How Far Must Employers Go to Accommodate Disabilities?
What Counts as a Disability Under the Human Rights Code?
The Ontario Human Rights Code protects employees from discrimination in employment on several grounds, including disability. Disability encompasses several physical, psychological and mental conditions. According to Statistics Canada, nearly three in five people with disabilities or long-term conditions experience a labour market-related barrier to accessibility. Furthermore, nearly seven in ten employed people with disabilities or long-term conditions experienced at least one barrier to accessibility while at work.
What Does “Undue Hardship” Really Mean?
The Ontario Human Rights Code provides the framework to prohibit actions that discriminate against people based on protected grounds, including disability, sex, gender, age, race, colour, etc. While employees have the responsibility to communicate the need for accommodation to their employer and to cooperate to agreed on appropriate accommodations, an employer has the duty to accommodate the employee’s disability to the point of undue hardship. If an employer can demonstrate that implementing the required accommodations would cause undue hardship, the employer would be relieved from the duty to accommodate. Undue hardship may include demonstrating that the cost of the accommodation would alter the nature or viability of the business, or that the health or safety risks to workers or the public are serious enough that it outweighs the benefits of providing equal treatment to the employee.
Employers can emphasize accessibility and diversity in the workplace by prioritizing inclusive hiring practices and the duty to accommodate to encourage others to become more forthcoming about their disabilities. In doing so, employers can better abide by their obligations to the Human Rights Code and ensure that they can create an accessible and inclusive work environment. Employers should consider having a comprehensive policy on accommodations for disabilities or long term conditions for greater transparency and to encourage employees to come forward in order to receive the appropriate accommodations and needs to thrive in the workplace.
How can Whitten & Lublin help?
If you are an employee who needs further information with respect to seeking accommodations for a disability, or if you are an employer seeking further information with respect to the employer’s duty to accommodate employees with disabilities, contact us for further information online or by phone at (416) 640 2667.
Author – Abby Leung