The Accessibility
for Ontarians with Disabilities Act, 2005 (the “AODA”) is an Ontario law whose purpose is to develop,
implement and enforce accessibility standards in order to achieve accessibility
for Ontarians with disabilities by 2025. Since January 1, 2012 Ontario
employers with 20 or more employees were required to be compliant with the
AODA’s Customer Service Standard. Compliance includes filing an
Accessibility Report due in March of each year.
The compliance reports are a series of questions where the organization
is required to keep documentation for compliance.
Likewise, since January 1, 2014,
Ontario private sector employers with 50 or more employees have been required
to comply with requirements under the AODA’s Integrated Accessibility
Standard. This includes filing another Accessibility Report on or before
December 31, 2014.
Employers were well warned that
non-compliance could lead to penalties and fines. Most employers have
probably complied. Unfortunately some have not. We are aware of a
number of recent decisions from the Ontario License Appeal Tribunal dealing
with employers that did not file an Accessibility Report in respect of the
Customer Service Standard. In each case, the ultimate punishment was a
$500 penalty.
Compared to the possible $15,000 penalty that an employer can
face under the AODA, these penalties are relatively light. Fines can also
be levied; corporations can be fined up to $100,000 per day.
Eligible employers would be wise to confirm that they are AODA
compliant and be sure to file their Integrated Accessibility Standard
Accessibility Report on or before December 31, 2014 (if they haven’t already).
Has your organization been filing compliance
reports?
If you are interested in learning more about Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA) or how to make accessibility a natural part of your business through the application of Corporate Social Responsibility, please contact Sandra Broekhof @ 416-579-1035 or sandra_broekhof@sympatico.ca
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