Committee approves Bills addressing ADA concerns

Package focuses on physicals for
emergency responder applicants

The Senate Local Government Committee today approved a package of bills to bring municipal law provisions governing pre-hiring examinations of emergency responders in cities, towns, townships, and boroughs into compliance with the federal Americans with Disabilities Act, according to Committee Chairman Bob Regola (R-39).

The ADA clearly prohibits requiring a medical examination of all applicants before an offer of employment. However, the ADA does allow medical examinations and inquiries with certain conditions.
Senate Bills 1363 thru 1368 deal with ADA Compliance: SB 1363 (Paid Firemen Civil Service Employee Law); SB 1364 (Local Police Officers Civil Service Employee Law); SB 1365 (Borough Code); SB 1366 (1st Class Township Code); SB 1367 (3rd Class City Code); and, SB 1368 (Firemen, Civil Service in 3rd Class Cities Law).

“It is important that we strike the proper balance in state statute to protect the rights of applicants for emergency responder jobs and ability of communities to perform proper pre-hiring screenings of candidates,” said Sen. Regola.  “I believe this package sets that proper balance and I was pleased to report it out of my committee.”

The bills in the package would meet ADA requirements by:

• Clearly delineate a difference between prohibited pre-offer “medical examinations” and permissible job-related “physical and agility tests” that may occur at anytime during the testing process.

• Clearly define “medical examinations” in accordance with federal law, include “psychological medical examinations,” and specify that medical examinations may not occur until a conditional offer of employment has been made.

• Remove the ability of a municipality to disqualify a candidate, at the pre-offer stage, on the basis of a “disability,” because of past or current addiction to alcohol, or past addition to drugs. Current illegal use of narcotics is not a protected disability, thus a prospective employer may ask questions related to current use of illegal drugs.

• Clearly specify where in the process “medical examinations” may occur in relation to the written examination, when veteran’s preference points are to be awarded, and how long eligibility lists may be in effect.

The Committee also approved Senate Bill 1369, legislation to insure representation of Clerks of Orphans’ Courts on the statewide County Records Committee. The County Records Committee is a 15-member panel whose members are appointed for a four-year term by the Governor and are vested with the power to promulgate guidelines for the disposal of defined “county records” in 2nd - 8th class counties.

Contact: Nathan Silcox (717) 787-6063