Accommodation is the process of adapting an employee's position or workplace to remove barriers that impede the employee from fully participating in the workplace or fulfilling their role due to a disability, illness or injury. In this process, an employer must make adjustments in the workplace for a person that has unique requirements as a result of a characteristic that is protected under the Ontario Human Rights Code if the employer is provincially regulated, or the Canadian Human Rights Act if the employer is federally regulated. An employer is not permitted to discriminate against an employee based on any of the grounds listed in the pieces of legislation named above. In order to not discriminate, employers must make every reasonable effort to accommodate employees who fall into these categories if an accommodation is needed.

Employers have a duty to accommodate employees who are suffering from an illness or injury that affects their role in the workplace. This duty to accommodate means that the employer must make every reasonable effort working with the employee and their physician, if possible, in attempting to accommodate an employee unless the employer can prove that such accommodation would cause the employer undue hardship. Undue hardship occurs when the cost or burden of an accommodation makes an accommodation not possible for an employer. The defence of undue hardship is a high threshold to meet and must be proven for an employer to be exempt from having to accommodate the employee.

Accommodation is very individualized and fact specific; the employee, their physician and the employer must work together to find the best solution to meet the employee's needs. An accommodation may be permanent or temporary depending on the needs of the employee.

Some examples of ways an employer may provide an accommodation include:

• Adapting a term of the employment relationship- hours, location, job flexibility, job tasks, etc.
• Changing the physical workplace- installing ramps, handrails, air purifiers, PPE, reserved parking etc.
• Providing specific equipment- ergonomic chairs, speech to text technology, software, etc.
• Making services available- counselling, additional training, mental health breaks, provide an aid, service animals etc.
• Adapt alternative formats- change performance evaluations, provide verbal or written feedback, modify policies, etc.

In order to properly accommodate an employee with a physical or mental disability, illness or injury, employers may need certified medical information. Employees will need to have their medical practitioner provide a medical certificate that informs the employer of what kind of accommodation they need in their position or their workplace. A diagnosis is not needed, but rather a prognosis of how long this accommodation will be required. From there, this medical information will be used by the employer to better be able to assess whether they can provide an accommodation for the employee without enduring undue hardship. Accommodation is a case-by-case determination and employers have the duty to sincerely determine what options are available to assist employees who need an accommodation. It is important to note that the larger the organization, the more difficult it is to prove undue hardship as a bigger organization has more resources to accommodate the employee than a small business.

If you would like more information about workplace accommodations, our team of lawyers would be glad to assist you. Reach out to our firm by phone at 705-268-6492 or by email at info@sdlawtimmins.com.