(1) The Kentucky Department of Workplace Standards is authorized to enforce the employment provisions of KRS § 207.130 to KRS § 207.240 in conjunction with the State Attorney General’s office and the state and local courts.
(2) Any individual with a disability requesting the intervention of the Kentucky Department of Workplace Standards under this section shall, within one hundred and eighty (180) days of the alleged incident, submit with his request a signed, sworn statement specifying and describing the disability or disabilities which affect him. This statement may be used by the commissioner of workplace standards or his representative to determine if the individual does, or does not, have a “physical disability” as defined in KRS § 207.130(2). If the commissioner of workplace standards or his representative determines that the aggrieved individual does have a disability which falls under the definition in KRS § 207.130(2), the Department of Workplace Standards shall provide a copy of the aggrieved individual’s signed statement to the employer for his inspection.
(3) In the event the employer wishes to challenge the validity of the statement, he shall so notify the commissioner of workplace standards, who shall in turn notify the aggrieved individual. If the aggrieved individual wishes the Department of Workplace Standards to continue its involvement with the case, he shall be required to submit to the commissioner of workplace standards, within thirty (30) days of such notice, a signed, sworn statement from a licensed physician of his choice, or from one of the state or federal agencies serving individuals with disabilities:
(a) Specifying and describing the disability or disabilities affecting the individual;
and
(b) Indicating any specific type of employment for which such disability should be considered a bona fide or necessary reason for limitation or exclusion.
(4) (a) The state agencies which may be consulted under subsection (3) of this section may include but are not limited to the following:
1. Department of Education, Office of Vocational Rehabilitation Services;
2. Cabinet for Health and Family Services, Department for Public Health;
and
3. Education and Labor Cabinet.
(b) The commissioner of workplace standards, in conjunction with the agencies designated in this subsection, is authorized to adopt appropriate regulations governing the issuance and setting the standards of determinations of ability or disability.
(c) The agencies designated in this subsection, and any other state agency which serves individuals with disabilities and which the commissioner of workplace standards deems proper, shall cooperate to the fullest with the Department of Workplace Standards in issuing a statement of disability and limitations as specified in subsection (3) of this section within twenty (20) days of the date the individual with a disability presents himself before such agency for examination.
(5) (a) For the purposes of KRS § 207.130 to KRS § 207.240, the commissioner of workplace standards, or his authorized representative, shall have the power to enter the place of employment of any employer, labor organization, or employment agency to inspect and copy employment records, to compare character of work and operations on which persons employed by him are engaged, to question such persons, and to obtain such other information as is reasonably necessary to make a preliminary determination that the aggrieved individual is, or is not, fully capable of carrying out the duties of the job which he or she had been denied.
(b) In the event that a preliminary determination is made that the aggrieved individual is not fully capable of carrying out the duties of the job which he or she had been denied, the aggrieved individual and the employer shall both be so advised.
(c) The aggrieved individual, within ten (10) days of receiving such notification, may file with the Department of Workplace Standards an application for reconsideration of the determination. Upon such application, the commissioner of workplace standards or his representative shall make a new determination within ten (10) days whether the aggrieved individual is, or is not, fully capable of carrying out the duties of the job which he or she had been denied. If the determination is again made that the aggrieved individual is not fully capable of carrying out these duties, the aggrieved individual and the employer shall both be so advised.
(d) In the event that a preliminary determination has been made that the aggrieved individual is fully capable of carrying out the duties of the job which he or she had been denied, the employer, labor organization, or employment agency shall be so advised and encouraged to make an immediate offer to the aggrieved individual of the position which he or she had been denied. In the event the position has already been filled, the employer, labor organization, or employment agency shall be encouraged to make an offer to the aggrieved individual of the next available position for which he or she is qualified.
Effective: July 1, 2024
History: Amended 2023 Ky. Acts ch. 124, sec. 70, effective July 1, 2024. — Amended
2012 Ky. Acts ch. 158, sec. 33, effective July 12, 2012. — Amended 2010 Ky. Acts ch. 24, sec. 305, effective July 15, 2010. — Amended 2005 Ky. Acts ch. 99, sec. 292, effective June 20, 2005. — Amended 2000 Ky. Acts ch. 14, sec. 39, effective July 14,
2000. — Amended 1998 Ky. Acts ch. 426, sec. 238, effective July 15, 1998. — Amended 1994 Ky. Acts ch. 405, sec. 68, effective July 15, 1994. — Amended 1984
Ky. Acts ch. 414, sec. 5, effective July 13, 1984. — Created 1976 Ky. Acts ch. 280, sec. 9.