本文從「工作」與「就業」的意義出發，論述「工作」是一個人維持生計、與社會產生連結、參與社會生活，創造生命意義的基本權利。並透過「醫療模式」與「社會模式」對身心障礙者就業的障礙觀點之比較，進而探討當身心障礙者的「工作權」必須以「就業」的形式在勞動市場獲得經濟資源與社會生活的滿足時，政府與社會大眾均有責任排除勞動市場障礙、彈性調整勞動市場的生產方式、擴大身心障礙者的工作場域及創造就業機會等，以保障其工作權及社會權。本文另一個關心的焦點是，到底身心障礙者在勞動市場中所遭遇的困境與就業問題為何，政策上該如何克服與因應？作者根據2004年「台中縣身心障礙者就業需求調查」，整理呈現不同障別身心障礙者的就業狀況、問題與需求，探索身心障礙者就業需求與現行政策及服務供給上的問題。而研究的發現與討論，也延伸出一些重要的就業政策議題，包括：1.身心障礙者的就業政策需回應「社會模式」觀點，並結合「醫療模式」觀點的整合服務；2.避免資訊社會的排除效應及應增進身心障礙者的社會連結；3.身心障礙者就業障礙的排除與企業責任；4.多元的就業選擇權；5.身心障礙者就業能力的開發；6.強化身心障礙者就業服務與相關領域支持體系的整合；7.身心障礙者就業的薪資補貼策略之思考等。

This paper explores the meaning of ‘work’ and ‘employment’ and argues that ’work’ is the basic right of people to live in society. However, the development of industrial society has transformed ‘work’ into ‘employment’, narrowly defines the value of ‘work’ only by participating in the labor market and measures workforce in economic calculation. The competitive labor market, therefore, has excluded many people with disabilities from participating in social and economic activities, and has deprived their rights to work. Two perspectives - the ‘medical model’ and ‘social model’ view employment barriers that people with disabilities face in the labor market differently and therefore, adopt different strategies. This paper argues that when the rights to work of the disable persons have to be realized in the labor market, according to the perspective of ‘social model’, it is the responsibilities of the government and the society to remove the barriers of the labor market, to flexibly readjust the production means, to expand and create work opportunities for them. Another concerned issue in this article is to explore the employment difficulties and barriers that the disabled persons encountered and discusses the policy implications. Based on the survey research of ‘The Employment Needs of the People with Disabilities in Taichung County, Taiwan’, which was held between July, 2003 and April, 2004, the research discovered that there were more than 30 % of the interviewees expressed their willingness to work but got no chance. Also, people with different types of disabilities faced different barriers. Employment discrimination and the lack of sufficient social support are major problems which have significantly created social barriers for people with disabilities to realize their work potentials. This paper also suggests some policy issues to be further discussed.