Employment

In all our endeavours we aim to ensure our workplace is a safe and accessible place for all. The goals, past and ongoing actions, barriers, and future plans outlined in this priority area concern the employment of Alterna Savings staff that complete work on behalf of Alterna Bank from time to time.

Alterna is proud of its corporate culture, embodying our core values: integrity, collaboration, accountability, respect and excellence (I-CARE). We strive to create an environment where everyone works together towards a common goal: we are committed to delivering good, caring and transparent financial services as a supportive partner and advisor. Together, we help our members, customers and employees set and reach their goals, while putting our profits towards member services and helping our local communities. We always endeavour to provide an accessible experience throughout our employees’ journey with us.

Goal

• • To make employment at Alterna accessible and remove common workplace barriers.

Past and Ongoing Actions 

• • Reviewed and continue to review all completed employee accommodation requests and supporting documentation and approved nearly all requests received in 2024 and 2025.

  • Continue to review internal policies and ensure we are conscious of removing barriers and creating more accessible practices and policies.

  • Improved our benefits and wellness offerings to provide greater access to those with disabilities through introduction of telehealth providers in our benefit coverage.

  • Developed mandatory staff training concerning accessibility legislation and accessible customer service. All new employees are required to complete the training when they join Alterna, and all employees are required to retake the training when major updates occur. All training is designed with closed captioning within videos and appropriate colour contrast on graphics.

  • Continue to offer and update all templates and job aids digitally available to follow accessibility guidelines for digital media.

Barriers

While Alterna strives to make the workplace accessible for all, we have identified specific areas where we will continue to work towards our accessibility goals, including:

• • Variability in how the accommodation process is initiated, as well as where to access information across the employee lifecycle, has been identified as a barrier, that potentially impacts timeliness and the overall employee experience.

  • Feedback was provided that some interactions with leaders have been identified as an accessibility barrier, as not all employees—particularly those with non-apparent disabilities—consistently felt included and supported.

  • Transparency in job advancement opportunities and the performance evaluation processes was not always as robust as possible.

  • Training could be delivered in a more formal manner that accounts for accessibility concerns and different styles of learning.

  • Internal company communication to employees could provide more mechanisms for feedback and/or opportunities to ask follow-up questions.

Future Actions 

• • By June 2027, create a plan to make information related to expected timelines for the formal accommodation processes more readily available to employees.

  • By June 2027, add information in internal corporate communications regarding mechanisms through which employees can ask follow-up questions on accessibility and accommodation processes.

  • Deliver accessibility and disability inclusion training to all current Alterna Savings employees by the end of 2027.

  • Research potential strategies for raising awareness about the formal accommodations process for all by June 2028.

  • Deliver accessibility and disability training specifically for managers and leadership by June 2028.

  • Review how resources related to assisting employees and managers with performance management are distributed internally by June 2028.

  • Review available training resources, identify any gaps and develop a plan to address those gaps by June 2028.