Can an employer refuse to hire you if you have a disability? In the state of California, that depends on two things: Whether you can perform the job and whether the employer has a different reason for not hiring you. This guide explains if and when a California employer can refuse to hire someone who has a disability.<\/p>\n
In the state of California, employers are free to hire \u2013 or not hire \u2013 anyone they\u2019d like. However, employers are not legally allowed to refuse to hire you if their sole reason for doing so is a disability that you have (except in some limited circumstances). That means an employer can choose not to hire you because you can\u2019t work the right schedule for the job, you\u2019re not qualified or even because you showed up late to the interview \u2013 but they cannot refuse to hire you if you have (or they think you have) a disability that wouldn\u2019t get in your way of performing the job with reasonable accommodations.<\/p>\n
Here\u2019s an example:<\/p>\n
Trish shows up on-time for an interview for a customer service position in a hotel. She\u2019s in a wheelchair. She tells the interviewer that she doesn\u2019t have reliable transportation to get to work and she\u2019s not sure she can always work Saturday mornings, even though the job description says that some Saturdays are required. The employer can refuse to hire Trish because she isn\u2019t sure she can get to work, and because she said she doesn\u2019t think she can always work Saturday mornings (which are required for the job). In this case, the employer didn\u2019t refuse to hire her because she\u2019s in a wheelchair; it refused to hire her because she couldn\u2019t make the necessary commitment to the job.<\/p>\n
Related: FEHA FAQ<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n Here\u2019s another example:<\/p>\n Trish shows up on-time for an interview for the same customer service position in another hotel. She\u2019s in a wheelchair. She\u2019s qualified for the job, has reliable transportation and can work Saturday mornings. The hotel has elevators, and all the doors are ADA-accessible, which means if Trish needs to use them to escort a guest somewhere or to get from Point A to Point B, she\u2019ll easily be able to do so. If Trish is the best candidate for the job, the employer can\u2019t refuse to hire her because she\u2019s in a wheelchair. In fact, even if the hotel didn\u2019t have elevators or ADA-accessible doors, it couldn\u2019t refuse to hire Trish based on the fact that she\u2019s in a wheelchair because the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA<\/a>) and the Fair Employment and Housing Act<\/a> (FEHA) prohibit disability discrimination in the workplace<\/a>.<\/p>\n Related: What is disability discrimination?<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n Employers are required to provide reasonable accommodations<\/em> to people with disabilities. Reasonable accommodations are modifications that make a person able to do a job. The key is reasonable<\/em>: if the accommodations would be too difficult or too expensive for the business to make, they don\u2019t have to make them.<\/p>\n For example, installing a wheelchair ramp at an employee entrance is feasible for many companies \u2013 and that would be considered a reasonable accommodation. However, building an elevator in a leased building that doesn\u2019t belong to the business would most likely not be considered a reasonable accommodation.<\/p>\n Related: Disability discrimination and non-physical disabilities<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n An employer can refuse to hire someone with a disability if that person\u2019s disability would prevent them from performing the job or cause a safety hazard to others. For example, a courier service can refuse to hire a visually impaired driver; a call-answering service does not have to hire someone who has trouble speaking. The key is that the employer must be sure that the person cannot perform the job safely or with reasonable accommodations.<\/p>\n If you believe an employer refused to hire you because you have a disability, and the disability you have would not have prevented you from performing the job, we may be able to help you. Call us at 818-230-8380 or fill out the form below to schedule your free consultation with an experienced, caring professional who can give you the guidance you need.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Can an employer refuse to hire you if you have a disability? In the state of California, that depends on two things: Whether you can perform the job and whether the employer has a different reason for not hiring you. This guide explains if and when a California employer can refuse to hire someone who has a disability. Can an … Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":2825,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false},"categories":[5,56,94,3],"tags":[5047,80,81],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.yeremianlaw.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2822"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.yeremianlaw.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.yeremianlaw.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.yeremianlaw.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.yeremianlaw.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2822"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.yeremianlaw.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2822\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.yeremianlaw.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2825"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.yeremianlaw.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2822"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.yeremianlaw.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2822"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.yeremianlaw.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2822"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}What Are Reasonable Accommodations?<\/h3>\n
When Can an Employer Refuse to Hire Someone With a Disability?<\/h2>\n
Do You Think an Employer Refused to Hire You Because You Have a Disability?<\/h2>\n