The Accessible Employment Standard calls on all employers to have measures, policies, and practices to provide reasonable accommodations for employees and applicants. Employers must provide reasonable accommodations at various stages of employment as it applies to their organizations, whether in hiring employees, on the job, during opportunities for training and advancement, or in a return to work situation.
The Accessible Employment Standard (opens in new tab) builds on Manitoba’s Human Rights Code, which requires employers to provide reasonable accommodation. Failure to reasonably accommodate an individual can result in “discrimination,” as defined in The Manitoba Human Rights Code.
Reasonable accommodation means adjusting a rule, policy, practice or a physical space to allow changes to the ways things are usually done.
An accommodation may be requested if it is required for a job applicant to access the materials or activities used in the assessment or selection process; or is required for an employee to perform their employment responsibilities or access the benefits available to them. Accommodations should not result in undue hardship to employers.
An employee tells their employer that since having knee replacement surgery, they have difficulty standing for long periods. The employer provides a reasonable accommodation by offering the employee the option of sitting while performing their duties.
Accommodating specific accessibility needs due to a disability may not take as much effort as one may think. Many people with disabilities require no accommodations at all. In most cases, providing reasonable accommodations is simple and affordable.
For a small cost, the rewards are great for your organization, for new and existing employees, and for your organization’s bottom line.
The duty to accommodate should not create undue hardship.
Inconvenience, preferences, or having to bear some costs do not usually qualify as undue hardship. Although undue hardship is not defined in The Accessibility for Manitobans Act or The Manitoba Human Rights Code, case law tells us that it is more than minimal hardship and it must be based on actual evidence of hardship.
Visit the Manitoba Human Rights Commission (opens in new tab) to learn more about Reasonable accommodations in the workplace and other guidelines