Did You Know?

Whether you are looking to impress your colleagues or just want to learn more about the law, LCW has your back! Use and share these fun legal facts about various topics in public safety.

• Livermore police have reunited a French bulldog with its owners in January 2023 after the dog was stolen over a year ago.

• Senate Bill 960, which took effect January 1, 2023, removes the citizenship requirement for California peace officers. Anyone who is legally authorized to work in the state of California, under federal law, with the proper green card or visa, is eligible to become a police officer.

• Also as of January 1, 2023, the previous Notice of Appointment/Termination, POST 2- 114 was deactivated. Now, the Notice of Appointment will only be accepted online via the Electronic Data Interchange (EDI). All other submissions will not be accepted. Additionally, an Attestation of Peace Officer Eligibility, POST 2-356, shall be submitted via EDI when appointing any new peace officer, including lateral and reserve peace officers.

The LCW Labor Relations Certification Program is designed for labor relations and human resources professionals who work in public sector agencies. It is designed for both those new to the field as well as experienced practitioners seeking to hone their skills. Participants may take one or all of the classes, in any order. Take all of the classes to earn your certificate and receive 6 hours of HRCI credit per course!

Join our upcoming HRCI CertifiedLabor Relations Certification Program Workshops:

1. February 16 & 23, 2023 - The Rules of Engagement: Issues, Impacts & Impasse

2. April 20 & 27, 2023 - Nuts & Bolts of Negotiations

3. May 18 & 25, 2023 - The Public Employment Relations Board (PERB) Academy

INTERESTED?

Visit our website: www.lcwlegal.com/lrcp

LCW has 30+ consortiums across the State! Consortium members enjoy access to quality training throughout the year, discounts on other LCW products and events, and unlimited, complimentary telephone consultation with an LCW attorney on matters relating to employment and labor law questions (including questions involving COVID-19, supervisory skills, and negotiation matters!). We’ve outlined a recent consortium call and the provided answer below. Client confidentiality is paramount to us; we change and omit details in the ERC Call of the Month.

Question:

Can we rescind the conditional offer of a police officer applicant who failed the Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST)recommended vision test due to his colorblindness?

Answer:

Color vision is critical in performing a variety of peace officer job functions (e.g., identification of cars, clothing, identifying traffic lights, distinguishing traffic lights from streetlights, etc.). But, there are various causes and degrees of colorblindness. Prescription drugs can even cause some types of colorblindness, and therefore colorblindness can be remediated by discontinuing the particular prescription drug. Moreover, some tests for colorblindness are more accurate in determining different types of colorblindness.

POST states in its 12/2020 Vision Guidelines that “candidates with very mild or mild color vision deficiencies possess sufficient color identification and color discrimination ability” to qualify as peace officers. POST also states that a very mild or mild color vision deficiency is acceptable, but that moderate to severe color vision deficiencies are disqualifying.

If the agency has made a conditional offer, but the appropriate test reveals moderate to severe colorblindness, then the agency must engage the candidate in the interactive process to determine if any accommodation can be made to enable the candidate to safely perform peace officer duties for that specific agency. The interactive process must include a good faith effort to consider all mitigating factors or devices, such as corrective lenses, time to discontinue using a prescription drug that may be interfering with color vision, or a getting an opinion from the candidate’s ophthalmologist. The interactive process must also include consideration as to whether any modifications that do not eliminate any essential job functions are available, or whether there is a comparable position available that the candidate can perform with or without accommodation. It is only after the agency has completed a good faith interactive process and documented each step of that process, that the agency can notify the candidate that it is withdrawing the conditional offer because it could not accommodate the colorblindness without undue hardship or endangering the health and safety of the candidate or others.