Customer Service Standard AODA| Workplace Violence and Harassment Prevention Training | AODA Toronto | Customer Service for People With Disabilities

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AODA - Disability Customer Service

Who Must Comply and By When?

The AODA is the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act, a piece of legislation that became law in 2005. The AODA is made up of five standards that are being introduced in a staggered roll out. The first to come into effect is the Customer Service Standard.

The Customer Service standard applies to all people, businesses and organizations that:
provide goods or services either directly to the public or to other businesses or organizations in Ontario; and have one or more employees in Ontario.

For example, if you have a call centre in Nova Scotia...or anywhere in the world...that provides service to customers in Ontario, they are affected by AODA.

What Do You Need To Do?

Train staff, volunteers, contractors and any other people who interact with the public or other third parties on your behalf.

By January 1, 2012, all business and organizations must comply with this standard or face substantial fines. To help you comply with the AODA, Spark Training and Coaching Associates Inc. has developed an online training course that will be customized to reflect your business operations. Here is a fact sheet with additional information. Need more info; here is a demo with the AODA FAQ's. Contact us today to discuss an e-learning solution or to book an AODA workshop.

The Ontario Government has released the New Integrated AODA Regulations concerning Information and Communication, Transportation, and Employment.
Take a look.

Bill 168 - Workplace Harassment & Violence Prevention

Bill 168, which amended the Occupational Health and Safety Act, required employers with more than 5 employees to train all of their staff by June 15, 2010 on the new workplace violence and harassment legislation. Employers have obligations under the Occupational Health and Safety Act to protect workers from all sources of violence. The goal of the legislation is to support the prevention of workplace violence and workplace harassment. Contact us today for a demo of our e-learning course for Bill 168. Our Bill 168 Compliance course, The Respectful Workplace, is interactive, with assessments to test your team members' knowledge of the acceptable and unacceptable behaviours and their responsibilities. The results of the quiz can be emailed to human resources to provide a record that the course was completed.

Increasingly, courts are trying to determine to what extent the employer uses education and training to prevent harassment and discrimination. Employer training efforts and programs undergo judicial scrutiny and therefore pamphlets may not be enough.

The HR Reporter indicated "In the year after Ontario passed amendments to the Occupational Health and Safety Act to address workplace violence and harassment, the province has issued about 1,100 orders related to the new legislation, according to the Ministry of Labour.

Between June 15, 2010 to March 31, 2011, inspectors from the Ministry of Labour probed more than 400 complaints involving workplace violence and issued about 600 orders associated with the new legislation. They also investigated more than 1,000 complaints involving workplace harassment.

Recent Court Decisions

Here are the links for the relevant court cases regarding BIll 168.

Kingston (City) v Canadian Union of Public Employees, Local 109, 2011 CanLII 50313 (ON LA) - The courts upheld the employee's termination. August 2011