Do you have your head in the sand with respect to the AODA (Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act)? It’s interesting that many businesses haven’t heard about the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA) and the need to become compliant. Others have heard about it but seem to be ignoring it thinking it doesn’t apply to them. Some know about it but don’t know how to get started. People have a tendency to procrastinate on getting started early in order to meet the requirements for AODA legislation. I’ve spoken to many businesses this week and I’m sharing some of the questions I’ve answered.
What is the AODA?
The Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act became law on June 13, 2005, placing new responsibilities on employers with the goal to make Ontario organizations more accessible. The act seeks to break down the barriers faced by persons with disabilities with the aim to make Ontario accessible by 2025.
Doesn’t the Ontario Human Rights Code cover persons with disabilities?
The Human Rights Code deals with individual discrimination, while the AODA’s mandate is to make Ontario accessible for persons with disabilities.
When is the deadline?
AODA legislation will be implemented in phases. Phase 1 – AODA Customer Service Standard came into force for public sector organizations on January 1, 2010. The deadline for the private and non-profit sectors is January 1, 2012. Additional phases will be implemented with tiered deadlines and the ultimate aim to make Ontario accessible by 2025.
What are the phases?
The AODA includes standards which will be phased in as follows:
customer service
transportation,
information and communications
built environment, and
employment.
What do organizations have to do?
Organizations will have to implement policies, practices and procedures to guide the provisioning of goods and services to persons with disabilities, including training staff, and volunteers. The policies, practices and procedures must comply with specific principles such as, but not limited to, respect and dignity.
What organizations have to comply?
Any organization in Ontario that has one or more employees must comply with the AODA standards. However private organizations with fewer than 20 employees do not need to prepare written documents. (Note that public sector organizations with one or more employees must meet all documentation and filing requirements). Organizations with 20 or more employees must also prepare and file annual accessibility reports with the government.
Isn’t it just retail stores or restaurants that have to comply with the AODA?
The legislation applies to Business to Consumer and Business to Business organizations. It applies to public, private and not-for-profit sectors. It covers any organization that provides goods and services to customers whether individual or not, and has one or more employees, as noted in the previous section.
What if we don’t do anything?
It depends on if you prefer the carrot or the stick.
The Carrot: It makes good business sense to comply because according to the Royal Bank of Canada, persons with disabilities have an estimated spending power of about $25 billion each year in Canada. It good business to make your products and services accessible.
The Stick: For individuals, the fines up to $50,000 for each day that the requirements have not been met. For corporations, the fines are up to $100,000 for each day that the requirements have not been met.
It makes sense to be proactive and learn what you need to do to meet the deadlines.
If you need help, we’ve created a full day AODA – Customer Service Standards Workshop with templates and tools, similar in format to our popular Bill 168 Workshops, to help you understand what you need to do to quickly become compliant in your workplace. We have workshops scheduled regularly in a variety of locations across Ontario including, but not limited to, Toronto, Burlington, Oakville, Mississauga, Brampton, Hamilton, Waterloo-Kitchener, and Barrie. We also provide in-house AODA training if you have an implementation team that needs to get up-to-speed. Our AODA workshops are very practical and hands-on to help participants implement the AODA Customer Service Standard in a cost effective and timely manner.
We encourage you to start your plans for implementing this very important legislation. We have many years of experience educating and assisting organizations with human resources and training solutions to meet a variety of needs. For information about our AODA workshop and to register click here!
Best regards, Joanne Royce
Joanne Royce, Royce & Associates, Human Resources & Training Solutions
Creating happy, healthy, and productive workplaces.
