Customer service accessibility standard

By Yosie Saint-Cyr, LL.B., Managing Editor, HRinfodesk.com---Canadian Payroll and Employment Law News, June 2009

Ontario's first accessibility standard, the customer service standard under the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act, 2005 (AODA), came into effect on January 1, 2008. The standard states what businesses and other organizations in Ontario must do to make the provision of their goods and services more accessible to people with disabilities. Public sector organizations need to comply with the standard by January 1, 2010. Private sector and non-profit organizations need to comply by January 1, 2012.

The standard applies to designated public sector organizations and every other person or organization that provides goods or services to the public or to other organizations (third parties) and that has one or more employees in Ontario, such as stores, restaurants, bars, garages, manufacturers, wholesalers, travel agencies, provincial government ministries and places of worship.

Ontario Regulation 429/07 states the requirements of the customer service standard, and Ontario Regulation 430/07 exempts organizations that have fewer than 20 employees (unless the organization is a designated public sector organization) from certain documentation requirements of the standard. Providers of goods or services with fewer than 20 employees, other than designated public sector organizations, are exempted from the requirement to file accessibility reports under section 14 of the Act, with respect to the accessibility standards for customer service established by Ontario Regulation 429/07 (Accessibility Standards for Customer Service).

The government has indicated that the reasons for this exemption are: it is consistent with a phased approach to implementing the Act; it allows the exempted providers of goods or services to focus their efforts and resources on complying with those accessibility standards; and in this section, “designated public sector organization” and “provider of goods or services” have the same meaning as in Ontario Regulation 429/07.

According to Regulation 429/07, organizations that are required to comply with the Accessibility Standards for Customer Service must:

1. Establish policies, practices and procedures

The established policies, practices and procedures must be for the provision of goods or services to people with disabilities. Organizations must also use reasonable effort to ensure that all their policies, practices and procedures are consistent with the principles laid out in the customer service standard (dignity, independence, integration and equality of opportunity). Organizations must also institute a policy that deals with the use of assistive devices by people with disabilities to access their goods or services or the availability, if any, of other measures that enable them to access the goods or services.

2. Establish a training program and train staff

Organizations must design a training program that includes the following:

• A review of the purposes of the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act and Regulations, and the requirements of the customer service standard
   
• How to interact and communicate with people with various types of disabilities
   
• How to interact with people with disabilities who use an assistive device, service animal or a support person
   
• How to use equipment or assistive devices available on your premises, or that you otherwise provide, that may help with the provision of goods or services to people with disabilities
   
• What to do if a person with a particular type of disability is having difficulty accessing your goods or services
   
• Your customer service policies, practices and procedures governing the provision of goods or services to people with disabilities

Organizations must also ensure that every person who deals with the public or other third parties on the organization's behalf receives training, whether the person is an employee, agent, volunteer or otherwise. They should further ensure that every person who participates in developing the organization's policies, practices and procedures governing the provision of goods or services to members of the public or other third parties receives training.

3. Establish a feedback process

The feedback process must be established for receiving and responding to feedback about the way the organization provides goods or services to people with disabilities. This process must allow people to provide feedback in person, by telephone, in writing, by email, online, on disk or by another method. The process must also ensure that there is a method to specify the actions that the organization and its staff must take when a complaint is received.

Furthermore, information about the feedback process must be readily available to the public.

4. Prepare documentation

If the organization is a designated public sector organization, or is a provider of goods or services with 20 or more employees, it must prepare one or more documents that include the following information:

• Description of its customer service policies, practices and procedures on the provision of goods or services to people with disabilities. This should include a policy on the use of personal assistive devices by people with disabilities to access the goods or services and the availability of any other assistive measures the organization offers to enable them to do so.
   
• Description of the organization's policies, practices and procedures with respect to the entry of service animals and support persons to those areas of the premises where they provide goods or services that are owned or operated by them and are open to the public or other third parties, including:
• When the organization may exclude service animals because of another law, if applicable
   
• Alternative measures available to enable a person with a disability to access the organization's goods or services if an animal is excluded by law
   
• If admission is charged, what amount will be charged for support persons
   
• If, and under what circumstances, it may be necessary to require a person with a disability to be accompanied by a support person to protect the health or safety of the person with a disability or the health or safety of others on the premises
   
• The steps that will be taken in connection with a temporary planned or unexpected disruption to facilities or services that people with disabilities usually use to access the organization's goods or services, including:
   
• Under what circumstances notice will be provided about a temporary disruption and where it will be posted
   
• Information required by the standard to be included in the notice of a temporary disruption
   
• What alternative facilities or services, if any, will be made available during the temporary disruption to continue to provide service to people with disabilities
   
• The organization's policy on providing training on accessible customer service, including:
   
• A summary of the contents of the training
   
• Details of when that training is to be provided
   
• Description of the organization's process for receiving and responding to feedback on the manner in which they provide goods or services to people with disabilities, including:
   
• How the organization will accept feedback
   
• What actions the organization will take if a complaint is received

If the organization is a designated public sector organization or is a provider of goods or services with 20 or more employees, it must notify its customers that the documents required under the standard are available upon request by posting the notice at a conspicuous place on the premises they own or operate, by posting it on its website or by another method that is reasonable in the circumstances. It must also provide a copy of the required documents to anyone who asks for them. When providing documents required by the customer service standard, or when communicating with people with disabilities, do so in a format that takes into account the person‘s disability.

The following article will provide the steps to consider when establishing the above requirements: www.hrinfodesk.com/index.asp?article=30146

The following article is a sample customer service standard policy to help you draft your own customized policy that meets the needs of your specific organization: www.hrinfodesk.com/index.asp?article=30145

By Yosie Saint-Cyr, LL.B., Managing Editor at HRinfodesk.com

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