EFHOH is pleased to announce the launch of its new report “Towards Inclusive Employment: Employment and Reasonable Accommodation for Hard of Hearing People in Europe”.
The report provides a comparative overview of how reasonable accommodation is recognised, funded, and implemented for hard of hearing workers across Europe. It aims to highlight persistent gaps alongside existing good practices, showing that legal commitments do not yet translate into consistent access.
Download the full report here!
About the report
Based on a structured survey conducted between July and September 2025 among national hard of hearing organisations, the findings reveal that access to reasonable accommodation in practice remains uneven and limited, despite strong EU and national frameworks.
Assessing a lack of national implementation of the EU Employment Equality Directive, the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, and the EU Guidelines on Reasonable Accommodation at Work, the report finds that access to reasonable accommodation still relies largely on complex, disability-proof procedures rather than individual needs. Only a minority of countries apply a rights-based approach grounded in awareness, accessibility, and shared responsibility.
Hard of hearing workers continue to face significant barriers that arise less from technology and more from institutional, cultural, and procedural shortcomings, particularly for a disability that is often “invisible.”
While Nordic and Western countries show stronger systems, attitudinal barriers remain; in Central and Eastern Europe, these are compounded by weak enforcement and limited support. Unequal awareness and inconsistent infrastructure across Europe continue to widen the employment gap for hard of hearing people.
The report calls for urgent action to:
- Embed a rights-based model of disability into national legislation and ensure effective enforcement of reasonable accommodation across Member States.
- Establish dedicated funding schemes for employers and use EU instruments such as the European Social Fund Plus (ESF+) to strengthen workplace accessibility.
- Build capacity and awareness through training for employers and HR professionals, national guidance, and consultation with hard of hearing organisations in policy design and evaluation.
- Ensure EU institutions and agencies lead by example by integrating full hearing accessibility in their work environment, recruitment, meetings, and digital communication.
The report concludes with a set of practical, evidence-based tips for employers and public authorities on how to make workplaces accessible by design for people with hearing loss.
A shift toward a rights-based approach is essential for achieving inclusive employment and enabling hard of hearing people to thrive in the labour market.
Download the full report to learn more about the evidence, country findings, and practical steps toward truly inclusive employment across Europe here.
