CIVIL SERVICE RULES

Resignation | Voluntary Demotion | Non-Disciplinary Separation | Layoff | Order of Layoff | Displacement | Transfer or Voluntary Demotion in Lieu of Layoff;Extra Help Appointment | Names Placed on Reemployment Lists | Appeal of Layoff | Notice of Layoff | Miscellaneous Provisions Related to Separation Due to Layoff or Disability Retirement and Subsequent Reemployment, Reappointment, and/or Reinstatement

Rule Eleven
RESIGNATION, VOLUNTARY DEMOTION,
NON-DISCIPLINARY SEPARATION, AND LAYOFF

1101. Resignation.

An employee who wishes to leave the classified service in good standing shall file a written notice of resignation with the appointing authority, giving at least two weeks' notice of intention to leave the service, unless the appointing authority consents, in writing, to shorter notice. The notice of resignation shall be forwarded by the appointing authority to the Personnel Director for inclusion in the employee's service record. An employee who leaves the classified service without so filing a written resignation, as prescribed above, shall have the fact entered on the employee's service record and may be denied entrance to future examinations.

The names of an employee who resigns against whom charges are pending or while under suspension, shall be subject to removal from all eligible lists and may be excluded from future examinations.

An employee, whose name is on a promotional eligible list and who resigns, shall be removed from the promotional list but, at the individual's request and upon approval by the Personnel Director, the name may be placed on the eligible list for that class as a free name.

1102. Voluntary Demotion.

Any employee may voluntarily demote to any funded vacant position with a lower salary for which the employee meets the minimum qualifications, upon the written request of the employee and the approval of the appointing authority and the Personnel Director. Should such demotion be to a class unrelated to the previous position, as described in Rule 912, the employee shall start a new probationary period.

1103. Non-Disciplinary Separation.

An appointing authority may separate a permanent employee for demonstrated inadequacy to perform assigned duties. Other options for changing an employee’s status such as demotion, transfer, reassignment etc. may be considered prior to separating the employee. Separation under this rule shall be considered non-disciplinary and without prejudice and shall not be subject to the provisions of Rule Twelve, Section 1203. Prior to implementing the separation, the appointing authority shall consider all relevant medical information brought to his or her attention; and shall follow all legal and procedural requirements including adherence to all applicable Federal and State laws. The appointing authority shall inform the employee, in writing, of the right of appeal under Rule Thirteen. Safeguards to the extent required by Skelly v. State Personnel Board shall be followed.

a. If the permanent employee is a “peace officer” as defined by Gov. Code 3301, then any action pursuant to this rule must also comply with Gov. Code 3300 et seq. commonly referred to as the “Peace Officer Bill of Rights.”

b. A written notice provided to the employee shall include the following:

1. The proposed effective date of separation;
2. The particular facts and specific grounds for the proposed separation in sufficient detail to permit the employee to understand and to respond to them;
3. Copies of any materials upon which the proposed separation is based; and
4. The right to respond, either orally or in writing, to the appointing authority within a specified time frame, but not less than ten (10) working days.

Such notice shall be given a reasonable period of time prior to the date the separation is to be implemented.

c. When the appointing authority has considered the employee’s response and/or the specified time frame has elapsed, the appointing authority may separate the employee. A written notice provided to the employee shall include the following:

1. The effective date of the action;
2. A copy of the notice of proposed action which explained the particular facts and specific grounds for separation; and
3. A copy of “Appeal and Hearing Procedure” (Rule Thirteen).

Copies of these notices and any other materials provided to the employee shall be filed with the Personnel Director. Service of the notices shall be made as provided in Rule 1307.

1104. Layoff.

An employee shall be subject to layoff whenever:

a. The employee's position is abolished.

b. Necessary because of curtailment or lack of work or funds.

c. Advisable in the interest of economy to reduce staff.

d. Necessary due to a modification of service requirements.

e. Another employee with greater seniority returns from a leave of absence.

f. Another employee with greater seniority displaces the employee under the provisions of these Rules.

Reassignment in the same classification, in the same department, shall not constitute a layoff, and the provisions regarding layoff in these Rules shall not apply.

