§ 45-58-121.10 — Eligibility Lists, Certification, and Appointments

Alabama § 45-58-121.10

• Jurisdiction: Alabama
• Title 45: Local Laws
• Ch. 58: Shelby County
• Art. 12: Employees
• Part 2: Shelby County Civil Service System

Text

(a)
Eligibility lists
. The director shall establish and maintain such eligibility or employment registers for the various classes of positions as he or she deems necessary to meet the needs of the service. Names of eligibles shall be placed on lists in order of their examination.
(1)
OPEN COMPETITIVE LISTS. Such lists shall contain the names of those applicants attaining examination and placement on the entrance or open competitive examination. Duration of such lists shall be for a period of two years from the date of approval, unless extended by the director.
(2)
PROMOTIONAL LISTS. Such lists shall contain the names of employees attaining qualifying grades on promotional examinations. Duration of such lists shall be for two years from the date of approval, unless the list is depleted or extended by action of the director.
(3)
LAYOFF LISTS. This eligibility list contains the names of former regular employees who were separated from various classes because of a lack of either work or funds, or whose positions were abolished as a result of departmental reorganization or for some other just reason. The names of such former employees shall be placed on the list in the order of full-time classified service seniority. Duration of such lists shall be for a period of two years. Employees on probationary status shall have their names reinstated at the top of the appropriate eligibility list. When there are two or more employees who are equal in seniority, they shall be duly considered by the appointing authority. The method defining layoff procedure shall be determined by the director in accordance with county policy.
(b)
Consolidation of names on eligibility lists
.
(1)
The director may order a new recruitment when:
a.
Four or fewer names remain on an eligibility list; or
b. An existing list will provide inadequate eligibles to meet a specific employment need.
(2)
Existing eligibles will be consolidated with the eligibles from the new recruitment. Eligibles on the existing list will be notified that another recruitment will be conducted. Eligibles on the existing list shall update their respective applications. Current eligibles which do not reexamine will remain, in score order, on the newly consolidated eligibility list. Current eligibles that are reexamined will be placed on the consolidated eligibility list based upon their scores from the new test. Candidates that pass open recruitment will be determined by integrating their scores with the scores of eligibles currently on the list.
(c)
Removal of names from eligibility lists
. The personnel board through the director will remove eligibles from eligibility lists:
(1)
Upon employment, eligible names will be removed from the proper eligibility list.
(2)
Upon disqualification, the eligible names will be removed from the appropriate list (includes removal due to non-responsiveness, unable to contact by telephone).
(3)
Upon the expiration date of the eligibility list, the names will be removed.
(d)
Reinstatement
. Any former employee with permanent status who has been separated from the classified service in good standing, within two years from the date of resignation or separation, may apply to the director to have his or her name entered on the eligibility register for reemployment in such a position of the same class or grade as formerly held. The request shall be made in writing to the director, who shall submit his or her recommendation to the board for final approval. Upon approval by the board, the name of the former employee shall be placed at the bottom of the appropriate promotional list within his or her former jurisdiction or the open competitive list, as the case may be, for the duration of the list. A former employee appointed as a result of reinstatement shall re-enter at the beginning rate for the class, unless determined otherwise by the director through the application of policy, and shall serve a probationary period. In addition to the foregoing conditions, the applicant for reinstatement shall meet the physical standards and other requirements for the classification for which reinstatement is applied.
(e)
Certification
. Based on the receipt of an authorized requisition from an appointing authority, the director shall certify the names of eligibles from the appropriate eligibility lists in the following priority and manner:
(1)
First, the name of the ranking former employee of the classified service which meets all qualifications of the position vacancy from the layoff list, if any, shall be certified and appointed by the respective appointing authority.
(2)
Second, the five names of the employees for a vacancy, if and only if they are the eligibles on the promotional list, shall be certified.
(3)
Third, for each vacancy the five names of employees from the promotional list, if any, shall be used or the open competitive list. In the event that there are not five eligibles on the promotional list, the director may certify eligibles from the open competitive list in order to certify five.
(4)
In general, all positions to be filled from promotional and open competitive lists shall be filled by the rule of five, with one additional name for each vacancy past the first vacancy. In the event that a requested list of eligibles is for a department head position, the director shall certify to the appointing authority the names of seven eligibles. Upon the discretion and approval of the director and appointing authority, the appointing authority may receive less than five names from the promotional list if there are less than five eligible candidates available.
(f)
Bypassing of names on eligibility lists
.
(1)
An employee that has been suspended or demoted within a period of 12 calendar months shall not be certified. The employee will be removed from the promotional eligibility list.
(2)
Before being certified, an eligible may waive certification rights for a period not to exceed six months. These waiver requests by eligibles shall be in writing stating the reasons for such request. All such requests shall be approved by the director and board, taking into consideration the needs of the service and interest of the employee. During the period for which waiver is granted, such eligibles will not be certified or considered for appointment.
(3)
Any appointing authority may request waiver of certification of an employee from a promotional list and shall so state in writing the reasons to the employee with a copy to the director. The employee, to waive, shall reply to the appointing authority in writing with a copy to the director within three days.
(4)
Under no circumstances other than those cited in subdivisions (1) to (3), inclusive, or those regarding disqualification, and regarding removal from the list, shall any eligible be bypassed for certification.
(g)
Supplemental certifications
. The director may certify the following additional eligibles: One for each eligible who after certification, either declines appointment at the time of interview or offer of employment, or who is subsequently disqualified.
(h)
Appointments
. Vacancies and new positions created in the classified service shall be filled by reinstatement (layoff list), transfer, promotion, original appointment, or demotion.
a.
The director shall provide a certification list after receiving a written request to fill a vacancy from an appointing authority. The request shall provide, at a minimum, a statement of the duties that the position performs and any additional information, if known about the position.
b.
