CRPD/C/GC/8 with disabilities, and also including those who hold short- or long-term contracts, work parttime, are apprentices, are self-employed, are migrant workers or are employed in the informal sector. Organizations of persons with disabilities should participate in the formulation, implementation and review of the national policy to ensure that national policies do not enable discrimination. 30. As the Committee has noted in its jurisprudence, protection from harassment in connection with work and employment extends throughout the employment cycle and requires effective remedies through the enactment and enforcement of specific and comprehensive anti-discrimination legislation.27 The legislation should be accompanied by appropriate and effective legal remedies and sanctions in relation to discrimination in civil, administrative and criminal proceedings. Individual remedies should be accompanied by effective changes in the workplace to prevent future violations. D. Labour and trade union rights (art. 27 (1) (c)) 31. Trade union rights, freedom of association and the right to strike are crucial means of introducing, maintaining and defending just and favourable conditions of work. Trade unions should admit, accept and enable the full and meaningful participation of persons with disabilities on an equal basis with others. Trade unions should play an important role in defending the right of persons with disabilities to work, including persons with disabilities still working in segregated employment. States parties have an obligation to respect and protect the work of human rights defenders and other members of civil society, in particular trade unions, who assist persons with disabilities and other marginalized groups in the realization of their right to work.28 32. The promotion of employment for persons with disabilities requires the effective involvement of trade unions and other representative associations that protect and promote the rights of workers with disabilities in the definition of priorities, decision-making, planning, implementation and evaluation of strategies. 33. General labour laws and codes should explicitly prohibit discrimination on the basis of disability and should include the responsibility to ensure that trade union workers, employers and labour market institutions are fully aware of issues of equality and nondiscrimination in the context of the work and employment of persons with disabilities. 34. Collective bargaining arrangements should prohibit discrimination on the basis of impairment. Where they specify working conditions, the arrangement must include a mechanism by which employees can seek reasonable accommodation. E. Access to technical and vocational guidance, placement services and training (art. 27 (1) (d)) 35. Non-discriminatory access to general technical and vocational guidance, training and placement services, both public and private, on an equal basis with others is required for the realization of the right of persons with disabilities to work and employment. 29 The participation of persons with disabilities in mainstream services promotes the nonsegregation of services and access by persons with disabilities to open employment and vocational training services.30 Such services may be appropriate for entry into work, during the course of employment or for transitions between roles. States parties should take measures to ensure the certification of capacities and attainments on an equal basis with others, the explicit inclusion of persons with disabilities in legislation dealing with vocational training, explicit references to persons with disabilities in general policies regulating vocational training, the accessibility of premises, information and materials, the provision of 27 28 29 30 Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, general comment No. 6 (2018), para. 22. Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, general comment No. 18 (2005), para. 51. See the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, art. 6, and the ILO Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment (Disabled Persons) Convention, 1983 (No. 159). See CRPD/C/2/3, annex. 7