When will the accessible customer service standard come into effect?
In order to give organizations time to implement the requirements of the standard, the timetable for compliance and reporting is being staggered.
The first organizations that will have to be compliant and start reporting are provincial ministries and other designated public sector organizations.
They will have to be in compliance with the Regulation by January 1, 2010, and they will start compliance reporting in 2010.
All other obligated organizations will have to be in compliance with the Regulation by January 1, 2012 and will start compliance reporting in 2012.
What will the accessible customer service standard require organizations to do?
All organizations with at least one employee that provide service to customers in Ontario will have to:
- establish policies, practices and procedures governing the provision of goods or services to persons with disabilities, including a policy about the use of assistive devices
- use reasonable efforts to ensure that their policies, practices and procedures are consistent with the following principles:
- the goods or services must be provided in a manner that respects the dignity and independence of persons with disabilities
- the provision of goods or services to persons with disabilities and others must be integrated unless an alternative measure is necessary, whether temporarily or on a permanent basis, to enable a person with a disability to obtain, use or benefit from the goods or services (for example, assisting a person with a disability to reach items on a shelf)
- persons with disabilities must be given an opportunity equal to that given to others to obtain, use and benefit from the goods or services
- communicate with customers with disabilities in a manner that takes into account the customer’s disability (for example, providing a publication in an alternative format, such as audio or Braille)
- train their customer service staff, volunteers and people responsible for developing the organization’s customer service policies, practices and procedures in the provision of accessible customer service
- permit customers with disabilities who have support persons or service animals to use them while accessing goods or services in premises open to the public and, where admission fees are charged, provide advance notice concerning what admission, if any, would be charged with respect to a support person
- provide notice when accessibility to services or facilities for customers with disabilities is temporarily disrupted (for example, posting signs at the entrance of a building to let customers know that one or more elevators is temporarily out of service)
- establish a mechanism for customers to provide feedback respecting the provision of customer services to persons with disabilities and for the organization to take action on complaints.
Who is covered by the accessible customer service standard?
All organizations that provide goods or services to the public and have at least one employee will be covered by the standard.
This includes private businesses, non-profit organizations, provincial and municipal governments, universities, colleges, hospitals, school boards and public transit organizations.
Is the accessible customer service standard the same as the one proposed by the Accessible Customer Service Standards Development Committee?
The government has taken the standard that was proposed by the committee and made a few small changes:
- The Committee’s proposed standard included all organizations providing customer services, including those with no employees. The government has decided that organizations with no employees will not have to comply with the standard.
- The Committee proposed that organizations be split into five groups based on their size. The government has decided that there will, in fact, be only three classes of organizations:
- Class 1 – Private sector organizations or non-profits with 1-19 employees. They will be required to comply in 2012.
- Class 2 – Private sector organizations or non-profits with 20 or more employees. They will be required to comply and file compliance reports in 2012.
- Class 3 – Public sector organizations with one employee or more, including provincial and municipal governments and certain agencies, the Legislative Assembly and its offices, municipalities, universities, colleges, hospitals, school boards and public transit organizations. They will be required to comply with the standard and file compliance reports in 2010.
How will the accessible customer service standard improve accessibility for people with disabilities?
The standard aims to help businesses and other organizations provide all of their customers with the same level of quality customer service.
Education and training are key components of the standard. Effective customer service for people with disabilities can often be achieved with some simple training for staff on how to serve people with different kinds of disabilities. Training also helps to address attitudinal barriers – one of the most common and complex barriers to address – affecting a broad range of disabilities.
What are the costs to organizations to implement the standard?
Costs to organizations will be minimal.
Most organizations will be able to meet the training requirements of the standard as part of their regular staff training processes and organizations will have from three to five years before they have to come into compliance.
The government intends to help by providing tools and working with partners on training materials for organizations at no cost.
How will the government be enforcing the AODA and its standards?
The accessibility reports that are required to be submitted to the government will be the primary tool for monitoring enforcement of the AODA.
What is an offence under the AODA?
Among other things, a person is guilty of an offence who:
- provides false or misleading information in an accessibility report or otherwise provides a director with false or misleading information;
- fails to comply with any order made by a director or the Tribunal under the AODA;
- obstructs an inspector carrying out an inspection under a warrant or intimidates, coerces, penalizes or discriminates against someone who is seeking to enforce the AODA or a director’s order. For more detailed information on what constitutes an offence, see Sections 20(8), 37(1) and 37(2) of the AODA.
What is the maximum penalty for non-compliance?
Certain actions or inaction (such as failure to comply with a director’s order) constitute an offence under the AODA (see question above). If a person is found guilty of an offence, a fine of up to $50,000 per day may be levied for each day or part of a day that the offence occurs or continues to occur. A corporation may be liable for a fine of up to $100,000 per day for each day or part of a day that the offence occurs or continues to occur.
Your news release mentions “partners” that you are working with to implement the Accessible Customer Service Standard. Who are your partners?
We are working with the Association of Municipal Managers, Clerks and Treasurers of Ontario and the Retail Council of Canada to build awareness of the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act, the new customer service standard and the issue of accessibility in the public and retail sectors.