THE FOLLOWING ARE THE LAYOFF AND RECALL PROCEDURES UNLESS SUPERSEDED BY A COLLECTIVE BARGAINING AGREEMENT

Section 1. Procedure for Layoff in Non-Uniformed Classifications: Employees may be laid off as a result of lack of funds within an agency. The principal appointive officer shall determine whether a lack of funds exists and shall file a statement of rationale and supporting documentation with the Civil Service Commission prior to sending the layoff notice.

Employees may be laid off as a result of lack of work within an agency. The principal appointive officer of the agency shall determine whether a lack of work exists and shall file a statement of rationale and supporting documentation with the Civil Service Commission prior to sending the layoff notice. The determination of a lack of work shall indicate the current or projected temporary decrease in the workload of the agency and whether the current or projected staffing levels of the agency will be excessive.

Employees may be laid off as a result of abolishment of positions within an agency. The principal appointive officer of the agency shall determine whether any position should be abolished and shall file a statement of rationale and supporting documentation with the Civil Service Commission prior to sending the notice of abolishment. The determination to abolish positions shall indicate the lack of continued need for positions within the agency for a period of at least one year. An appointing authority may abolish positions as a result of a reorganization for the efficient operation of the appointing authority, for reasons of economy or lack of work.

If an abolishment results in a reduction of the work force, the appointing authority shall follow the procedures for laying off employees, subject to the following modifications:

A. The employee whose position has been abolished shall have the right to fill an available vacancy within the employee's classification;

B. If the employee whose position has been abolished has more retention points than any other employee serving in the same classification, then the employee with the fewest retention points shall be displaced;

C. If the employee whose position has been abolished has the fewest retention points in the classification, the employee shall have the right to fill an available vacancy in a lower classification in the classification series;

D. If the employee whose position has been abolished has the fewest retention points in the classification, the employee shall displace the employee with the fewest retention points in the next or successively lower classification in the classification series.

E. In the event of the four actions described not occurring, the employee shall be laid off.

Section 2. Appointment Categories and Priorities: Employees shall be laid off in the order set forth in this section within the primary appointment categories of student, emergency, temporary, seasonal, provisional and permanent.

Whenever a reduction in force is necessary within each of the primary appointment categories, first student or emergency, then temporary, then seasonal, then provisional and then permanent employees shall be laid off in the following order:

A. Student or emergency employees in any order as determined by the principal appointive officer of the agency;

B. Seasonal employees still on probation;

C. Seasonal employees who have successfully completed probation;

D. Provisional employees still on probation;

E. Provisional employees who have successfully completed probation;

F. Permanent employees still on probation;

G. Permanent employees who have successfully completed probation;

Within each of the above categories, part time employees (i.e. less than 75 percent work time) must be laid off before full time employees.

Section 3. Displacement Procedures: A laid-off employee has the right to displace the employee with the fewest retention points in the classification from which the employee was laid off or in a lower or equivalent classification, in the following order:

A. Within the classification from which the employee was laid off;

B. Within the classification series from which the employee was laid off.

An employee laid off in the classified service shall displace the employee within the same layoff jurisdiction or appointing authority in the following manner:

A. Each laid off employee possessing more retention points shall displace the employee with the fewest retention points in the next lower classification or successively lower classification in the same classification series; except that a laid-off provisional employee shall not have the right to displace a certified employee;

B. Any employee displaced by an employee possessing more retention points shall displace the employee with the fewest retention points in the next lower classification or successively lower classification in the same classification series; except that a displaced provisional employee shall not displace a certified employee. This process shall continue, if necessary, until the employee with the fewest retention points in the lowest classification of the classification series of the same layoff jurisdiction or appointing authority has been reached and if necessary, laid off.

The Commission shall presume that any laid off employee will exercise their displacement rights. Employees not wishing to exercise their displacement rights shall notify the principal appointive officer of their department or appointing authority, in writing, of their intention within five working days after receiving notice of layoff. Employees not wishing to exercise their displacement rights will be laid off.

No employee shall displace an employee for whose position or classification there exists special minimum qualifications, as established by a position description, classification specifications, or by bona fide occupation qualification, unless the employee desiring to displace another employee possesses the requisite minimum qualifications for the position or classification.

Section 4. Retention Points: Retention points need to be calculated for provisional, seasonal and permanent employees only. An employee's total retention points shall be the sum of the base retention points plus the retention points assigned for continuous service and for relative efficiency in service.

