§3008. Waiver of requirements for licensure

            A. The board shall waive the examination and grant a license to any person certified prior to the effective date of this Chapter as an Occupational Therapist, Registered (OTR) or a Certified Occupational Therapy Assistant (COTA) by the American Occupational Therapy Association, Inc. (AOTA), and who otherwise meets the criteria of provisions of R.S. 37:3006 and who is domiciled in the state on the date this Chapter becomes effective. In order to obtain the benefit of this waiver, an applicant shall make an application for a license no later than six months after the effective date of this Chapter.

            B. The board may waive the examination and grant a license to any applicant who presents proof of current licensure as an occupational therapist or occupational therapy assistant in another state, the District of Columbia, or a territory of the United States which requires standards for licensure considered by the board to be equivalent to the requirements for licensure of this Chapter, provided that such state, district or territory accords similar privileges of licensure without examination to holders of a license under this Chapter.

            C. The board shall waive the educational and examination requirements and grant a license to any person who gives proof of current employment, either on a probational or a permanent basis, in the classified state service, and who is classified therein as an Occupational Therapy Aide I, Occupational Therapy Aide II, Occupational Therapist I, Occupational Therapist II, or Occupational Therapist III; on the date this Chapter becomes effective.

            An Occupational Therapy Aide I, Occupational Therapy Aide II, or Occupational Therapist I shall be licensed as an occupational therapy assistant. An Occupational Therapist II or an Occupational Therapist III shall be licensed as an occupational therapist. These licensing designations will in no way restrict the authority of the Louisiana State Department of Civil Service to establish guidelines and qualifications for those employees within the classified service or in no way restrict the power of the Civil Service Department to establish promotional ladders for such employees. In order to obtain the benefit of this waiver, an applicant shall make application for a license no later than six (6) months after the effective date of this Chapter.

            D. The board shall waive the examination and grant a license to any person who is domiciled in the state on the date this Chapter becomes effective, and who is a graduate of a curriculum of a member nation of the World Federation of Occupational Therapists (WFOT). In order to obtain the benefit of this waiver, an applicant shall make application for a license no later than six (6) months after the effective date of this Chapter.

            Acts 1979, No. 566, §1; Acts 2023, No. 263, §1, eff. Jan. 1, 2024.