Government has tabled a Bill in Parliament which it says will ensure greater protection for the disabled against workplace discrimination.The proposed amendment to the Human Rights Act would prevent businesses from not hiring a person on the basis of their disability, providing a reasonable accommodation were possible.Tabling the Bill last Friday, Minister of Youth, Families and Sport Glenn Blakeney told the House that “many persons with disabilities who want to work do not have the opportunity to work due to the many barriers that exist”.The bill would make it illegal for an employer to disqualify a disabled person from employment “if it is possible for the circumstances of the employment to be modified without causing unreasonable hardship to the employer”.Mr Blakeney listed possible measures a business might take to facilitate the employment of disabled people including: the use of adaptive computer equipment for the visually and hearing-impaired, the provision of an accessible bathroom and the widening of doorways for the accessibility of people in wheelchairs.A spokesman for the Bermuda Physically Handicapped Association said the legislation was long overdue.“We do welcome this, but the trouble is that it is so late. We have been campaigning for this for over 40 years,” he said.The disabled community supports the principle of “equal pay for equal work,” the spokesman added.According to one individual who works extensively with disabled people in Bermuda, finding permanent employment for them remains a challenge.“I think a lot of businesses look at it from a liability standpoint, they think ‘is this person going to hurt themselves?’ I think that’s an understandable issue but you have to give them a chance. It’s about meeting them where they are.”She added that while the proposed law was good in principle, what was needed most was a job-coaching programme which can assist the disabled in finding and keeping work.Meanwhile, Mr Blakeney told MPs last Friday that “wherever we can, we endeavour to give greater protection against discrimination to our citizens”.Despite long-standing efforts by local campaigners, a similar amendment to protect homosexuals from discrimination has not yet been tabled.