provide paratransit where they operate fixed-route bus or rail systems.

Children Education

This falls under IDEA. Children living with disabilities should be educated with their peers with no disabilities. This should be done to the full extent appropriate with extra aids and services to benefit from public education. However, there is a presumption that children living with disabilities need to be taught separately under the law. This means they are placed in special facilities only when necessary to meet their specific individual needs.

Sometimes, even the ADA is not a cure to all discrimination happening to persons living with disabilities. The means of enforcing disability law has created tension between companies and the disability community. Even though there’s a spike in the employment rate among people living with disabilities, the relationship isn’t entirely casual. Experts suggest that more needs to be done to address the issue of people living with disabilities.

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