The Legislature hereby declares that:

(a) It is the policy of this state to encourage and enable individuals with a disability to participate fully in the social and economic life of the state and to engage in remunerative employment.

(b) It is the policy of this state that qualified individuals with a disability shall be employed in the state service, the service of the political subdivisions of the state, in public schools, and in all other employment supported in whole or in part by public funds on the same terms and conditions as the nondisabled, consistent with applicable state or federal law.

(c) It is the policy of this state that a department, agency, or commission shall make reasonable accommodation to the known physical or mental limitations of an otherwise qualified applicant or employee who is an individual with a disability, unless the hiring authority can demonstrate that the accommodation would impose an undue hardship on the operation of its program. Each state agency is responsible for developing its own reasonable accommodation policy, consistent with state and federal law, to address requests for reasonable accommodations. A department shall not deny any employment opportunity to a qualified applicant or employee who is an individual with a disability if the basis for the denial is the need to make reasonable accommodation to the physical or mental limitations of the applicant or employee.

(Amended by Stats. 2021, Ch. 515, Sec. 2. (AB 313) Effective January 1, 2022.)