Accessibility
Statement of Commitment
Liberty Mutual Canada, the registered business name of the Canadian Branch of a division of Liberty Mutual Insurance Company (“Liberty”), is committed to diversity and inclusion and treating all people in a way that allows them to maintain their dignity and independence. We believe in integration and equal opportunity. We are committed to meeting the needs of people with disabilities in a timely manner and will do so by preventing and removing barriers to accessibility and meeting accessibility requirements under the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act.
Accessible Emergency Information
Liberty is committed to providing its customers and clients with publicly available emergency information in an accessible way upon request. We will also provide employees with disabilities with individualized emergency response information appropriate to their circumstances when necessary.
Training
Liberty provides training to employees, volunteers and other staff members on Ontario’s accessibility laws and on the Human Rights Code of Ontario as it relates to people with disabilities. Training is provided in a way that best suits the duties of employees and other staff members.
Liberty has taken the following steps to ensure employees are provided with the training needed to meet Ontario’s accessible laws.
Liberty:
- Ensures that appropriate training on the requirements of those laws and on the Human Rights Code of Ontario as it pertains to persons with disabilities, is provided to all employees, volunteers and other staff members;
- Provides the training to those persons as soon as practicable following their engagement;
- Maintains records of the training provided, including the dates that the training was provided and to whom it was provided; and
- Ensures that training is provided on any changes to the prescribed policies on an ongoing basis.
Information, Communications and Accommodation
Liberty is committed to meeting the accommodation and communication needs of people with disabilities. We consult with people with disabilities to determine their information, communication and accommodation needs.
Liberty ensures that feedback processes are accessible to persons with disabilities by providing or arranging for the provision of accessible formats and communications supports, upon request.
Since 2016, Liberty notifies the public about the availability of accessible formats and communication supports and provides or arranges for the provision of accessible formats and communication supports upon request for persons with disabilities in a timely manner that takes into account the person’s accessibility needs. Liberty also consults with the person making the request in determining the suitability of an accessible format or communication support.
Liberty ensures processes are in place to accommodate persons with disabilities, including requiring a support person to accompany a person with a disability on our premises if necessary for health and safety reasons. Prior to making any such determination, Liberty must:
- Consult with that person to understand their needs;
- Consider health or safety reasons based on available evidence; and
- Determine if there is no other reasonable way to protect the health or safety of the person or others on the premises.
In addition, Liberty will allow persons with disabilities to be accompanied by a service animal and if necessary, seek documented confirmation from a regulated health professional.
Employment Practices
Liberty is committed to fair and accessible employment practices.
Recruitment
Liberty notifies employees and the public of the availability of accommodation for applicants with disabilities in the recruitment process. In the event an applicant requests an accommodation, we will consult with the applicant and arrange for the provision of suitable accommodations in a manner that takes into account the applicant’s accessibility needs.
When making offers of employment, Liberty notifies the successful applicant of its policies for accommodating employees with disabilities and include such notice in its offer of employment letters.
Employee Supports
Liberty informs employees of the accessibility supports that are available to its employees with disabilities by providing its employees with its policies and, more particularly, its policies on the provision of job accommodations that take into account an employee’s accessibility needs due to disability. Liberty provides this information to new employees as soon as practicable after they begin their employment and it provides updated information to its employees whenever there is a change to existing policies on the provision of job accommodations that take into account an employee’s accessibility needs due to disability.
Where an employee with a disability requests it, Liberty will consult with the employee to provide or arrange for the provision of accessible formats and communication supports for information that is needed in order to perform the employee’s job and information that is generally available to employees in the workplace. Liberty will then consult with the employee making the request in determining the suitability of an accessible format or communication support.
Accommodation Plans and Returns to Work
Liberty’s policies ensure that processes are in place to accommodate an employee with a disability and to facilitate an employee’s return to work after absenteeism due to disability. In addition, the policies are reviewed to ensure that they include a process for the development of individual accommodation plans for employees with a disability, if such plans are required.
The process for the development of individual accommodation plans address the following elements:
- How the employee requesting accommodation will participate in the development of the individual accommodation plan;
- The means by which the employee is assessed on an individual basis;
- The basis upon which Liberty can request an evaluation by an outside medical or other expert in determining if accommodation can be achieved and, if so, how accommodation can be achieved;
- The manner in which the employee can request the participation of a representative in the development of the accommodation plan;
- Protecting the privacy of the employee’s personal information;
- The process by which the individual accommodation plan will be reviewed and updated;
- If an individual accommodation plan is denied, the manner in which the reasons for the denial will be provided to the employee; and
- Providing the individual accommodation plan in a format that takes into account the employee’s accessibility needs.
Liberty ensures that the return to work process as set out in its existing policies will facilitate the employee’s return to work after a disability-related absence through the development of a written individualized return to work plan for such employees and the use of individual accommodation plans in the return to work process.
Performance Management, Career Development and Redeployment
In its performance management, redeployment and career development processes, Liberty takes into account the accessibility needs of employees with disabilities by reviewing and, as necessary, modifying its existing policies and procedures.
The Multi-year Accessibility Plan is available here.
Feedback Process
Comments on the accessibility of Liberty’s services are welcomed. Please contact the Chief Compliance Officer identified below to express your comments. If you wish to write to us, please send the comments to the address below, or advise us if you require an accessible format of the feedback process.
For more information on this accessibility plan or to obtain accessible formats of this document, please contact:
Liberty Mutual Canada
181 Bay Street, Suite 900
Toronto, Ontario
M5J 2T3
Attention: Jessica Seppi, SVP, Chief Counsel and Chief Compliance Officer
Phone: 416.307.4695
Email: jessica.seppi@libertymutual.com
