Did you know that employers with 20 or more employees are required to file a report with the Ontario government confirming they have complied with their obligations under the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA) by Dec. 31, 2017?
Employment standard
This regulation under AODA applies to all employers. It requires an employer to comply with at least nine new obligations such as notifying job applicants that, where needed, accommodations for disabilities will be provided, on request.
Employers with 50 or more employees have two additional obligations including the duty to prepare a written individual accommodation plan for every disabled employee who has requested an accommodation for a disability.
Customer service
This regulation under AODA requires all employers to, among other things, provide customer service training to employees.
An employer with 50 or more employees is required to prepare written customer service accessibility policies.
Multi-year accessibility plan
An employer with 50 or more employees is required to establish, implement, maintain and document a multi-year accessibility plan. This plan outlines the organization’s strategy to prevent and remove barriers and meet its requirements under the Integrated Accessibility Standards regulation.
Ignorance of the law is no excuse
Many employers are not aware of their obligations under AODA, and have therefore not complied with them, and do not know about the obligation to inform the Ontario government that they have complied with their obligations under AODA by Dec. 31, 2017.
Fixed fee AODA compliance service
The MacLeod Law Firm has developed a fixed fee service that will get an employer into compliance with AODA before the Dec. 31, 2017 reporting deadline. A description of this service is found here.
