Civil service: Limited Examination and Appointment Program.

Existing law creates the Department of Human Resources, which succeeds to and is vested with all of the powers and duties exercised and performed by the Department of Personnel Administration. Existing law specifically grants the department the powers, duties, and authority necessary to operate the state civil service system in accordance with Article VII of the California Constitution, the Government Code, the merit principle, and applicable rules duly adopted by the State Personnel Board. Existing law declares the policies of this state with regard to hiring individuals with a disability and prescribes responsibilities of the Department of Human Resources that relate to the representation of individuals with a disability in the state workforce, which include outlining specific actions to improve the representation of individuals with a disability in the state workforce. Existing law creates the Limited Examination and Appointment Program (LEAP) , which the Department of Human Resources administers, to provide an alternative to the traditional civil service examination and appointment process to facilitate the hiring of persons with disabilities. Existing law will repeal certain provisions of LEAP on January 1, 2022. Existing law provides that each state agency is responsible for an effective equal employment opportunity program and tasks the Department of Human Resources with the responsibility for the statewide advocacy, coordination, enforcement, and monitoring of these programs. Existing law requires each state agency to develop and implement an affirmative action employment plan for individuals with a disability, as specified, and requires that the plans be submitted to the Department of Human Resources each year. The bill would require that each state agency develop its own reasonable accommodation policy for individuals with disabilities, consistent with state and federal law, to address requests for reasonable accommodations. The bill would require the Department of Human Resources, by December 31 of each year, to review affirmative action employment plans submitted by state agencies and to approve the plans or to require appropriate modifications, as specified. The bill would require each state agency's equal opportunity program to include a reasonable accommodation policy. The bill would require the department to develop model policies for equal opportunity employment programs, including a model policy on reasonable accommodation. The bill would require the Department of Human Resources, by December 31, 2025, to report to the Legislature on specified subjects, including, among other things, the number of persons with disabilities hired by each appointing power, as specified, the names of departments or agencies required to submit corrected affirmative action plans, and recommendations for future efforts to improve the hiring of persons with disabilities.