CEOs and business leaders on the COMPAS business are largely agreed that governments, especially the Ontario government, have done a poor job of advancing the interests of people with disabilities. They have certainly not consulted business. Panelists give governments an average score of 27.6% for their performance in consulting business about disability regulations. This is the third lowest performance score the panel has given in nearly a decade.

Most panelists report having awareness of human rights laws and regulations (63%), but few are aware of disability regulations. Over the past several years, the Ontario provincial government has been leading provincial governments in introducing disability-specific regulations under AODA legislation. Among business panelists in Ontario, only 29% report awareness of forthcoming Ontario disability regulations (AODA) with respect to businesses’ obligations to employees and job seekers. Even fewer panelists (24%) report awareness of forthcoming AODA regulations governing business obligations to customers with disabilities.

Respondents were asked to assess the impact on the hiring of people with disabilities of a series of potential barriers. Business panelists identify the following three factors as the top barriers to hiring people with disabilities:

• Concern that disciplining or firing under-performing employees has greater legal risks when the employee has a disability;
• Concern that disciplining or firing under-performing employees has greater public relations risks when the employee has a disability; and
• The financial cost of physical accommodations for some employees with disabilities.

The two barriers that are perceived as impeding the hiring of people with disabilities the least are:

• Concern that introducing accommodation policies will prompt employees without disabilities to make false disability claims; and
• Prejudice or hostility among employees without disabilities towards employees with disabilities.

These are the key findings from this past week’s Internet survey of CEOs and business leaders on the COMPAS panel. The weekly business survey is undertaken for Canadian Business magazine under sponsorship of BDO Dunwoody LLP.

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