24 CFR Part 8—Nondiscrimination Based on Handicap in Federally Assisted Programs and Activities of the Department of Housing and Urban Development (with amendments issued through Dec. 2007)

Subpart B—Employment

§8.10 General prohibitions against employment discrimination.

(a) No qualified individual with handicaps shall, solely on the basis of handicap, be subjected to discrimination in employment under any program or activity that receives Federal financial assistance from the Department.

(b) A recipient may not limit, segregate, or classify applicants or employees in any way that adversely affects their opportunities or status because of handicap.

(c) The prohibition against discrimination in employment applies to the following activities:

(1) Recruitment, advertising, and the processing of applications for employment;

(2) Hiring, upgrading, promotion, award of tenure, demotion, transfer, layoff, termination, right of return from layoff, injury or illness, and rehiring;

(3) Rates of pay or any other form of compensation and changes in compensation;

(4) Job assignments, job classifications, organizational structures, position descriptions, lines of progression, and seniority lists;

(5) Leaves of absence, sick leave, or any other leave;

(6) Fringe benefits available by virtue of employment, whether or not administered by the recipient;

(7) Selection and financial support for training, including apprenticeship, professional meetings, conferences, and other related activities, and selection for leaves of absence for training;

(8) Employer sponsored activities, including social or recreational programs; and

(9) Any other term, condition, or privilege of employment.

(d) A recipient may not participate in a contractual or other relationship that has the effect of subjecting qualified applicants with handicaps or employees with handicaps to discrimination prohibited by this subpart. The relationships referred to in this paragraph (d) include relationships with employment and referral agencies, labor unions, organizations providing or administering fringe benefits to employees of the recipient, and organizations providing training and apprenticeship programs.

§8.11 Reasonable accommodation.

(a) A recipient shall make reasonable accommodation to the known physical or mental limitations of an otherwise qualified applicant with handicaps or employee with handicaps, unless the recipient can demonstrate that the accommodation would impose an undue hardship on the operation of its program.

(b) Reasonable accommodation may include:

(1) Making facilities used by employees accessible to and usable by individuals with handicaps and

(2) Job restructuring, job relocation, part-time or modified work schedules, acquisitions or modification of equipment or devices, the provision of readers or interpreters, and other similar actions.

(c) In determining, under paragraph (a) of this section, whether an accommodation would impose an undue hardship on the operation of a recipient's program, factors to be considered include:

(1) The overall size of the recipient's program with respect to number of employees, number and type of facilities, and size of budget;

(2) The type of the recipient's operation, including the composition and structure of the recipient's workforce; and

(3) The nature and cost of the accommodation needed.

(d) A recipient may not deny any employment opportunity to a qualified handicapped employee or applicant if the basis for the denial is the need to make reasonable accommodation to the physical or mental limitations of the employee or applicant.

§8.12 Employment criteria.

(a) A recipient may not use any employment test or other selection criterion that screens out or tends to screen out individuals with handicaps or any class of individuals with handicaps unless:

(1) The recipient demonstrates that the test score or other selection criterion, as used by the recipient, is job-related for the position in question; and

(2) The appropriate HUD official demonstrates that alternative job-related tests or criteria that tend to screen out fewer individuals with handicaps are unavailable.

(b) A recipient shall select and administer tests concerning employment to ensure that, when administered to an applicant or employee who has a handicap that impairs sensory, manual, or speaking skills, the test results accurately reflect the applicant's or employee's job skills, aptitude, or whatever other factor the test purports to measure, rather than the applicant's or employee's impaired sensory, manual, or speaking skills (except where those skills are the factors that the test purports to measure).

§8.13 Preemployment inquiries.

(a) Except as provided in paragraphs (b) and (c) of this section, a recipient may not make a preemployment inquiry or conduct a preemployment medical examination of an applicant to determine whether the applicant is an individual with handicaps or the nature or severity of a handicap. A recipient may, however, make preemployment inquiry into an applicant's ability to perform job-related functions.

(b) When a recipient is undertaking affirmative action efforts, voluntary or otherwise, the recipient may invite applicants for employment to indicate whether and to what extent they are handicapped, if the following conditions are met:

(1) The recipient states clearly on any written questionnaire used for this purpose, or makes clear orally if no written questionnaire is used, that the information requested is intended for use solely in connection with its remedial action obligations, or its voluntary or affirmative action efforts; and

(2) The recipient states clearly that the information is being requested on a voluntary basis, that it will be kept confidential (as provided in paragraph (d) of this section), that refusal to provide the information will not subject the applicant or employee to any adverse treatment, and that the information will be used only in accordance with this part.

(c) Nothing in this section shall prohibit a recipient from conditioning an offer of employment on the results of a medical examination conducted before the employee's entrance on duty if all entering employees in that category of job classification must take such an examination regardless of handicap, and the results of such examination are used only in accordance with the requirements of this part.

(d) Information obtained under this section concerning the medical condition or history of the applicant is to be collected and maintained on separate forms that are accorded confidentiality as medical records, except that:

(1) Supervisors and managers may be informed of restrictions on the work or duties of individuals with handicaps and informed of necessary accommodations;

(2) First aid and safety personnel may be informed if the condition might require emergency treatment; and

(3) Government officials investigating compliance with section 504 shall be provided relevant information upon request.