Accessibility Plan

Introduction

Franklin Empire Inc. is committed to working towards full compliance with current standards of the Integrated Accessibility Standards Regulation (IASR) Policy, Regulation 191/11, under the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act, 2005 (AODA); Accessibility for Manitobans Act; the Nova Scotia Accessibility Act, and any expected upcoming legislation, such as the British Columbia Accessibility Act and Accessible Canada Act as they are introduced. In doing so, we affirm our commitment to providing quality services in a manner that respects the dignity and independence of persons with disabilities.

Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA)

The AODA Multi-Year Accessibility Plan outlines the policies, achievements, and actions that March of Dimes Canada and its subsidiaries have taken and the work underway to improve opportunities for people with disabilities. The current plan covers five years (2018-2023), to align with our strategic plan.

Statement of Commitment

Franklin Empire Inc. is committed to treating all people in a way that allows them to maintain their dignity and independence. We believe in inclusion and equal opportunity. We are committed to meeting the needs of people with disabilities promptly and will do so by preventing and removing barriers to accessibility and meeting accessibility requirements under the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act.

Franklin Empire Inc. is committed to developing, implementing, and maintaining policies that govern how the organization achieves or will achieve accessibility through meeting this Regulation. To facilitate this commitment, Franklin Empire Inc. has established, maintained, and documented a multi-year accessibility plan, that is reviewed and updated at least once every five years to identify progress made in addressing barriers and will be posted on the Franklin Empire Inc. website and Staff Intranet.

Standards of Accessibility under AODA:

I. General Requirements

a. Franklin Empire Inc. is committed to providing clients with publicly available emergency information, plans, or public safety information in an accessible way upon request. This information will also be available to the public.

b. Franklin Empire Inc. has provided and will continue to provide employees with disabilities with individualized emergency response information when necessary and as soon as practically possible. If an employee who receives individualized workplace emergency response information requires assistance, with the employee’s consent, the workplace emergency response information will be given to the designated employee.

c. Franklin Empire Inc. has created a process for documenting issues of accessibility and recording and providing accommodation for individualized accessible emergency response information. Franklin Empire Inc. will continue to review the individualized workplace emergency response plans when necessary, i.e., the location of the employee changes and/or there is a change in disability.

II. Customer Service Standard

Franklin Empire Inc. uses reasonable efforts to ensure that its policies, practices, and procedures are consistent with the following principles:

• Goods or services are 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, are integrated unless an alternate measure is necessary, whether temporarily or permanently, to enable a person with a disability to obtain, use, or benefit from the goods or services.
• Persons with disabilities are given an opportunity equal to that given to others to obtain, use, and benefit from the goods or services.
• Persons with disabilities may use assistive devices and/or support persons in the access of goods and services.
• Persons with disabilities and their service animals are accommodated in all aspects of service provision unless the animal is otherwise excluded by law.
• Franklin Empire Inc. employees, when communicating with a person with a disability, will do so in a manner that considers the person’s disability.

The following measures have also been Implemented by Franklin Empire Inc.

• The Accessible Customer Service Policy was published on our website.
• Notice will be provided on the website, over the phone, or in writing where applicable, and accordance with the Business Recovery Plan when a Service Disruption occurs and will be done as quickly as possible if the disruption is unexpected.
• In-person Training on "Customer Service Training," "General Requirements of the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act,” “Information and Communications Standard under the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disability Act” & "Employment standards of the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act" is provided to all employees. These pieces of training not only provide valuable information to our employees on the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act but also inform them of the standards that Franklin Empire Inc. is legally obligated to hold itself to.
• Completion of training for all employees is tracked and recorded.
• Report compliance on the Accessibility Compliance Reporting tool at ServiceOntario’s One-Source for Business website.
• Any person with a disability who is accompanied by a support person or by a service animal will be allowed to ensure Franklin Empire Inc. premises with their support person and service animal. At no time will a person with a disability who is accompanied by a support person or service animal be prevented from having access to his or her support person and/or service animal while on our premises.

