General

Regardless of the grounds for an accommodation request, the type, amount and source of supporting documentation requested should be determined on a case-by-case basis, according to the specific circumstances and complexity of the request. For example:

• A recommendation from an occupational health and safety advisor or occupational therapist, based on an ergonomic assessment, is appropriate to support the purchase of ergonomic furniture or equipment where the employee is not aware of their furniture or equipment needs
• In many cases, whether the accommodation request is related to a disability, family status or any other prohibited ground, the person’s accommodation request can be addressed through collaborative engagement between the manager and the employee without requesting information or documentation from external sources
• For accommodation requests based on religion, employees may provide information that describes their sincerely held religious belief or practice. Managers are encouraged to consult with their organization’s human resources functional specialists
• For all other grounds of discrimination under the Canadian Human Rights Act, managers may consult with their organization’s human resources functional specialists or other functional specialists for guidance

Privacy considerations

When gathering and sharing information, managers must:

• ensure that employees’ private information is shared strictly on a need-to-know basis
• manage information appropriately to mitigate the risk of others intentionally or unintentionally accessing employees’ personal and/or medical information
• adhere to the Privacy Act and respect its principles, such as accountability, identifying purposes, consent, limiting collection, limiting use, disclosure and retention, accuracy, safeguards, openness, individual access and challenging compliance

Disability-related requests

Managers should act in a timely manner to support the employee’s full participation in a high-performing workforce that ensures good governance and service to Canadians. In cases where a person has requested an accommodation, the employer is entitled to receive sufficient information to provide effective accommodation. If an employee has completed a GC Workplace Accessibility Passport, then the completed Passport should be sufficient documentation, in most situations, to support workplace accommodation requests (refer to GC Workplace Accessibility Passport Guidance for Managers).

If the employee is facing one or more barriers to their full participation in the workplace, the manager should talk to the employee to find timely solutions that address the barriers. The discussion can include:

• the tasks or responsibilities that hinder the employee’s full and equal participation
• recommendations of effective adaptations of the equipment, processes, policies or environmental factors that may be creating barriers for the employee

Requests for a broad assessment of an employee’s disability or functional limitations should be avoided if existing information from the employee and/or from a previous assessment can be simply clarified or updated.

The employer is not usually entitled to know the exact diagnosis, treatment or medications. The employer may, however, enquire whether the employee is undergoing treatment or taking medications that could affect the safety of the employee or others in the work environment, or that could have an impact in relation to the accommodation measures.

When seeking information from medical professionals, the focus should be on clarifying the employee’s accommodation needs based on their abilities, and not on the illness or disability. In short, an accommodation should not be viewed as a “problem” to fix. The goal should be to enquire what accommodation measures would best support the employee’s full participation in the workplace.

Previous documentation

The GC Workplace Accessibility Passport is a useful tool to document the accommodation measures for employees with disabilities and helps to increase administrative efficiency. When the employee changes jobs or managers, it also provides the new manager with information on what accommodation measures and solutions were previously put in place (refer to GC Workplace Accessibility Passport Guidance for Managers).

If an employee has already provided supporting documentation, such as a GC Workplace Accessibility Passport, or previously received an accommodation, new information should not normally be requested from external specialists unless:

• the employee’s job-related duties have significantly changed
• there are changes in their personal circumstances that affect their ability to perform job-related functions or
• the employee is unable to provide the required information themselves

A change in an employee’s supervisor or senior management is not usually an appropriate reason to request new documentation or a reassessment of the employee’s functional limitations or accommodation measures, nor change or withdraw existing accommodation or supportive measures.

Non-cooperation in the provision of adequate information

A supportive environment, where everyone is treated with respect, dignity and fairness, significantly improves employee engagement, enhances performance, and fosters a cooperative working environment.

If, after conversations have taken place, the employee decides not to cooperate and refuses to provide adequate information, the employee should be informed that, if managers are unable to assess their request, accommodation may not be provided. In these cases, managers may have met the duty to accommodate. It is important that managers document what they have done to try to accommodate the employee’s needs.