To: Heads of State Agencies and Human Resource Directors
Subject: Prop. Amendments To Rules 6.10, 6.15, 8.27 & 17.19
Issue Date: October 17, 1994
The State Civil Service Commission will hold a public hearing on Wednesday, November 16, 1994 to consider amendments to Civil Service Rules 6.10, 6.15, 8.27, and 17.19.
THE HEARING WILL BEGIN AT 9:00 A.M. AND WILL BE HELD AT THE DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL SERVICE, SECOND FLOOR, COMMISSION HEARING ROOM, DOTD ANNEX BUILDING, 1201 CAPITOL ACCESS ROAD, BATON ROUGE, LOUISIANA.
The Civil Service Commission will consider the following changes to the Civil Service Rules:
AMEND RULE 6.10 TO READ AS FOLLOWS:
6.10 Rate of Pay Upon Demotion
Subject to the provisions of Civil Service Rules 6.15 and 17.19, when an employee is demoted for any reason under any circumstances, his pay shall be reduced as follows:
(a) ...
(b) ...
(c) ...
(d) ...
EXPLANATION
This amendment is proposed to exempt from pay reductions upon demotion, all employees whose demotions occur during layoffs which are not absolutely required because of budgetary cuts. (Also see the related proposed amendment to Rule 17.19).
Rule 6.10 was recently amended [made subject to Rule 6.15(f)] to exempt from pay cuts upon demotion, employees whose pay is above the maximum or above the highest rate within the authorized base supplement of the lower range in layoffs not absolutely required because of budgetary cuts. However, no similar provision was proposed for employees whose salary falls within the range of the lower position in such layoffs. This proposal provides equity for such employees.
AMEND RULE 6.15 TO READ AS FOLLOWS:
6.15 Red Circle Rates
Rates that fall within the range or within the base supplement authorized for a position become the employee's authorized individual pay rate. Excluding those that fall within the base supplement authorized for a position, individual pay rates that fall above the maximum established for the grade become red circle rates; or, under the conditions outlined below in subsection (d) of this rule, individual pay rates that fall above the base supplement authorized for a position become red circle rates. Such red circle rates remain in effect until the range or range plus authorized base supplement for a position catches up with the rate; however, eligibility for a red circle rate is lost upon separation from state service, or demotion except as provided in part (f) of this rule. Individuals whose salary rates are red circled shall not be eligible for any other pay adjustments provided for in the rules. Red circle rates are assigned under the conditions as outlined below:
(a) ...
(b) ...
(c) ...
(d) When positions are declared to be in the classified service and the employee's current rate of pay falls above the maximum of the range for the grade of the job into which the position(s) are allocated, or above the range plus base supplement authorized for the position allocated. A red circle rate given as a result of an acquisition of a position under Civil Service Rule 8.27 shall be treated in the following manner:
1. After two years, should the red circle rate of pay exceed the maximum rate of pay of the job to which the position is allocated by over twenty-eight percent, the red circle rate shall be reduced to a figure not more than twenty-eight percent above the aforementioned maximum or to the maximum of the base supplement, whichever is higher.
2. A red circle rate reduced under (d) 1 above may not be reinstated under subsection (g) below.
(e) When the employee's pay exceeds the maximum of an approved market grade.
(f) When an employee is subject to a demotion in a layoff, and the layoff was not absolutely required because of budgetary cuts, except that the pay upon demotion in such a layoff for an employee whose current pay rate within the base supplement exceeds the range or the range plus authorized base supplement for the position to which he is to demote shall be set no higher than his current salary and at the higher of the following:
1. the range maximum (this is a red circle rate) of the position from which he is to demote, or
2. within the range maximum plus the base supplement (this is not a red circle rate) authorized for the position to which he is to demote.
(g) An appointing authority may request authority from the Commission to reinstate red circle rates (except those specified in subsection (d) above) awarded for two years which have expired when the employee's pay continues to be lower than the previously authorized red circle rate. Any approval granted shall be prospective from the date of commission action. Eligibility for reinstatement is lost upon separation from state service or demotion.
(h) Red circle rates in effect on June 8, 1994, the effective date of the amendment to this rule providing for a continuing red circle rate, shall be extended in accordance with the provisions of this rule.
EXPLANATION
Presently, Rule 6.15 allows a red circle rate to exist indefinitely. It is uncertain as to what the salary might be of an individual who is acquired into the classified service under Rule 8.27. Therefore, as a check of the red circle rate, a salary that may be judged extremely excessive will be allowed to exist for a period of only two years and then reduced to 28% above the maximum for that job. Twenty-eight percent was chosen because generally, that is the largest red circle rate that would occur for classified employees.
