Every year on 3 December, Luxembourg joins the International Day of Persons with Disabilities with polished statements about equality, opportunity and participation; yet for those of us who move through the world with disability or chronic illness – in our bodies, in our workplaces, in the quiet negotiations we make with systems built without us in mind – these symbolic gestures sit uneasily beside the lived reality of structures that remain slow, rigid and fundamentally unprepared to accommodate our actual needs.
As a disabled psychologist supporting people who balance their health with the desire to work, I see clearly that what prevents many disabled people from participating fully in the labour market is not a lack of talent, motivation or willingness, but rather the persistent experience of being confronted with procedures that exist in theory but fail in practice, mechanisms that move so slowly that opportunities evaporate before support arrives, and institutions that still treat accommodation as a generous exception rather than a basic requirement for equal access.
The statistics highlight this gap starkly. At the end of 2023, 6,109 people with recognised disability status were available for work, yet only 2,236 were employed in the regular labour market, while 1,810 disabled residents were unemployed – 10 % of all jobseekers. Meanwhile, 607 people had fallen out of participation entirely, probably not because they were “unable” or “unwilling” to work, but because navigating inaccessible, unresponsive systems became too exhausting to sustain.
These numbers represent far more than administrative categories; they reflect the neighbour whose reasonable request for adjustment went unanswered, the colleague who vanished after a preventable health crash, the young graduate who never made it past the labyrinth of procedures, and the parent who could have worked sustainably had they been met with timely support instead of endless delay.
And while it is easy to focus blame solely on employers, the truth is more nuanced. Many employers sincerely want to hire disabled workers and understand the value we bring, but they cannot operate within a system that leaves them waiting months – sometimes half a year or longer – for salary-participation decisions, workplace-adaptation approvals or redeployment support that should be predictable and timely.
Luxembourg’s mechanisms look progressive on paper: salary participation of up to 100%, redeployment support covering up to 70%, funding for adaptations and training. Yet when these mechanisms arrive too late, they stop being tools for inclusion and become barriers that push disabled people further from the jobs they are qualified and ready to do.
The deeper problem lies in the absence of accountability. In 2025, a reply to a parliamentary question revealed that job centre Adem and the Ministry of Labour dismissed a discrimination finding issued by Luxembourg’s equality body, the CET: “The ministry and Adem do not share the CET’s discrimination finding.”
The same reply confirmed something even more troubling: there are no legal or administrative mechanisms to enforce CET decisions.
A public institution can therefore be found discriminatory – and simply choose to carry on unchanged. This is not inclusion; this is systemic impunity, and it sends a clear message that disabled people’s rights are conditional rather than guaranteed.
We know what real inclusion looks like – because we see it in workplaces that manage to implement it despite structural obstacles. It looks like flexible scheduling that respects fluctuating health, communication that is clear and predictable, environments adjusted to reduce sensory overload, tasks paced realistically, and quick adjustments when symptoms shift. These approaches are not extravagant; they are humane and evidence-based, and they allow disabled people not only to remain in work but to thrive.
This International Day of Persons with Disabilities cannot be just another symbolic affirmation. It must be a call to action. Luxembourg must commit to making existing mechanisms fast and reliable, giving CET decisions enforceable weight, holding public institutions accountable, providing employers with certainty, and embedding preventive, health-conscious work design into national practice.
I am disabled. That word does not diminish me. But failing systems do.
If we truly believe in inclusion, then it must exist beyond speeches – in our structures, in our processes, and in the everyday lives of the people whose futures depend on them.
Let’s not only celebrate inclusion on 3 December but make it real on every day.
Also read:Luxembourg’s career ladder shouldn’t leave workers with disabilities behind
Susanna von Tonder is a psychologist, supporting clients living with chronic illnesses and disability. She is a former board member of Info-Handicap and was a member of the Higher Council for People with Disabilities from 2019 to 2025.
This piece is a guest contribution. All opinions are edited for grammar and style, but the opinions are the writer’s own.