Ontario Disability Employment Network

“Public Services for Ontarians: A Path to Sustainability and Excellence” (aka ‘the Drummond report’) from the Commission on the Reform of Ontario’s Public Services was released on February 15th, 2012.  Click here to read the full report.

The City of Sarnia was nominated along with two other organizations for the Corporate Social Responsibly Award, a national award. The nomination was for the “Mayor’s Challenge” for public and private corporations “to do the right thing” and hire the disabled and intellectually challenged’ Last night in Toronto the City of Sarnia was named as the winner of the award and the recognition was accepted by Mayor Mike Bradley.

Canada Summer Jobs 2012
“Creating jobs, strengthening communities”

Canada Summer Jobs is a Government of Canada initiative that provides funding to help employers create summer job opportunities for students. It is designed to focus on local priorities, while helping both students and their communities.

About Canada Summer Jobs 2012

Canada Summer Jobs:
* provides work experiences for students;
* supports organizations, including those that provide important community services; and
* recognizes that local circumstances, community needs and priorities vary widely.

Canada Summer Jobs provides funding to not-for-profit organizations, public-sector employers and small businesses with 50 or fewer employees to create summer job opportunities for young people aged 15 to 30 years who are full-time students intending to return to their studies in the next school year.

The application period for Canada Summer Jobs 2012 is from February 1 to February 29, 2012.

NOTE: To obtain more information please call 1-800-935-5555 or see www.servicecanada.gc.ca criteria.  The criteria to assess the proposals focus on:

* service to local communities;
* jobs that support local priorities
* jobs that provide career-related experience or early work experience;
* jobs with a salary that contributes to the student’s income;
* employers who provide supervision and mentoring;
* project activities that are directed toward members of, and support the vitality of, an Official Language Minority Community; and
* employers who intend to hire priority students (students with disabilities, Aboriginal students and students who are members of visible
minority groups).

How to apply for Canada Summer Jobs

Before completing an application, employers must consult the Canada Summer Jobs Applicant Guide and review the local priorities for their constituencies. To help employers complete their application, the Canada Summer Jobs Applicant Guide and the local priorities are available online at: www.servicecanada.gc.ca , by calling 1-800-935-5555, or by visiting any Service Canada Centre.

The Applicant Guide contains the following information for employers:
* eligibility criteria;
* instructions for completing the Canada Summer Jobs application;
* the assessment process; and
* the approval process.

Employers can apply online or print an application from the website. They can also get an application by visiting any Service Canada Centre. The deadline for applications is February 29, 2012.

Apply online:
The online application process is quick and easy. An electronic confirmation number of successful receipt will be generated once the online application is submitted.  Employers must keep this number for future reference.

Download a paper application form:
Employers can download a printable form. Completed applications may be submitted in person, by mail, or by fax, at any Service Canada Centre.

Completed applications may be submitted using one of the following methods:

Online: Applications must be submitted on February 29, 2012, 23:59 Pacific Time. Applying online is quick and easy.
In person: Applications must be received before the closing time of the local Service Canada Centre on February 29, 2012.*
By mail: Applications must be postmarked on or before February 29, 2012.*
By fax: Applications must be faxed to a Service Canada Centre by February 29, 2012, 23:59 local time.*

*An employer submitting a paper application in person, by mail or by fax will receive a letter of acknowledgement.

Application Deadline

The deadline for applications is February 29, 2012. Applications received or postmarked after the closing date of February 29, 2012, will not be assessed.

Attention All odenetwork.com Members:

We’re excited to announce a few changes with the Ontario Disability Employment Network’s online presence. Over the next few months we will be adjusting the interactive portions of the website to create a more informative and user friendly experience. This will include the removal of all personal profiles on our website. But don’t worry – we now offer more convenient ways to connect!

1. Facebook: The Ontario Disability Employment Network is now on Facebook! Check us out here: http://tinyurl.com/6scvzj2

We’ll be posting great resources, and will be open for comments and questions from any Facebook user. “Like” us today to keep track of the exciting new changes, or bookmark the site in your browser.

2. LinkedIn: A great place for employment professionals to connect and share resources. Log in, and join the group today!

Our LinkedIn group can be viewed here: http://tinyurl.com/7gkewxr

3. Twitter: As always, we will continue to tweet out our latest news – check out our twitter site here: http://twitter.com/#!/odenetwork

4. Join our mailing list: To receive all the latest Ontario Disability Employment Network news simply enter your e-mail address on our homepage. Look for the “Subscribe to our mailing list” field on the right hand side.

For any questions or concerns, e-mail us at info.odenetwork@gmail.com

All the Best!