AMEND RULE 8.27 TO READ AS FOLLOWS:
8.27 Status of Nonclassified Employees Whose Positions are Declared to be in the State Classified Service or are Acquired by a State Agency
(a) When a non-governmental private organization or position, which is not subject to the Article, is acquired by a State agency as a result of a legislative act, constitutional amendment, judicial decree, or an executive order, or a government organization or position, which has been created by an executive order of the Governor, legislation, constitutional amendment, or a local authority, is declared to be in the State classified service by judicial decree or by order of the Commission or Director, an employee incumbering an affected position shall be appointed in the State classified service under this Rule if:
1. His position is retained by the State agency, and the appointing authority of the agency certifies in writing to the Director that the retention is necessary for the continued efficient functioning of the acquiring agency, and such position falls within the State classified service;
2. He is eligible for employment in the classified service;
3. He is either employed in the position or is an employee of the acquired organization and has at least one year of continuous service as of the effective date of the transfer of the position or of the acquired agency to the state classified service provided such effective date shall be the same effective date of the legislation, constitutional amendment, judicial decree, or commission order that initiated the action to classify the position, and in the absence of these directives, as of the date of the Director's order;
4. He possesses the minimum requirements established for the class to which his position has been allocated, on the date of the notification to the agency of the original allocation of his position for probationary appointment;
5. He attains a passing score on the appropriate test, within three attempts and six months of the date of notification of the original allocation of his position for probationary appointment, except that after notifying the Commission the Director may waive the passing of a written examination provided:
a. Either an appropriate test is not available or a review of the hiring and personnel practices of the entity indicates testing would be impractical and/ or unnecessary; and
b. A review of the person's application and personnel record reveals that he has successfully performed the duties of the same position for two years; and
c. The appointing authority certifies that his performance has been satisfactory;
d. The Director may still require certain employees to meet the testing requirements of (a) 5.
6. Subject to Rule 17.3, when an agency acquires employees under Rule 8.27 and a layoff results, it shall neither exempt the acquired employees from a layoff, nor shall the acquisition of these employees prevent the appointment of classified employees from a Department Preferred Reemployment List.
(b) An employee who enters the State classified service in accordance with this Rule and who is employed as a classified employee of a governmental jurisdiction subject to a civil service article, statute or ordinance shall be appointed to the State classified service with the same appointment status he attained in the former service and such employee shall be exempt from the requirements in (a) 3 , (a) 4 and (a) 5 above. All other employees who enter the State classified service in accordance with this Rule shall be either provisionally or probationally appointed.
(c) An employee who enters the state classified service in accordance with this rule and who is employed with an organization that is being acquired in its entirety for the first time in the classified service may be exempted from the requirements in (a) 3, , (a) 4 and (a) 5 above, provided he occupies the same position with the acquired organization, if so ordered by the Director after a review of the hiring and personnel practices of the organization indicates such provisions would be either impractical or unnecessary.
1. When using this provision the Director shall notify the Commission of his intention to apply it and, after using it, shall file a written report explaining the reasons therefor.
2. The Director may still require certain employees to meet the requirements of (a) 4 and (a) 5 .
3. An employee acquired under this provision, except for those acquired under subsection (c) 2 above, will be considered to possess the minimum qualifications of the job in which acquired.
(d) An employee who enters the State classified service in accordance with this Rule shall have his pay established in accordance with Rule 6.17.
(e) An employee who enters the State classified service in accordance with this Rule shall have his leave credits determined as follows:
1. An employee who is employed as a classified employee of a governmental jurisdiction subject to a civil service article, statute or ordinance shall have his annual and sick leave credits assumed by his acquiring agency; provided that only the amount of leave earned minus the amount taken, during the first year of the appointment authorized by the Director or Commission, may be paid upon separation in that year, except for separations caused by a layoff, medical disability, death or retirement. Upon entering the State classified service, he shall earn and be credited with leave benefits as provided elsewhere in these Rules.
2. An employee of the state, so long as an official system of leave earning and use was maintained by the employer, shall have his leave credits determined as provided by Rule 11.19 (d).
