Combatting disability discrimination: A comparison of France and Great Britain

Abstract

This article examines disabled people’s employment in Great Britain and France. In both countries, they are far less likely to be employed than non-disabled people, but the gap is wider in Britain than in France. Possible explanations for the wider gap in Britain include weak enforcement mechanisms, judicial resistance and the lack of an institutional role for trade unions, resulting in an implementation gap; while the narrower gap in France may reflect the more proactive legislation, including its quota-levy scheme. We conclude that these explanations are not mutually exclusive, and we suggest that Britain might consider adopting some French provisions, thus tempering its voluntarist approach.