A couple of weeks ago I posted a blog “I want to wash my hands – How to inform with fun.” It was about Brant Community Healthcare System’s (BCHS) creative way to inform health care workers and everyone about the importance of hand washing to prevent bacteria and viruses from spreading. The video “I wanna wash my hands“ got across an important message with the power of employees and volunteers! In that post I asked a few questions about the video. I contacted Mr. James Hornell, President & CEO and to my astonishment, he called me the day of the post and answered all my questions! So here they are:
Who came up with the idea? (Was it an internal idea?) Our Public Affairs department and Infection Prevention & Control staff had planned activities for hand washing week but noted that more was needed. After seeing a similar video online and discussing various opportunities Public Affairs staff recommended a music video using our own staff/physicians/volunteers. We thought that a video with would be most effective. (It was inspired by a video created by the Sierra Vista Regional Medical Centre, San Luis Obispo, California).
How was it filmed? It was actually filmed by a local videographer – TDG Marketing. Music was recorded at RS Sounds & Production – a local studio. The camera was surprisingly small for the quality.
Was it expensive to put together? It cost about $4000 which is very little considering it costs the hospital about $50,000 to handle one infection by germs brought in from the outside. When this happens, patients need to be isolated, there are extra medical tests, and more. And on top of all this, there is the impact to the patient.
Is everyone portrayed in the video as employees actual employees? (Probably – yes!) Who did you decide would be in it? Everyone in the video are employees – except for the Minister of Health, MPP Dave Levac, Walter Gretzky, and the OPP. (And one of the band members). They were filmed at work and at different events. Everyone who participated is in the finished product – no one was left on the cutting room floor.
Is the band Doctor Doctor a real band? And are they really Doctors? They really are doctors – one is a radiologist, two are internists. The band has performed at hospital functions. Once they were able to find some time from their important roles at the hospital, they got together to record the song. It was the first time they were in an actual recording studio so they were thrilled. They are now telling us that maybe should produce their own CD if they can find the time!
How did you get Mr. Gretzky Sr. involved? We asked him. Walter Gretzky is a great friend of the BCHS. He comes by regularly to cheer up the patients. He speaks about stroke and recovery. And at Christmas he comes around with the OPP Road Rangers with presents for the kids. He’s a wonderful human being.
Are you getting more calls from people wanting to work with your organization? See #9.
What’s the feedback been from patients? See #9.
What’s the feedback been from the community? There certainly has been tremendous response to the video. We’ve had people calling from all over the world. For example, a hospital in Scotland is using the video as part of their awareness and training program. The MOL website has our video as a link on their website. Provincial health officials in Alberta & British Columbia, patients, and the community have all responded favourably. One of our employees sent the link to her daughter who is in Japan and she said it was the first time she’s smiled in a long time. The response has been tremendous.
Did you recognize the people who put this together? Yes we have, and there is something more in the works. But I can’t say much more about that.
What has the impact been internally? The video has created big buzz externally, but also internally. It was a lot of fun to produce. Day in and day out our staff have to deal with hard and difficult situations, so it was nice to be able to cut loose, and have some fun. It’s had a big impact on morale.
Finally, has the video received and specific industry standard awards and what are those awards? The video – no (not yet!)
The BCHS – yes, including:
The Quality Workplace Silver Awar
2011 Hamilton-Niagara Top 10 Employer (2nd consecutive year!)
Ontario Hospital Association leading practice patient safety award
BCHS has been named for the past 2 years (2010 and 2011) as one of Hamilton-Niagara’s Top 10 Employers.
Thanks to Mr. James Hornell for taking the time to speak to me so I could share the answers! It’s amazing to see the power of employees taking an important message and creating a participative, memorable video to get the message across. And it is nice to see it shared with everyone!
Washin’ my hands, Joanne
Joanne Royce, Royce & Associates, Human Resources and Training Solutions – Creating Happy, Healthy and Creative Workplaces
We’ve developed an interactive, content rich, and engaging workshop divided into an educational session and a working session similar to our popular Bill 168 workshops. We’ll quickly and efficiently help get your organization compliant with the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA) – Customer Service Standard. You’ll have the knowledge, skills, and tools to successfully roll out the AODA initiative in your organization.
We’ve set up a one day workshop consisting of an educational session in the morning and a working session in the afternoon. Our training can be customized to be delivered in a number of different formats best suited to your organization and your budget!