The appointing authority may make an appointment from the list, request disqualification of applicants for cause, or request replacement names for applicants that decline interviews or offers of employment. The director shall establish a reasonable time for such requests to be processed, after the director will issue a final certification list.
c.
The appointing authority has 14 calendar days from issuance to make an appointment or provide the director with written notification that the requisition has been withdrawn.
(i)
Types of appointments
. Appointments to the classified service shall be one of the following types:
(1) PROBATIONAL APPOINTMENT. Appointment to a full-time position made from a certified eligibility list shall be a probationary appointment subject to the completion of a satisfactory probationary period. The probationary period shall be regarded as an integral part of the examination process, shall be utilized to evaluate the employee’s performance on the job, and shall also be utilized for dismissing any employee who does not meet the required standards of performance. The duration of the probational period shall be for six months from the date of appointment with no interruptions in service, unless under the guidelines for the promotional probationer who has regular employee status.
a.
Separation of probational employees. An employee in probationary status may be discharged without the right of appeal to the board.
b.
Promotional probationer. A promotional probationer who has regular status in the county service who shall serve a 30–day probationary period when promoted. A promotional probationer with regular status may be demoted for unsatisfactory service and returned to the position held prior to promotion during the promotional probationary period. The position vacated through a promotion of a regular status classified service employee shall not be permanently filled during the 30–day promotional probationary period. The appointing authority may process formal disciplinary actions during the promotional probationary period concerning a regular employee in the classified service. A promotional probationer that has not gained regular employee status in the classified service shall serve the remaining period of his or her six-month probationary period, but in no event shall serve less than a 30–day promotional probationary period and be subject to dismissal without any rights of appeal to the board and shall be recognized as employed-at-will during the six-month probationary period.
(2)
PERMANENT APPOINTMENT. Employment of an eligible from an eligibility list, in a full-time position in the classified service after the satisfactory completion of a probationary period, shall be considered a permanent appointment.
(3)
OTHER TYPES OF APPOINTMENTS. To fill positions of a part-time, temporary, student, or intern nature, the following appointments shall be made. The appointments shall confer no rights of status, appeals, or related rights.
a.
Temporary appointment. These appointments may be granted for work which is due to a fluctuation in work load, due to employees being on a leave of absence or work seasonal in nature. No such appointment shall extend beyond 12 months or the work season in question. All candidates for appointment shall meet the requirements set by the director.
b.
Part-time. These appointments may be granted for work which requires the service of an employee for less than the number of hours of a full-time or typical work week. Candidates for appointment shall meet the requirements set by the director.
c. Students and interns. Student appointments have the purpose of affording students of public administration, and other professional areas, an opportunity to gain actual work experience in the public service. The appointments are viewed as intermittent employment for a definite period of time; not to exceed six months of full-time work in any 12–month period. Candidates for appointment shall meet the requirements set by the director.
d.
Emergency appointments. An emergency, as used herein, means an unforeseen condition which is likely to cause loss of life or loss or damage to property, the cessation of service or serious inconvenience to the public. Upon receipt of request from an appointing authority citing such emergency conditions, the director may authorize an emergency appointment not to exceed 30 days. The manner of appointment and rate of compensation shall be set by the director.
e.
Unclassified service appointment. Appointments of individuals to full-time, part-time, or temporary positions in the unclassified service shall be granted to individuals which meet the requirements of the position established by the appointing authority and shall serve at the pleasure of the appointing authority and not retain permanent status as an employee. The compensation for unclassified service positions shall be governed by the pay plan and the director. All definitions and guidelines stated within the policies and procedures shall apply to the positions recognized as part-time or temporary.
(j)
Reduction in force
. In the event that it becomes necessary because of lack of work, lack of funds, or when an appointing authority determines that a particular position or number of positions are no longer needed, the following procedure shall govern the layoff:
(1)
The reason for the layoff shall be reported in writing by the appointing authority to the director and shall stipulate the number and classifications affected.
(2)
The appointing authority shall determine in consultation with the director the organizational units to be affected by the layoff.
(3)
If the reduction is departmental, then the layoff shall be made by laying off the employee in the position classification to be affected by the layoff who are temporary, seasonal, part-time, and probationary, if any. From that point, layoff shall be of regular employees in the classification position on the basis of their relative continuous classified service employment seniority. In the event there are two or more employees who would be affected by the layoff, and would have equal seniority, the employee who scored lowest on the merit evaluation or probationary evaluation (if employed less than one year) last regularly filed with the director, shall be laid off first.
(4)
When an employee is laid off in a department which has other classifications or grades lower than the classification or grade from which he or she is laid off, he or she shall have the option of working in any other lower classification or grade in the same department or others, provided there are vacancies and he or she is qualified to perform the duties of such lower classification or grade.
(5) A person laid off from a classification or grade shall have the right, so long as he or she is in the service or on the layoff list, to return to the position from which he or she is laid off, in the event such position is refilled.
(6) The duties performed by the employee or employees so laid off may be assigned to any other employee or employees in the department or office who, in the opinion of the director of personnel, are qualified to perform such duties regardless of the specific classification or grade to which such employees are allocated.
(7) All regular employees to be laid off through a reduction in force action shall be given a minimum of 14 calendar days notice.
(8) Regular employees who are laid off will be placed on the reemployment list in order of their seniority. Such former regular employees will have recall rights to positions in the classified, part-time, and temporary service for which they qualify for two years from their date of separation.

Legislative History

(Act 93–664, p. 1148, § 11(a)–(j).)