NetherlandsWet gelijke behandeling op grond van handicap of chronische ziekte, ban on disability and chronic-illness discrimination in goods and services
Wet gelijke behandeling op grond van handicap of chronische ziekte (Wgbh/cz) art. 1, 2, 3, 5b, 10 en 11, art. 5b ingevoegd bij Wet van 14 april 2016 (Stb. 2016, 215)
In force since .
A disability discrimination rule binding public and private bodies.
- Instrument type
- an act of a legislature
As of .
What it requires
- The Act names no technical accessibility standard; its duties are the ban on discrimination, the duty to make effective adjustments and the burden of proof (Wgbh/cz Arts. 2, 5b and 10).
- If you offer goods or services in the Netherlands in the exercise of a profession or business, do not discriminate on the ground of disability or chronic illness in offering them, in giving access to them, or in concluding, performing or ending contracts about them (Art. 5b(1)).
- Make effective adjustments as needed for a person with a disability or chronic illness, unless they would impose a disproportionate burden on you (Art. 2(1)).
- Indirect discrimination, meaning an apparently neutral provision, criterion or practice that particularly affects persons with a disability or chronic illness, is allowed only where a legitimate aim objectively justifies it by appropriate and necessary means (Arts. 1(c) and 3(2)).
- If a person who claims to be disadvantaged states facts in court that suggest discrimination, or that you failed to make effective adjustments, you must prove that you did not breach the Act (Art. 10(1) and (2)).
- A contract term that conflicts with the Act is void (Art. 11).
These lines are LexLint's reading of the law's text, as of .
What this law does
Article 5b(1) bans discrimination on the ground of disability or chronic illness in offering or giving access to goods or services, and in concluding, performing or ending contracts about them. Article 5b(1) applies where this is done in the exercise of a profession or business, by the public service, by institutions in housing, welfare, health care, culture or education, or by natural persons who make the offer publicly outside a profession or business.
Article 2(1) makes the ban include a duty on the person to whom it is addressed to make effective adjustments as needed, unless they impose a disproportionate burden on that person. Article 1(c) defines indirect discrimination as an apparently neutral provision, criterion or practice that particularly affects persons with a disability or chronic illness compared with other persons.
Article 3(2) provides that the ban does not apply to indirect discrimination that a legitimate aim objectively justifies by appropriate and necessary means. Article 10(1) requires the other party to prove that it did not breach the Act where a person who claims to be disadvantaged states facts in court that suggest discrimination. Article 11 makes clauses that conflict with the Act void.
When LexLint raises it
When your app profile says your app ships a consumer interface.