What you will learn and take away:
You leave with everything you need to help you successfully implement the AODA in your organization.
knowledge and skills to help you implement and train your people confidently and successfully
policy templates, checklists, forms, and tools to save you hours of time
additional resources including FREE ELearning to save you money
one month telephone and email access to support you while you implement!
Who should attend:
Customer Service Managers, Office Managers, Human Resources professionals, Business Owners, or individuals who want to save time and money and are responsible for implementing the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disability Act within their companies.
Why Royce & Associates: (Kind Words from participants)
Joanne has strong subject matter knowledge, which got us up to speed on the changes quickly!
With Joanne everything was created to be user friendly.
We left the session ready to train staff and feeling confident we are ready and compliant.
You saved us valuable time and money.
Months of hard work was already done for me!
Let Royce & Associates get you up to speed quickly so you can focus on the road ahead and your business. We know dealing with policies, procedures, and legislation isn’t the most exciting part of running a business, but it is necessary. We will save you hours of time, research and headaches. You will want to contact us now to make your workload lighter!
AODA Workshop – Implementing the Customer Service Standard in your organization
Bill 168 Workshops Ontario Ministry of Labour inspections show that 80% of large companies are compliant, but only 20% of smaller organizations are compliant. If you haven’t yet implemented Bill 168 – Workplace Violence and Harassment it’s never too late to comply.
And Brand Your Organization as a Great Place to Work
The Power of Social Media
I found this video through a link on Twitter. It’s a splendid way to inform in a fun manner and it didn’t lecture or cause someone to fall asleep from boredom. It’s a creative way to get the message across. But it does so much more.
After I watched the video, I definitely got the message AND I had a smile on my face. I couldn’t help but notice all the “actors” in the video. Happy, healthy, and yes, productive employees. In case you haven’t noticed – I have a thing for happy, healthy, and productive employees. The “actors” not only got an important message across in a fun manner, they told a story about what a great place it is to work at Brant Community Healthcare System!
If people watch this video and think about hospitals, Brant Community Healthcare System will probably stand out and be remembered. In fact it was chosen as one of Hamilton-Niagara’s Top Employers for 2011. After watching the video, I thought of the following questions for the team at Brant Community Healthcare System.
Who came up with the idea? (Was it an internal idea?)
How was it filmed? (It actually looks like it was filmed by employees using a regular but good video camera).
Was it expensive to put together?
Is everyone portrayed in the video as employees actual employees? (Probably – yes!) Who did you decide would be in it?
Is the band Doctor Doctor a real band? And are they really Doctors?
How did you get Mr. Gretzky Sr. involved?
Are you getting more calls from people wanting to work with your organization?
What’s the feedback been from patients?
What’s the feedback been from the community?
Did you recognize the people who put this together?
This is an example of the power of social media. Kudos to Brant Community Healthcare System for getting across an important message, enhancing employee engagement, AND telling a bit of a good news workplace “story”! It’s impressive company branding which helps with recruiting talented candidates and retaining them!
Is your workplace a great place to work? How do you get important messages across? Do you involve your employees? Do you have FUN @ WORK? What is your company brand? Give us a call to discuss further.
And Mr. James Hornell, President & CEO, if you are reading this, please answer the questions!
I’m washing my hands AND I’m sure many others are as well, Joanne
Joanne Royce, Royce & Associates, Human Resources & Training Solutions
Creating Happy, Healthy, & Productive Workplaces!
Joanne Royce
Welcome to our blog. Use our insider tips on human resources, training, and interpersonal relationships to create your own happy, healthy, and productive workplace. We'll also comment on life in general and share info and highlights from books.
Human Resources & Training Solutions
It’s interesting that many businesses haven’t heard about the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA) and the need to become compliant. Others have heard about it but seem to be ignoring it thinking it doesn’t apply to them. Some know about it but don’t know how to get started. People have a tendency to procrastinate on getting started early in order to meet the requirements for AODA legislation. I’ve spoken to many businesses this week and I’m sharing some of the questions I’ve answered. 
