Principles for Public Safety Employment

finds a particular over-the-counter antihistamine to be effective and asks the applicant if she has tried it. 48

3. W HAT IS A “M EDICAL E XAMINATION ”? As indicated, an employer is prohibited under the ADA and FEHA from conducting a “medical examination” of a job applicant until a conditional offer of employment has been made. According to the EEOC, a medical examination is a procedure or test that seeks information about an individual’s physical or mental impairment or health. 49 The EEOC has indicated that the following factors are helpful in determining whether a procedure or test is a medical examination:  Is it administered by a health care professional?  Are the results interpreted by a health care professional or someone trained by a health care professional?  Does it measure an applicant’s performance of a task (permissible), or does it measure the applicant’s physiological responses to performing the task (not permissible)?  Is it normally given in a medical setting (for example, a health care professional’s office)?  Is medical equipment used? 50 Medical Examination Guidelines If the agency decides to require an applicant to pass a medical examination, the following rules should be followed: 1) Medical exams must be job-related and consistent with business necessity; 2) Medical exams must follow a conditional offer of employment and prior to the commencement of work; 3) All entering employees in the same job classification are subject to the same inquiry; 4) Keep the results confidential; 5) Provide the examining doctor with a copy of the job description; 6) Require the examining doctor to notify the agency of all tasks the employee cannot perform without undue risk of harm to self or others. a. Tests Considered to be “Medical Examinations” Tests considered by the EEOC to be medical examinations include, but are not limited to, the following:  vision tests conducted and analyzed by an ophthalmologist or optometrist;  Is it designed to reveal an impairment of physical or mental health?  Is it invasive (for example, does it require the drawing of blood, urine or breath)?

Principles for Public Safety Employment ©2022 (s) Liebert Cassidy Whitmore 18