This resource provides information about workplace practices that have been identified as helpful by people living with arthritis. To determine how feasible these practices are to implement, consider the legal requirements in your region, the size, location and type of work of your organization, and its capacity to make changes. While it may be difficult to implement all of them at once, focus on starting with one or two and building from there. The list includes practices that can help make your organization more accessible overall, as well as suggestions for accommodating individual employees on a case-by-case basis.
Inclusive Practices
A Physically Accessible Workplace: This involves the design of spaces to make it easy for people with disabilities to navigate their work environment. This could include:
- Accessible parking spaces
- Automatic door openers
- Easy grip lever handles
- Elevators
- Ramps
- Unisex accessible washroom
- Bathroom stalls that are large enough for a mobility scooter
- Raised toilet seats
- Grab bars in bathrooms
- Railings
- Relocating an employee’s workstation closer to a parking lot, restroom, office equipment, or other location
An Ergonomic Workplace: Ergonomics investigates the interaction between people and their environments. The goal of ergonomics is to ensure a work station and work environment that best fits the employee in their role. This can be achieved through use of:
- Ergonomic assessments
- Adjustable chairs
- Sit/Stand workstations
- Accessible workstations
- Alternative computer equipment (i.e. keyboards, mice, monitors)
- Chairs with head support
- Ergonomic tools such as auto-dialers, document/book holders, door knob grips, ergonomic scissors, grip aids, and telephone headsets
- Modified control equipment
- Stand/lean stools
- Speech recognition software
- Lifting aids for heavy materials
Scheduling flexibility: This provides an alternative to the regular schedule of a role and allows an employee to vary their days of work and/or arrival or departure time within agreed upon parameters. This could include:
- Flex time: Changing or varying normal work hours or work days to accommodate fatigue or medical appointments, allowing for evening or weekend work if needed
- Compressed work week: Increasing the number of hours in a work day and decreasing the number of work days in a week
- Job sharing: Sharing the responsibilities, hours and salary of at least one full-time job between two employees
- Alternate location: Working from home or other location for all or a portion of the work week
- More frequent breaks: Taking shorter, more frequent breaks rather than one longer break
Employee Education: This involves providing employees with the information and resources to better understand arthritis, to reduce strain on their joints at work, maintain a healthy lifestyle, and self-manage their arthritis symptoms. This can include:
- Information related to arthritis, health and wellness through employee communication channels such as an intranet site, newsletter or email
- Online learning about joint health at work and/or arthritis self-management through an internal Learning Management System (LMS)
- Raising awareness of existing accommodation policies and the accommodation process
- Training on how to protect joints while sitting/standing/lifting/driving
- Ensuring employees understand benefit plans and options available to them
Employee Benefits: Providing employees with a benefits plan and offering extended benefits can make a big difference to employees with arthritis and enable them to thrive. Some of the benefits may include:
- Health insurance
- Reimbursement of prescribed medications
- Physiotherapy or occupational therapy
- Counselling or access to an Employee Assistance Program (EAP)
- Massage therapy
- Orthotics, braces, or other supports
- Short-term and long-term disability leave
- Sick leave and time off for appointments
Policies and Practices: Organizational policies and practices that account for the needs of employees with chronic health conditions like arthritis can help maximize employee productivity. These can include:
- Accessibility and Accommodation Policies
- Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Policies
- Leave of Absence Policies
- Absenteeism Policy
- Accessible and inclusive recruitment and hiring practices
- Return-to-Work practices to support employees who have been away on leave
Accommodation processes: Within Canada, an employer has the duty to accommodate an employee with a disability to the point of undue hardship. Developing a clear accommodation process and working collaboratively with employees to determine appropriate accommodations creates a win-win situation for everyone. These processes can include:
- Communicating to employees about existing accommodation policies and processes
- Making job candidates aware of accommodations available throughout the hiring process
- Supporting employees to disclose a disability and request accommodations
- Working with an employee to develop an accommodation plan
- Managing changes within a team/department, such as modified duties or scheduling
- Monitoring, assessing and revising accommodations as needed
Health & Wellness Promotion: A large part of managing arthritis symptoms involves maintaining a healthy lifestyle and diet. Supports that promote overall health and wellness can greatly benefit a person living with arthritis. These might include:
- Onsite gym facilities or a discounted gym membership
- Stretch breaks
- A stationary bike in a break room or pedal workstations
- Sit/stand desks
- Onsite showers
- Bike parking
- A health spending account
- Access to healthy food options at work or in the vicinity
Your employees with arthritis might have specific needs not identified here. It’s important to maintain open communication and check in with employees to ensure they have the supports needed to thrive at work.
Sources:
The Canadian Arthritis Patient Alliance (CAPA), “Arthritis in the Workplace: Resources for Patients by Patients.”
Episodic Disabilities Employment Network, “EDEN Fact Sheets.”
Joint Health Network, “Canada’s Best Workplaces for Employees Living with Arthritis Program.”
Job Accommodation Network, “Accommodating Employees with Arthritis.”