III. Information and Communications Standard

Franklin Empire Inc. is committed to meeting the communication needs of people with disabilities. We will consult with people with disabilities to determine their information and communication needs. We want to achieve the most effective and efficient access to information for all users.

Franklin Empire Inc. has undertaken the following plans to ensure compliance with this standard:

• Ensured that essential company information is accessible to persons with disabilities;
• A feedback process has been established that is accessible, alternate formats are also available such as telephone, mail and in-person. These processes have been communicated to the public and are available on our website;
• Training on the AODA Information and Communication Standards has been provided to staff that are involved in developing or disseminating information internally or externally on behalf of the organization;
• We provide accessible formats and communication supports upon request;
• Emergency procedures, plans or public safety information available upon request.

Under the IASR, Franklin Empire Inc. plans to review and convert existing emergency & public safety information into a format that will allow it to be made available in accessible formats on request and promptly.

Franklin Empire Inc. will take the following steps to ensure compliance with this standard:

• Continue to assess the accessibility of existing website organization and content;
• Consult with persons requesting alternative formats;
• Ensure that internet websites and web content conforms to WCAG 2.0 Level AA by January 1, 2021;
• Establish a plan/familiarize staff with sources and time-frames for formattings that are not feasible to do in-house, such as captioning, video description, and conversion to braille or audio and any other formatting.

IV. Employment Standards

Franklin Empire Inc. is committed to inclusive and accessible employment practices that attract and retain individuals with disabilities. We have taken the following steps to notify the public and employees that, when requested, Franklin Empire Inc. will accommodate people with disabilities throughout the recruitment and onboarding process.

A. Recruitment

Franklin Empire Inc. is committed to ensuring that our recruitment and selection processes are fair and accessible. All supervisors and other employees involved in the recruitment of any type are required to complete the AODA employment standard training modules available online.

Franklin Empire Inc. has taken the following steps to ensure compliance with this Standard:

• Specify that accommodation is available for applicants with disabilities in recruitment material, and with regards to interviews and assessments;
• When making offers of employment, notify the successful applicant of policies for accommodating employees with disabilities;
• Inform employees of policies supporting employees with disabilities. Provide this information to new employees as soon as practicable during onboarding;
• Provide updated information on accommodations policies to employees when changes occur;
• Consult with the employee to determine the suitability of format or support.

B. Document individual Accommodation Plans

Franklin Empire Inc. is committed to producing and providing document individual accommodations that include the following:

• Participation of the employee requiring the individual accommodation plan;
• Requesting outside medical evaluation to determine if an accommodation can be achieved and how;
• Ensuring a high level of privacy;
• Providing an annual review of employee accessibility requirements and Individual Accessibility plan;
• Reviewing accessibility plans when an employee moves to a different location or changes role;
• Providing a reason for denial if applicable;
• Providing Individual Accommodation Plans in a format that takes into account the needs of the employee;
• If required, including individualized workplace emergency response information.

C. Return to Work

Franklin Empire Inc. is committed to developing and implementing a process for developing individual accommodation plans and return-to-work policies for employees that have been absent due to a disability.

Franklin Empire Inc. has developed and maintained a return-to-work process for our employees who have been absent from work due to a disability and require disability-related accommodations to return to work. This process includes steps MCIS takes to facilitate the return to work process & uses the documented individual accommodation plans.

D. Performance Management, Career Development & Redeployment

Franklin Empire Inc is committed to ensuring the accessibility needs of employees with disabilities are taken into account with regards to performance management, career development, and redeployment processes.

Franklin Empire Inc. will review and update the Human resources Policies and procedures to include policies that support addressing the accessibility needs of employees with disabilities, as well as taking into consideration individual accommodation plans,

• Using performance management processes,
• Providing career development and advancement opportunities
• Redeploying employees with Disabilities

For further details on Individual Accommodation plans, Recruitment, Performance Management, Career Development & redeployment, as well as the Return to Work process, employees can contact the HR Department.