The ODEN Online Team

Canadian vocational project seeks employment opportunities for the disabled

Read the original article here:  http://www.rotary.org/en/MediaAndNews/News/Pages/120112_news_rotarywork.aspx/

Districts 6290, 6400, 7070 and 7090 partnered with Community Living Ontario, a nonprofit association that advocates for people with disabilities, to create a vocational service project that provides resources and training for business owners interested in hiring people with disabilities.

By working with employment agencies, the project connects disabled individuals with job openings. Since its launch in 2009, the program has helped more than 130 disabled people find employment.

Project manager Joe Dale, a member of the Rotary Club of Whitby, says about 16 percent of the province’s population has some kind of mental or physical impairment; of those, 49 percent are unemployed. It’s one of the largest minorities in the country and a significant labor pool for businesses to tap into, he says.

“This project has helped a growing number of employers dispel the myths about the disabled by connecting them to [potential] employees with disabilities,” says Dale, executive director at Ontario Disability Employment Network. “We go around the province encouraging Rotarians and other businesses to hire those with disabilities and inform them of the benefits that come with it.”

Studies conducted by Community Living Ontario and surveys of employers have shown that employees who have a disability demonstrate average or above average work performance, are willing and able to work many different types of jobs, and improve staff morale.

Whitby club member Mark Wafer, who helped launch the project, says hiring people with disabilities gives him a competitive edge. An owner of six Tim Hortons, a Canadian-based coffee and baked goods chain, Wafer has employed more than 80 people with disabilities over the last 16 years for positions ranging from customer service to management.

Wafer says the benefit is “substantial.” People with disabilities tend to stay with an employer longer, he says, because it has taken them such a long time to find a job. That reduces the cost of having to interview, hire, and train replacements. “Turnover is expensive.”

Wafer says his overall turnover rate remains low because all his employees “want to be a part of something special, they feel good about the inclusive workplace. It changes the nature of the work force.” 

Expanding the project

Dale hopes to see Rotary clubs and districts across Canada take part in this vocational project.

Rotarians can use their influence in the community to demonstrate leadership when it comes to hiring people who have a disability, he says. “If business owners hear that this hiring won’t be a deterrent to profitability, then that’s a strong message.”

Participating clubs can use connections in their community to conduct informational sessions for business groups, chambers of commerce, and trade and professions associations.

David Onley, Ontario’s lieutenant governor, who contracted polio as a child and remains partially paralyzed, says the project “reflects an important partnership between Community Living Ontario and Rotarians to assist Ontarians with disabilities find appropriate employment by forging relationships with businesses.”

The hiring of people with disabilities is one of the last frontiers of discrimination, says Wafer. “Rotarians, as business owners and professionals are well positioned to break down this barrier and open the doors to a more inclusive community.”

Ontario disabilities act creates compliance confusion

View the original article here:  http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/small-business/sb-marketing/customer-service/ontario-disabilities-act-creates-compliance-confusion/article2292901/?utm_medium=Feeds%3A%20RSS%2FAtom&utm_source=Hom

Shelley White

Special to Globe and Mail Update

Published Friday, Jan. 06, 2012

For Hans Sturzenbecher, catering to people with disabilities just makes good business sense.

His restaurant, Macy’s Diner & Delicatessen in Mississauga, Ont., has been making changes to accommodate people with disabilities for the past eight years, from creating space between tables to make room for wheelchairs and walkers to enlarging the print size on menus.

Other Ontario small and medium-sized businesses will have to start making changes of their own to comply with the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act, provincial legislation to be phased in over the next 10 years that can carry fines of up to $100,000 a day for non-compliance.

As of the start of this year, all businesses in Ontario are required to comply with phase one of the AODA, known as the Accessibility Standard for Customer Service. But many small and medium-sized businesses may not be up to par.

Small businesses in the province “are just starting to really get on board” with the new customer service regulation, says Russ Gahan, vice-president of operations for People Access, a non-profit organization charged with helping the Ontario government raise awareness about the AODA.

He says there’s been some confusion about what the customer service standard is all about. “It’s not about putting in ramps and automatic doors; that’s the first thing people think. They think mobility when they think of disabilities, and what you need to do to accommodate them physically.

“What this is about is attitude change, empowering your employees to be confident when providing customer service to people with disabilities.”

If you’re an Ontario small business, what does that mean in practical terms? The customer service regulation has two major components.

First, all companies must create “an accessible customer service plan” that outlines how their business will provide service to people with disabilities. This includes identifying potential barriers and figuring out new ways of dealing with them.

“The example I like to give is, let’s say you have a store that has a no-refunds policy and you have change rooms that are not accessible,” says John Milloy, Ontario Minister of Community and Social Services. “Yes, it would be wonderful if someone could invest to make the change rooms accessible, but that may not be practical. What they might do is change their policy and say that if you’re in a wheelchair or can’t access those change rooms, you will be allowed to return those clothes.”

