Without proper enforcement, it’s unlikely employers across the board will comply with new obligations under the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act, Toronto employment lawyer Doug MacLeod tells Law Times.
“The Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act is one of Ontario’s best-kept employment law secrets,” MacLeod, principal at MacLeod Law Firm, tells the legal publication.
“Perhaps the most onerous obligations for employers are set out in the employment standard which takes effect for private sector organizations with 50 or more employees on Jan. 1, 2016. My sense is that most organizations with 50 to 100 employees have not heard about this regulation let alone are in a position to comply with it,” he says.
MacLeod tells Law Times: “This may, however, be one of the situations where you can lead a horse to water but you can’t make it drink. In other words, if the government is not enforcing this law, then employers may be turning a blind eye to it until there are meaningful consequences to non-compliance.”
The government is phasing in the legislation, first introduced in 2005, over 20 years, says the article.