1105. Order of Layoff.

Layoffs shall be made by positions, either full-time or part-time, or any combination of full-time or part-time, and shall be by classification. Layoffs may be department-wide or by district office, division, program, or function, as recommended by the appointing authority, and reviewed by the County Administrator. Extra help positions shall be considered for deletion prior to the deletion of regular positions. Designation of classifications affected, the number of positions in the affected classifications, and an abstract of employees of the affected classifications in order of layoff, shall be prepared by the appointing authority.

Employees who are new hire appointments in positions that are emergency, temporary, limited term, or provisional or employees who occupy at will or extra help positions do not have rights under this Rule.

The following provisions apply to the order of layoff:

a. For the purposes of layoff, classifications within a classification series subject to flexible staffing shall be considered as a single classification.

b. Full-time and part-time regular positions shall be designated separately for layoff and shall be treated as separate classifications for the purpose of determining the order of layoff.

c. When specific positions within a classification have required special skills, knowledge or abilities, the department head, with concurrence of the County Administrator and Personnel Director, may designate specialties within a classification and treat such approved specialty as a separate classification for purposes of layoff. Special skills, knowledge or abilities may include specialized certification or licensure, bilingual skills or other skills or abilities which are deemed critical to the operational needs of the County. The Personnel Department shall promptly notify the Civil Service Commission, in writing, when a designation of special skills, knowledge or abilities is approved.

d. Within the classifications specified for reduction in force within a department, employees shall be laid off in inverse order depending on their length of continuous service in the County as a regular employee in the classified service subject to the following provisions:

1. Employees who have consistently demonstrated less than satisfactory performance shall be laid off in inverse order of their length of continuous service credit as regular employees before any employee whose last performance rating was satisfactory or higher. Demonstrated performance shall be documented by at least two (2) overall less than satisfactory reports not less than six months apart, one of which must be an annual evaluation. The effective date of a performance rating shall commence with the date of the employee's signature on the rating form. In the event the employee did not sign the performance rating form, the date the form was delivered to the employee shall be considered the effective date.

2. A probationary employee in an initial probationary status shall be laid off before an employee who has attained permanent status.

3. Employees with equal continuous service credit shall be laid off in the order prescribed by the appointing authority.

4. Employees in public safety classifications in the Fire, Sheriff, District Attorney, and Probation Departments shall be laid off in inverse order of their length of continuous service as a regular employee in the affected class.

e. Continuous service credit for the purposes of determining order of layoff, shall be subject to the following provisions:

1. An approved leave of absence shall be included in computing continuous service credit and shall not constitute a break in service.

2. Time out of service due to layoff or disability retirement shall be excluded in computing continuous service credit but shall not constitute a break in service.

3. Part-time service shall be computed as covering the full period of employment and shall not be prorated as a fractional portion of full-time employment.
4. Transfer from full-time to part-time or from part-time to full-time, shall not constitute a break in service, and part-time service shall be credited as provided in the foregoing paragraph b.

5. A transfer from one department to another department shall not constitute a break in service for the purpose of computing continuous service credit except as provided in 10 below.

6. Time served as extra help shall be excluded in computing continuous service credit, and any transfer from extra help status to regular status, or from regular status to extra help status, shall constitute a break in service. Time out of service due to a change from regular status to extra help status in lieu of layoff shall be excluded in computing continuous service credit but shall not constitute a break in service.

7. Time out of classified service due to appointment to a civil service exempt position shall be excluded in computing continuous service credit but shall not constitute a break in service.

8. Permanent employees who separate from County service and then return may recoup their past continuous service time for purposes of this Rule under the following conditions:

· Employees must have passed their initial probationary period upon their return to service;

· Employees may be absent from County service no more than three consecutive years;

· Employees must have left County service in good standing and their last two performance evaluation ratings prior to leaving County service must have been satisfactory or above;

· In order to recoup former service, employees must work the same amount of time that they were absent from County service.

The credit of previous employment toward continuous service credit shall not be interpreted as applying to any other part of these Rules or any other terms and conditions of employment or employee benefits.

9. Continuous service credit for public safety employees in the Fire, Sheriff, District Attorney, and Probation Departments shall be computed as employment in the affected class plus appointments in public safety classes in the department with the same or higher salary ranges which preceded, without break in service, entrance into the affected class.