Another example, Mr. Gahan says, would be how to deal with customers with hearing loss. “They may be better off not having to negotiate their terms in a noisy office where they can’t hear what you’re saying.

“You start to think of these things, instead of just being oblivious to them.”

The second component of the regulation requires employers to train their staff to provide accessible customer service. Training topics must include how to communicate with people with different types of disabilities and how to interact with people who use assistive devices or service animals.

In addition, employers with 20 or more staff members must keep a copy of their accessible customer service plan and file reports with the ministry, indicating how and when their employees have been trained. They have until the end of 2012 to do so.

There are many businesses to go: According to the Ministry of Community and Social Services, 17 large and small Ontario businesses have filed reports since Jan. 1. Penalties for refusing to comply with the legislation can be serious – organizations can be fined up to $100,000 a day, or individuals can be fined up to $50,000 a day.

Mr. Milloy says that although the regulations are primarily about encouraging and educating the business community, the ministry will follow up with businesses that do not file their reports.

“We’re obviously going to reach out to those that have not filed to urge them to take the steps necessary, and we’re going to obviously be in touch with the disability community as people bring concerns to our attention,” he says. “We do ultimately have fines in place and that’s the last resort.”

To help businesses create their accessible customer service plan and train their staff without spending a lot of money, the ministry offers several free toolkits, including a 78-page employer handbook and a 51-page training resource. There are further resources available. Mr. Gahan says People Access offers both free and paid tools for small businesses.

“The paid one includes e-learning. If you have 20 employees and you don’t want to figure out how to put together a training program for them, for $149 you can have all the templates, tools, window stickers and 19 e-learning seats.”

With e-learning, staff can log in and go through a 25-minute course, reading and answering questions. They can then print a certificate and show their employer they’ve been through the training.

Another option is to hire a consultant to come in and teach a course in-house. “A physical workshop is the best,” says Suzanne Share, CEO of Access Consulting Services in Toronto. “It can be very difficult to change attitudes. I give people a good idea what it’s like to have dyslexia, to have arthritis, to have temporary disabilities or long-term disabilities.”

Once Ontario businesses have met the requirements of the customer service regulation, there will be more to come. The Integrated Accessibility Standards Regulation will be next – wider-ranging legislation requiring that transportation, employment and all forms of communication be accessible to people with disabilities.

According to the Ministry of Community and Social Services, these standards will be phased in over time between 2011 and 2025, to “give organizations the time they need to build accessibility into their regular business processes.”

Mr. Milloy says employers should look at the AODA regulations as not only important for people with disabilities, but good for business too, particularly in a province where close to two million citizens are identified as having a disability. “I think the message really needs to be that there is an enlightened self-interest there, because people are making decisions. Where do we go for lunch? Well, here’s a place that’s adapting to have a customer service standard that’s very welcoming.

“If I have a business, I want to be able to reach out to them and make them comfortable, because, at the end of the day, it’s going to mean more dollars in my bottom line.”

It’s a message that has long resonated with Mr. Sturzenbecher. “The majority of my clients are seniors. When we started up, we had lots of space and good daylight, and we realized there’s a niche market in our area, and it’s growing constantly.”

He decided to lose a few tables so customers would have extra space to get through with walkers or wheelchairs. When he saw his customers getting out magnifying glasses to read the menu, he tripled the print size. He also offers his menu online in a format that allows visually impaired customers to access it with a screen reader.

Customers with guide dogs get a bowl of water for their canine companions. As well, his staff is well-trained in assisting the patrons with disabilities that frequent Macy’s on a regular basis.

“The truth is, if you cater to them and they know you cater to them, they become loyal customers.”

City Manager, Lloyd Fennell, announces that the City of Sarnia has been named as a finalist in the 2012 HR Summit Awards. The City has been nominated in the Corporate Social Responsibility category.

The category in which the City has been nominated recognizes a team, organization or individual who has successfully championed corporate social responsibility in the organization.

The nomination was the result of an article in the HR Reporter publication and recognizes the City’s efforts through the “Mayor’s Challenge” to give students with disabilities summer jobs so that they could gain the experience they need and make money to continue their education.

The City believes that with an unemployment rate of more than 25% for youth with disabilities (which may be closer to 50% if the numbers include those who have ceased looking for work) the situation required action to modify attitudes and provide opportunities.

The other two finalists for this award are United Way Tri-Hospital Campaign Committee – Trillium Health Centre and Human Resources – Hydro Ottawa.

The awards will be presented in Toronto on January 31, 2012.

Fennell stated that “having the City family – Council, department heads and staff – recognized for their efforts and commitment to improving opportunities for youth with disabilities is completely gratifying regardless of the final outcome of the judges’ decision”.

Click here to download PDF of this press release