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The answer depends on whether the position for which they're applying requires a license.
California law expressly prohibits employers from including a statement in a job advertisement, posting, application or other materials that an applicant must have a driver’s license, unless the employer both:
Additionally, Vehicle Code section 12801.9 provides that it is a violation of the state Fair Employment and Housing Act for an employer to require a person to present a driver's license, unless possessing a driver's license is:
Under state anti-discrimination regulations, a policy requiring applicants or employees to present or hold a driver's license can be unlawful discrimination if the policy is not uniformly applied or is inconsistent with business reasons, (i.e., possessing a driver's license is not needed in order to perform an essential function of the job). The rationale behind these rules is that a blanket policy of requiring employees to possess a driver’s license may have a disparate impact on certain protected classes.
“Disparate impact” refers to a situation where an employment practice appears neutral but disproportionately affects members of a protected class (for example, race, national origin, disability, etc.), and cannot be justified by business necessity, thereby resulting in discrimination.
Simply obtaining and holding a job does not mean an individual must have a driver's license unless driving is required for the job
An employee may take the bus to work, use a ride share, ride a bike, walk, carpool or be dropped off. Unless the employee's job requires driving during the work day, that requirement would not be a proper criterion for selection.
In determining whether driving is required for the job or an essential job function, the employer should not look at positions that may infrequently require driving, such as dropping off mail or picking up supplies.
Rather, the employer should focus on positions that essentially require driving as a major part of the job, such as outside sales reps, construction workers, service technicians who need to drive to customer sites throughout the day, delivery drivers, bus drivers, truck drivers, couriers, etc. And even for those positions, employers must conclude that they reasonably believe using an alternative form of transportation would not be comparable in travel time or cost to the employer.
Employers that determine a driver’s license is required for the position cannot discriminate against individuals based on the type of driver's license they hold. For instance, Vehicle Code section 12801.9 allows for driver's licenses to be issued to persons who are not in the country legally if they are able to provide satisfactory proof of identity and California residency. Discrimination against applicants or employees who hold these special licenses is a form of national origin discrimination. An employer who requires an applicant to present a driver's license when it is not necessary for the particular job duties could face claims of bias.
In addition, requiring a driver's license when driving is not an essential job function of the job could result in disability discrimination.
For example, because there is a vision test requirement associated with the driver's license, those individuals who are not able to pass the vision test would not be able to obtain a driver's license. Other examples include individuals with leg or arm amputations who are not able to pass the driving test because they are not able to control the vehicle (i.e. steering, accelerating or braking) and individuals with narcolepsy (a disorder in which a person falls asleep uncontrollably).
Refusing to hire someone unless driving is an essential job function then would be discriminatory.
You can find more information in the New Employee Orientation and the Immigrant Workers and Discrimination Retaliation Protections sections of the HR Library.