10. For employees in public safety classifications in the Fire, Sheriff, District Attorney and Probation Departments, an employee-initiated transfer from one department to another shall constitute a break in service for the purpose of computing continuous service credit in a class. If an employee is transferred because of a County-initiated transfer of a position or positions from one department to another, this employee transfer shall not constitute a break in service for the purpose of computing continuous service credit in a class.

11. If a reorganization or reclassification results in a consolidation or split off of classifications within the Fire, Sheriff, District Attorney or Probation Departments, continuous service credit for affected public safety employees shall be computed by including employment in both the former and the new classifications.

1106. Displacement.

Notwithstanding that positions designated for layoff may be by division, program, positions, et al, as described in Rule 1105, displacement rights or "bumping" shall be department-wide.
a. Except as provided in l below, an employee subject to layoff may displace an employee in the same class or in a different class with the same or lower salary range, provided:

1. the employee subject to layoff has greater continuous service credit than the employee being displaced;

2. the employee subject to layoff meets the minimum qualifications by virtue of qualifying experience gained through employment in a regular position in the County, as determined by the Personnel Director; and

3. if the displacement is to a different class, it must be a class in the same occupational group or a class previously held by the employee as a regular employee of the County, as determined by the Personnel Director.

b. In the event there are employees in a class with equal continuous service credit where displacement could occur, the right to displace shall be based on the discretion of the appointing authority. Should the employee subject to layoff be denied the right to displace in the class with the highest basic salary, due to the selection of another employee by the appointing authority, the employee's right to displace shall continue into the next class with the same or lower basic salary for which the employee qualifies in accordance with the Displacement Rule.

c. Except as provided in l below, an employee subject to layoff may displace to a funded vacant position in the same class or in a different class with the same or lower salary range, provided:

1. the employee has greater total continuous service credit than the employee with the highest standing on a reemployment list for the class and position in the department, or there is no reemployment list;

2. the employee subject to layoff meets the minimum qualifications; and

3. if the displacement is to a different class, it must be a class in the same occupational group or a class previously held by the employee as a regular employee of the County.

d. Rules regulating the right to displace or the right to accept demotion in lieu of layoff shall have no affect on an employee's eligibility to accept an appointment, to accept a promotion or demotion, or to transfer as provided under other sections of these Rules, which are unrelated to layoff, displacement, and reemployment procedures.

e. Continuous service credit for purposes of displacement shall be computed in accordance with Section 1105 of these Rules; the employee to be displaced shall be determined in accordance with said Section 1105, and, if an employee with greater continuous service elects to displace, the employee in the class with the least continuous service shall be laid off.

f. Should an employee subject to layoff qualify to exercise displacement rights in more than one class, displacement shall be in the class with the highest basic salary.

g. Displacement rights may be exercised only once in connection with any one layoff, and shall be exercised within seven (7) calendar days from the date of the notice of the layoff, by written notice from the employee.

h. Displacement shall be considered exercised by the displacement of another employee with lesser continuous service credit or by the acceptance of a vacant position in a class with the same or lower salary range in the department except as provided for in l below.

I. Full-time employees shall have displacement rights for either full-time or part-time positions and, for the exercise of displacement rights, part-time positions shall be considered as a different and a lesser class even though the class title and salary range are identical.

j. Part-time employees shall have displacement rights for part-time positions only; but, any part-time employee with greater total continuous service credit shall have displacement rights for any part-time position regardless of its fractional portion of full-time employment.

k. In the event an employee could displace to more than one class with the same basic salary, the employee shall displace to a class with a position that is vacant over a class with no vacant positions; otherwise, the appointing authority shall determine the class to which the employee may displace.

l. A public safety employee as described in Section 1105 subject to layoff may displace an employee in the same department with less continuous service credit in the same class or in a different public safety class with the same or lower salary range; provided, the employee subject to layoff meets the minimum qualifications for the class by virtue of qualifying experience gained through employment in a regular position in the department, as determined by the Personnel Director. If a public safety employee cannot displace within the same class or to another public safety classification, then the employee may displace to a non-public safety classification with the same or lower salary range only under the following conditions:

1. the employee subject to layoff previously held a regular position in the non-public safety classification; and,

2. the public safety employee subject to layoff has greater continuous County service credit than an employee in the non-public safety class.

