The AODA Employment Standards: Are you meeting the new requirements?

The steps to compliance with the AODA employment standards

Last November, we published a free whitepaper, 7 Steps to Compliance with the AODA Employment Standards, to help guide employers through the challenges of meeting these new employment standards requirements from start to finish. I’ve included a brief outline of the recommended steps below, but I highly recommend checking out the whitepaper for the full commentary on how to achieve compliance using these steps. You can download your copy for free here.

1.    Understand the law and the requirements
A lot of people tend to overlook this part of the process, yet it’s the foundation of good compliance practice. Before you can properly establish and implement a plan, you’ll need to understand what the current accessibility laws and obligations require of you and your HR practices.

2.    Determine your deadline for compliance
The compliance date for small organization with employees in Ontario to meet the new employment standards was January 1, 2017, while the date for larger organizations (50+ employees) was January 1, 2016.

3.    Review your existing HR policies, procedures and practices
The goal here should be the removal and prevention of any barriers for persons with disabilities at all points of the employment cycle.

4.    Write your new policy
Create your policy for the AODA employment standards, including your organization’s statement of commitment to employment practices that are fair, accessible and welcoming for everyone.

5.    Establish your multi–year accessibility plan
Your organization’s plan needs to indicate how you intend to implement the requirements for each employment standard. This includes descriptions of the barriers you’ve identified and corrective actions for those barriers.

6.    Train your managers and employees
Once you are ready to roll out your multi–year plan, you will need to communicate the revised HR processes to management and staff and provide regular training so your employees understand them.

7.    Monitor and enforce your revised processes
Regularly check to see if management and employees are putting your new processes into practice according to your organization’s multi–year plan.

Is your organization finding it difficult to comply with the Employment standard of the AODA?

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 orsandra_broekhof@sympatico.ca