Employees

Objective and Background Information

To comply with applicable laws ensuring equal employment opportunities to qualified individuals with disabilities, the college will make reasonable accommodations for the known physical or mental limitations of an otherwise qualified individual who is an applicant or an employee, unless undue hardship for the college would result. Any applicant or employee who requires an accommodation in order to perform the essential functions of their job should contact hr@cca.edu and request such an accommodation. The college will conduct an investigation to identify the barriers that make it difficult for the applicant or employee to have an equal opportunity to perform their job and then identify what possible accommodation, if any, would help to eliminate the barriers. If the accommodation is reasonable and will not impose an undue hardship, the college will make the accommodation. The college may also propose alternative accommodation(s).

Support and Service Animals

CCA has a no pets policy. An employee’s request to bring a support animal with them to work is treated as an accommodation request. HR will engage in the interactive process with the employee to determine if the animal may be a reasonable accommodation.

A support or service animal is an animal necessary as a reasonable accommodation for a person with a disability and may include a:

• Guide dog trained for the blind or visually impaired
• Signal dog trained for the deaf or hearing impaired
• Service dog or other animal individually trained to the requirements of a person with a disability.
• Support dog or other support animal

A support animal provides emotional, cognitive or other similar support to a person with a disability, such as a traumatic brain injury or major depression. A support animal may constitute a reasonable accommodation in certain circumstances, the determination of which requires an individualized assessment through the interactive process.

Although some assistive animals are specifically trained for certain functions (such as guide dogs), not all support animals receive specific training, as California law doesn’t require it. But CCA may require that assistive animals meet minimum standards, such as being housebroken, free from offensive odors and not endangering the health or safety of anyone in the workplace.

Responsibilities of Persons Who Bring A Support Animal to CCA

• Care for and supervise the emotional support animal
• Maintain control of the animal at all times
• Ensure that the emotional support animal urinates and defecates outside and that all waste is disposed of in a sealed bag and dropped in the dumpster outside in a city issued waste bin.
• Ensure that each emotional support animal is immunized against diseases common to that type of animal.
• It is the responsibility of the emotional support animal owner to clean up after their animal and allow the animal to go to the bathroom away from frequently trafficked areas of campus.
• Ensure that the animal is licensed in accordance with city regulations. The emotional support animal should be currently licensed in the employee’s city of residence.
• Ensure that the animal is on a leash, if appropriate for the animal, at all times.
• It is recommended but not mandated that the animal wear some type of easily recognized identification symbol (i.e., harness, backpack, ID badge provided by Public Safety).
• Ensure that the animal is properly trained
• Take financial responsibility for any property damage caused by the support animal
• Notify the general public and other CCA employees regarding the expectations of behavior around the support animal. Examples of these notifications are as follows:
  • Unless you are invited to do so, do not touch or feed a support animal
  • Do not come between or attempt to separate a support animal from its owner

Removal of Support Animals

If the animal is offensive or disruptive within its first two weeks at work, CCA may challenge whether the animal meets the minimum standards for the workplace. CCA may require that the employee provide annual recertification of continued need for the animal.

The employee of an emotional support animal may be asked to remove the animal if the animal is unruly or disruptive (e.g. barking, running around, aggressive behavior). If the behavior persists, the employee may be told to remove the animal from campus until the problem is remediated. Emotional support animals that are in ill health and/or unclean are not permitted on campus.

To request an accommodation to perform the essential functions of an employee’s job, the employee must notify hr@cca.edu. An employee requesting an accommodation should include in the request their suggestion for an accommodation.

Reasonable accommodations may include modification of a workstation, change in job duties or schedule, reassignment to another position, or time off (with or without pay), provided that such exceptions do not pose a direct threat to the health or safety of others in the workplace or to the requesting employee.

Once CCA is aware of the need for an accommodation, it will engage with the employee in an interactive process to identify possible accommodations.

Employees are encouraged to use this procedure without fear of retaliation. Employees who believe that they have been treated in a manner not in accordance with this policy should notify hr@cca.edu.

Employees who request to bring assistive animals into the workplace may be required to supply:

• A letter from their health care provider expressing need for the animal (e.g., why the animal is necessary as an accommodation to allow the employee to perform the essential functions of the job).
• A narrative on the disability issue and how the presence of the animal will make it able for the employee to perform their work functions. Please note that you do not need to provide any diagnosis of your condition unless and until you are specifically requested to do so in writing. We typically do not ask for medical diagnosis information during the initial process.
• Answers to two function based questions that are part of the interactive process to help us understand what work functions are being impacted by the disability, to help us best support a reasonable accommodation.
  • Can you tell me what work or task your dog has been trained to perform?
  • What kinds of mental or cognitive functioning impairments (or challenges) are you experiencing at work, as well as the degree of impairment, and how will the dog help to ameliorate these issues?
• Photo of the animal, breed, size and color; and
• Confirmation that the animal will behave appropriately in the workplace and meet the minimum standards. This can include employee-provided information.

Vaccinations and License for the Support Animal

The employee must provide to CCA, prior to the employee bringing the animal to campus, current documentation that the emotional support animal has up-to-date vaccinations and immunizations against diseases. The emotional support animal should also be currently licensed in the employee’s city of residence.

If a support animal is approved, the employee must provide proof of up-to-date vaccinations and immunizations in each subsequent year for which the employee seeks college approval of the support animal. CCA has continuing authority to direct that an emotional support animal receive veterinary attention.

A photo of the animal is required for the purpose of identification. After the support animal is approved by HR, the employee should send a photo of their animal and their animal’s name to psdsupervisors@cca.edu so Public Safety can create an ID for the animal.