3. Any other employee who enters the State classified service in accordance with this Rule shall be credited for unused annual and sick leave, not to exceed 240 hours of each, which had been earned by and credited to the employee on the date of his appointment to the State classified service so long as an official system of leave earning and use was maintained by the former employer; provided that only the amount of leave earned minus the amount taken by the employee, during the first year of the appointment authorized by the Director or Commission, may be paid upon separation in that year, except for separations caused by a layoff, medical disability, death or retirement.
(f) Compensatory time shall not be credited above what is legally required under FLSA to the employee.
(g) When a position brought into the classified service under this rule is title corrected, the employee's pay shall not change, except where an adjustment to the minimum of the range is required. Title correction shall mean a change in the job title of a position, by Civil Service, following the original allocation of a position for purposes of probational appointment under this rule.
(h) An employee who enters the State classified service in accordance with this Rule shall have his eligibility for merit increases under Rule 6.14 and leave earning determined based on the original date of appointment with his current or former employer and, upon appointment in the State classified service, shall not be treated as a new employee under the provisions of Rule 6.14.
(i) This Rule shall not apply to any employee who is illegally hired in either the State unclassified or State classified service as determined by the Commission after investigation by public hearing, or who is hired in the State unclassified service under the provisions of Rule 4.1(d)1, or who is voluntarily seeking employment in the State classified service.
(j) Upon request of an appointing authority and when in its judgement sufficient and compelling reasons to do so have been presented, the Commission may apply the provisions of this Rule to situations not addressed herein.
(k) The Director may order an employee, who is subject to being brought into the State classified service under Rule 8.27, placed on a special provisional appointment as provided by this subsection and such appointment shall:
1. contain the same rights, privileges and status as a provisional appointment, unless otherwise provided by this rule;
2. be provided to allow the completion of the process necessary to determine if the employee may remain in the classified service and what requirements of this rule, and others if applicable, will have to be met; and
3. expire either on probational appointment of the employee , or two years from the date the appointment was made, or upon cancellation by the Director.
EXPLANATION
Previously, employees acquired into the classified service under this rule had to take and pass the appropriate Civil Service test. The proposed changes allow Civil Service to examine the personnel hiring practices and policies of the entity being acquired (corporation, etc.), and if those standards are judged sufficient, the testing may be waived. This will allow a much faster and more efficient procedure for bringing employees into the classified service.
Another primary proposed change is to allow acquired employees to be placed, if necessary, on a special provisional appointment while waiting determinations as to how they will be brought into the classified service. This procedure will expedite placing these employees under the Civil Service Rules.
The third major proposal allows for a rapid allocation process and later corrections to allocations without affecting salaries. In the past, the process has been delayed as arguments developed over the appropriate allocations for positions. This change eliminates any financial incentive for these arguments.
Other proposals update the rule to conform to federal law. For example, as the present rule reads, it does not allow any compensatory leave to be brought into the classified service. This would be a violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act. Other lesser proposals seek to eliminate numerous procedural difficulties we have had in implementing Rule 8.27.
AMEND RULE 17.19 TO READ AS FOLLOWS:
17.19 Pay Reductions in Layoffs
(a) Layoffs Not Absolutely Required Because of Budgetary Cuts
No pay reductions shall occur when employees are placed in lower pay ranges in layoffs not absolutely required because of budgetary cuts. This includes those employees whose pay rates fall above the maximum or above the highest rate within the authorized base supplement of the lower range, as provided for in Rule 6.15(f).
(b) Layoffs Absolutely Required Because of Budgetary Cuts
In layoffs absolutely required because of budgetary cuts, the percentage of pay reductions resulting from employees being placed in lower pay ranges shall be uniform, unless a written request with justification is approved by the Director. Such reductions shall not result in an employee's being paid above the maximum or above the highest rate within the authorized base supplement or below the minimum of the range for the position to which he is moved.
EXPLANATION
This amendment provides for two different ways to handle pay when employees move to lower pay ranges during layoffs, based on the cause of the layoff, as follows: 1) Pay reductions would occur only when a layoff is absolutely required because of budgetary cuts. These would have to result in the employee's pay being reduced to a rate within the lower range. 2) No pay reductions would occur when employees are placed in lower pay ranges in layoffs that are not absolutely required because of budgetary cuts. This includes those employees whose pay rates fall above the maximum or the base supplement of the lower range, as provided for in Rule 6.15(f).
Persons interested in making comments relative to these proposals may do so at the public hearing or by writing to the Director of Civil Service at Post Office Box 94111, Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70804-9111.
If any special accommodations are needed, please notify us prior to this meeting.
Sincerely,
Herbert L. Sumrall
Director