1107. Transfer or Voluntary Demotion in Lieu of Layoff; Extra Help Appointment.

a. Regular Positions: When layoff is pending, employees affected shall be counseled and considered for transfer or voluntary demotion in lieu of layoff within the affected department and to other County departments.

b. Extra Help Appointments: A department in which layoff actions occur shall offer to employees subject to separation due to layoff the opportunity to accept extra help appointments in existence in the department at the time of layoff for which the employees meet the minimum qualifications.

Any such appointments shall be considered as extra help status, only, and time spent under such appointments shall not accrue benefits or service credits beyond those which accrue to any extra help appointee.

1108. Names Placed on Reemployment Lists.

The names of those employees who were laid off, or transferred, or demoted in lieu of a layoff shall be placed on the appropriate reemployment lists as provided for in the Rules governing reemployment lists.

1109. Appeal of Layoff.

Permanent employees laid off or demoted in lieu of layoff shall have the right to appeal such layoff or demotion; however, such appeal shall be limited only to the layoff or demotion procedures herein prescribed.

1110. Notice of Layoff.

All employees who are to be laid off or displaced under the provisions of this Rule shall be given written notice of such action at least thirty (30) calendar days prior to the effective date thereof.

1111. Miscellaneous Provisions Related to Separation Due to Layoff or Disability Retirement and Subsequent Reemployment, Reappointment, and/or Reinstatement

a. Final Compensation: When an employee is separated from County employment due to layoff, all accrued compensation shall be paid to the employee on the same terms and conditions of final settlement as in the event of honorable separation for any reason, except as follows:

1. The separated employee may elect to defer payment for a period not to exceed ninety (90) days for vacation, holiday, and reimbursable sick leave credits, computed as of the date of separation;

2. Deferred payment for all credits may be collected in one lump sum only, and is not subject to collection in partial payments of the total value;

3. Deferred payment shall be made by the Auditor-Controller at any time within the ninety (90) day period within three working days following application for deferred payment by the separated employee;

4. Deferred payment shall be made by the Auditor-Controller automatically at the expiration of the ninety (90) day period, provided the separated employee has not closed the account prior to that time;

5. Neither the reimbursable value nor the amount of credits shall be subject to change during any period of separation from County employment; and, the reimbursable value shall not accrue interest.

b. Restoration of Credit Balances: If the employee separated due to layoff is reemployed, reinstated, or reappointed to a regular position with the County within ninety (90) days following separation due to layoff, all compensable vacation, holiday, and sick leave credits for which reimbursement has not been made or any such accrued credits which had no reimbursable value shall be restored to the employee's records as credits only, and any former compensable value shall be null and void.

1. The administration of credits restored to the employee's records shall be governed by regulations and policies relevant to the employee's new and current employment status, and shall have no identity nor value relationship to prior appointments during which such credits were accrued.
2. In the event the employee was compensated under a sick leave reimbursement policy, any portions of the sick leave credit not considered in the percentage calculation of sick leave hours for payment shall be restored.

c. Service Credit: An employee who is reemployed, reinstated, and/or reappointed to a regular County position while on a reemployment list for any class in any department shall accrue vacation on the basis of service credit attained at the time of layoff. An employee who is reinstated to a regular County position following a disability retirement shall accrue vacation on the basis of service credit attained at the time of retirement. Former service credit, in such cases, shall be combined with the new and current employment in determining when vacation accrual rates qualify for increase.

d. Medical Examinations:

1. A former employee who has been separated due to layoff from County employment for more than ninety (90) consecutive calendar days, and who is reemployed from a reemployment list, shall be subject to a medical examination or evaluation for the particular position in the class in which the former employee is to be reemployed.

2. A former employee who is reappointed from an open, competitive eligible list, or is reinstated rather than reemployed, shall be subject to a medical examination or evaluation for the particular position in the class in which employment is offered, the same as is required for any other candidate competing for County employment. However, employees who are reappointed within 90 days to the same class from which they were laid off are not subject to a medical examination.