General Circular No. 001277

To: Heads of State Agencies and Human Resource

Directors

Subject: Service Ratings For Period Ending March 31,1997

Issue Date: March 20, 1997

NOTE: The directions in this general circular shall be carried

out as usual.

General Circular No. 001276 has been issued this date to

explain the transition process to the new Performance Planning

and Review System, which will be effective July 1, 1997

provided the proposed new Chapter 10 Rules are approved by the

Civil Service Commission.

This is to remind you that service ratings are to be made on

all permanent classified employees as of March 31, 1997, as

provided in Civil Service Rules 10.1(c) and 10.2 through 10.11.

Departments who have a Performance Appraisal Program approved

by the Civil Service Director and have completed a trial

performance rating period shall be governed by Civil Service

Rules 10.1(c) and 10.12 through 10.22. A report of the ratings

(See C.S. 121 attached) under the Service Rating Program must

be submitted to this office by each agency no later than June

1, 1997.

A service rating shall be prepared on each permanent employee

who has worked ninety (90) days or more in the class of

position he occupies as of March 31, 1997. If this rating is

"Satisfactory" it must be prepared in duplicate on Standard

Form 15 (copy attached). One copy is to be given to the

employee and the other copy is to be placed in the employee's

personnel folder maintained in the agency.

If the rating is "Unsatisfactory" the Standard Form 15 is not

used. In such cases, a letter addressed to the employee giving

specific reason(s) for the "Unsatisfactory" rating is prepared.

Since the employee receiving an "Unsatisfactory" rating does

have the right to appeal to his appointing authority and then

to the Civil Service Commission, such ratings should be

carefully reviewed by the appointing authority, personnel

officer, or other responsible official(s) before such

notification is given to the employee. A copy of the letter

shall be given to the employee, one copy placed in his

personnel file and a third copy shall be received at the

Department of State Civil Service no later than June 1, 1997.

Civil Service Rule 10.10 requires that a copy of the

"Unsatisfactory" rating be delivered to the Department of Civil

Service on or before June 1, 1997. In addition, an employee

who has been rated "Unsatisfactory" must be re-rated during the

period of June 30 through September 30, 1997, and notification

made to this office of the results of the re-rating. An

employee who is re-rated "Unsatisfactory" shall retain such

rating until his anniversary date in 1998 provided the proposed

new Chapter 10 Rules are approved by the Civil Service

Commission. An unsatisfactory employee whose re-rating is not

reported to the Director as of September 30, 1997 shall then be

considered satisfactory.

Appropriate instructions and training sessions are recommended

for rating officials so they will be fully aware of their

responsibilities. Further, they should be acquainted with the

contents of Chapter 10 of the Civil Service Rules and Part 12

of the State Personnel Manual. If further information is

required, please contact this Department by calling (504) 342-8274.

Here are some important pointers in the Service Rating Program

procedures for this period:

DO

1. Give each employee a copy of his official service rating,

whether "Satisfactory" or "Unsatisfactory".

2. The service rating should be dated after March 31 and before

June 2.

3. Make your evaluations and suggestions for improvement to

employees full and complete so better performance will

result.

4. Discuss the evaluation with the employee.

5. File a copy of the service rating in the employee's

personnel folder in the agency.

6. Duplicate this circular for distribution to your

supervisors.

7. Complete the attached form C.S. 121 and submit it to this

office no later than June 1, 1997. This form should be

submitted after March 31, 1997.

DO NOT

1. Do not prepare or submit "Unsatisfactory" ratings on

Standard Form 15.

2. Do not request rating form supplies from this Department.

Standard Form 15's may be obtained from the following

source:

Division of Administration

Forms Management Warehouse

P. O. Box 94095, Capitol Station

Baton Rouge, LA 70804-9095

3. Do not report ratings on probational, provisional or

temporary employees.

Participation by agency heads, personnel officers, and all

management and supervisory personnel is encouraged to ensure

accomplishment of a meaningful employee service rating program.

Comprehensive evaluations of employees' work for service rating

purposes can be useful to management in determining training

needs, the establishment of personnel skill files, and in many

other ways. This is also the ideal time to review individual

job description forms to see that the information is complete

on each position.

Your full cooperation in the service rating program is

requested.

Sincerely,

Allen H. Reynolds

Director

Attachments (These attachments will not be shown on the OPEN

System, but will be mailed out through regular general circular

distribution.)