Medical Examinations and Inquiries When the Employee Is an Applicant

Under the ADA and FEHA, treat an existing employee who applies for a different job within your company as an applicant. You can’t ask disability-related questions or require a medical examination before making the individual a conditional offer. After you make an offer, an examination or inquiry must be job-related and consistent with business necessity.

Individuals aren’t applicants if they’re:

  • Non-competitively entitled to another position with the same employer because of seniority or satisfactory performance in their current position; or
  • Temporarily assigned to another position and then return to their regular job.

These individuals are employees, which means you can only make a disability-related inquiry or require a medical examination that’s job-related and consistent with business necessity.