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 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, 2021. Existing law requires the Department of Human Resources, when an appointing power seeks to fill a vacant position by using an employment list, to provide the appointing power with a certified list of the names and addresses of all eligible candidates, as specified. Existing law requires the department to provide a single certified list of eligible candidates if more than one employment list or LEAP referral list exists, the department is required to combine the names and addresses of all eligible candidates. This bill would require, notwithstanding those provisions, that the department, upon request of the appointing power, provide the appointing power a LEAP referral list without combining that list with a parallel list. The bill would require the department to establish guidelines for provision of reasonable accommodation to applicants and employees with disabilities and to promulgate a model reasonable accommodation policy, as specified. Existing law requires each state agency to develop and implement an affirmative action employment plan for individuals with disabilities, which is to include goals and timetables. This bill would require the department to identify 10 state agencies or departments which, as of June 2020, have at least 100 employees and have the lowest representation rate of persons with disabilities, averaged over the 5-year period from July 1, 2015. The bill would require the Department of Human Resources, by June 30, 2021, to confer with the appointing powers of these agencies or departments and would require them to adopt or revise their affirmative action employment plans to set new goals and timetables for hiring people with disabilities. As part of a plan, the bill would require each appointing power to identify, and to agree to use, 2 or more specified appointing strategies, until June 30, 2024. The bill would further require the department, by December 31, 2024, in consultation with specified state entities and organizations representing persons with disabilities, to report to the Legislature on the number of persons with disabilities hired and retained by each appointing power during a specified 3-year period, along with other specified information. These provisions would be repealed December 31, 2028. This bill would require the Department of Human Resources, in consultation with specified state entities and organizations representing persons with disabilities, to develop and implement a plan for the expansion of LEAP that would be subject to prescribed requirements. The bill would authorize a person with a disability who has been determined to be eligible for LEAP to request that the department assess that person's qualifications for any job classification. The bill would require the department to conduct that assessment promptly, and if it concludes the person meets minimum qualifications for the job classification, and if the classification has been designated as a LEAP-certified class, the bill would require the department to place that person on the applicable referral list, as provided. If the relevant job classification has not been designated as a LEAP-certified class, the bill would require the department to designate it as such and to establish a referral list for that class that includes the person's name. The bill would also require the department to post certain information concerning LEAP on its internet website.