[humanser] On drivers' Licenses, Disabilities, & Essential Functions

[Marion Gwizdala]

Dear Colleagues,
    As professionals in the human services field, we have noticed a shift toward providing home-based services. As the result of this shift, many employers are requiring that applicants have a valid driver's license and an automobile. Such a trend tends to screen out otherwise qualified individuals whose disabilities prevent them from obtaining a driver's license. In an effort to raise the awareness of those responsible for writing job descriptions and hiring employees, as well as the disabled job seeker, I am disseminating the following information . Please feel free to circulate the following message as widely as appropriate. If you receive this message as a forward and the attached file has been stripped, you can request a copy by sending a message to

President at NAGDU.ORG

More information about reasonable accommodations in compliance with Title I of the Americans with Disabilities Act may be found by visiting the website of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission at

http://www. eeoc.gov

    many of my colleagues who have disabilities have shared with me their frustration over their job searches and the blatant discrimination they have experienced. title I of the Americans with Disabilities Act prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability "in regard to job application procedures, the hiring, advancement, or discharge of employees, employee compensation, job training, and other terms, conditions, and privileges of employment." (42 USC 12112(a)) The Act defines discrimination, in part, as "using qualification standards, employment tests or other selection criteria that screen out or tend to screen out an individual with a disability or
a class of individuals with disabilities unless the standard, test or other selection criteria, as used by the covered entity, is shown to be job- related for the position in question and is consistent with business necessity" (42 USC 12112(b)(6)) 

    One form of this discrimination is the requirement of many employers that applicants have a valid driver's license and/or  an automobile. The question that must be answered in order to determine if such a requirement constitutes discrimination on the basis of disability is whether or not driving is an "essential function" of the position - sometimes referred to as a Bona Fide Occupational Qualification (BFOQ) - or a non-essential, incidental means whereby the duties of the job are performed.

    Attached to this message is informal guidance from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the enforcement agency for Title I of the Americans with Disabilities Act, concerning the use of driver's licenses as  job requirements. I encourage human resource departments and others responsible for developing job description and hiring standards to read and retain this information for future reference.  



Sincerely yours,

Marion Gwizdala, President

National Association of Guide Dog Users 

National Federation of the Blind

813-626-2789

President at NAGDU.ORG

http://www.nagdu.org


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