CAN-ASC-1.1 Standard on employment: Public Review Draft – 8. Retention and career development
8.1 Overview
This clause speaks to policies and practices that, if implemented, will strengthen job retention and career advancement for all workers, with a focus on workers with disabilities. It details responsibilities for creating an accessible workplace environment that will:
- foster the continued employment of workers;
- provide them with equitable opportunities for training and promotion; and,
- ensure they receive compensation based on merit.
In addition, this clause details Management’s responsibility for providing accommodations that will not disadvantage workers with disabilities. This clause also provides Management with direction on job exits, with an emphasis on learning job retention strategies through this part of the employment journey.
8.2 Retention
The organization should create an environment that supports the retention of all workers, including persons with disabilities, and provide them with incentives to remain with the organization by:
- designing human resource policies and practices that improve and maintain the representation of persons with disabilities at all levels of the organization, from leadership to entry-level;
- identifying persons with disabilities within job classifications and setting representation targets against workforce availability on par with the retention rate/targets for the organization, at minimum for reasons not related to attrition;
- reviewing these policies and practices annually or at least no more than every 3 years in consultation with persons with disabilities to identify, remove and prevent barriers to retention; and
- provide a simple, universal, and dignified way to request an accommodation at any stage of the employment lifecycle, including but not limited to onboarding, promotion, corrective action, and job exit.
8.3 Promotion and career development
The organization shall:
- encourage the promotion of people with disabilities into jobs at a higher organizational level, responsibility or pay based on merit, seniority, or a combination of both;
- provide career development support to enhance skills and experience and gain recognition through:
- training,
- education,
- leadership,
- speaking engagements, and
- other opportunities within the organization;
- ensure that the criteria for career development and promotion do not disadvantage persons with disabilities; and
- provide workers with support through individual accommodation plans as required for success to advance within the organization.
Note: Please refer to Clause 7 for requirements applicable to promotions that require an internal application and interview process.
8.3.1 Redeployment
The organization should identify the need for a redeployment policy to facilitate continuing employment should a specific position be eliminated, or an entire department transitioned or outsourced. The organization should facilitate the reassignment of workers to other departments or functions as an alternative to laying them off.
8.3.2 Redeployment policy
Where employers have a redeployment policy, the policy shall:
- provide for employment stability by identifying opportunities for re-employment;
- apply to all workers, with specific reference to people with disabilities;
- take into account individual accommodation needs or plans; and
- include consultation with the workers and/or the workers’ representative upon request.
8.4 Performance management
The organization should use a performance management system to facilitate worker success when assessing and improving worker performance, productivity, and effectiveness by:
- ensuring that the performance management process is accessible and inclusive to all workers, including workers with disabilities;
- adjusting accommodations as requested by the worker or their representative, or the worker and their representative;
- providing the required accommodations before assessing the worker’s performance and productivity level;
- applying the performance management process in an equitable manner across the organization for all workers, including workers with disabilities;
- supporting the movement of an accommodation(s) to a new role or area, as appropriate, to make the transition as seamless a process as possible;
- facilitating the movement of the worker’s accommodation plan with them in a seamless process when a worker moves to a new role or area; and
- preventing repercussions or negative consequences to a worker that result from the organization’s delay or failure to provide an accommodation or to respond to an accommodation request.
8.5 Compensation
The organization shall:
- apply objective criteria to prevent and eliminate compensation discrepancies between persons with disabilities and other workers performing the same responsibilities and job functions; and
- apply the equal wages provision as set out in the Canadian Human Rights Act in such a way as to apply to workers with disabilities.
8.6 Job exit
The organization shall:
- establish policies and procedures that govern all job exits;
- inform all workers of these policies and procedures;
- apply these policies and procedures equally to workers with and without disabilities; and
- use the information gathered from their job exit procedures to identify job exit trends and opportunities to improve the retention of workers with disabilities.