A. Credit for Continuous Service: Credit for a complete month of service will be given for any calendar month in which an employee is employed in the layoff jurisdiction as established under these rules. Each employee is to receive two(2) seniority points for each completed month of continuous service as a seasonal, provisional or permanent employee in the layoff jurisdiction. Authorized leaves of absence such as military leave or personal without pay leave shall not be considered as an interruption of continuous service. Seniority points will not be given for service in the fire or police forces, nor for service as a student, temporary or emergency employee, nor for service as an Emergency Employment Act or Public Service Employee or other similar type of employee. Service shall be considered to be noncontinuous when an employee:

1. Quits or resigns; however, if resignation is followed by reinstatement within one year, credit for continuous service prior to resignation will be given but no credit will be given for the time between resignation and reinstatement;

2. Is discharged for just cause;

3. Is laid off for a period of more than twelve consecutive months. If an employee is laid off and recalled, credit for continuous service prior to the layoff will be given but no credit will be given for the time the employee was actually laid off;

4. Transfers to the unclassified service and returns to the classified service. Credit for continuous service prior to the transfer to the unclassified service and following return to the classified service will be given but no credit will be given for the time served in the unclassified service.

B. Base Retention Points: Two hundred (200) additional points are added to those earned in section A to yield the employee's total seniority points.

C. Credit for Efficiency:

Section 5. Recall Procedure for Non-Uniformed Employees: (unless superseded by a collective bargaining agreement).

A. Employees who have been laid off or have, by virtue of exercising their displacement rights, been displaced to a lower classification in their classification series, shall be placed on appropriate layoff lists. Those employees with the most retention points shall be placed at the top of the layoff list to be followed by employees ranked in descending total retention order. Laid-off employees shall be placed on layoff lists for each classification in the classification series equal to or lower than the classification in which the employee was employed at the time of layoff.

B. An employee who is laid off retains reinstatement rights in the appointing authority from which he was laid off. Reinstatement rights continue for one year from the date of layoff. During this one-year period, in any layoff jurisdiction in which an appointing authority has an employee on a layoff list, the appointing authority shall not hire or promote anyone into a vacancy in that classification until all laid-off persons on a layoff list for that classification are reinstated or decline the position when it is offered.

C. Each laid-off or displaced employee, in addition to reinstatement rights within the employee's appointing authority, shall have the right of service reemployment with other appointing authorities within the layoff jurisdiction but only in the same classification from which the employee was initially laid off or displaced. Layoff lists for each appointing authority must be exhausted before jurisdictional reemployment layoff lists are used.

D. Any employee accepting or declining reinstatement to the same classification and same appointment type from which the employee was laid off or displaced shall be removed from the appointing authority's layoff list.

E. Any employee accepting or declining reemployment to the same classification and the same appointment type from which the employee was laid off or displaced shall be removed from the jurisdictional layoff list.

F. An employee who does not exercise his option to displace under Section 3 of these rules shall only be entitled to reinstatement or reemployment in the classification from which the employee was displaced or laid off.

G. An employee who declines reinstatement to a classification lower in the classification series than the classification from which the employee was laid off or displaced, shall thereafter only be entitled to reinstatement to a classification higher, up to and including the classification from which the employee was laid off or displaced, in the classification series than the classification that was declined.

H. Any employee reinstated or reemployed under this section shall not serve a period upon reinstatement or employment except than an employee laid off during an original or promotional probationary period shall begin a new probationary period.

Section 6. Layoff and Displacement Procedures for Uniformed Police and Fire Personnel: Whenever it becomes necessary in the Police Division or Fire Division, through lack of work or funds, or for causes other than those outlined above, to reduce the force in such division, the youngest uniformed employee in point of service shall be first laid off. Should a position in the Police Division or Fire Division once abolished or made unnecessary be found necessary to be re-created or reestablished within three years of the date of abolishment or should a vacancy occur through death resignation, or any other cause within three years from the date of the abolishment of the position or layoff, the oldest employee in point of service of those laid off shall be entitled to the position, providing he was at the date of his separation, a regular permanent employee.

If any employee, laid off as prescribed in this section, enters into the active service of the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, or other armed service of the United States, the period such employee serves therein shall not be considered in the determination of the three years stipulated as the maximum time within which reinstatements shall be made; such three year period shall be computed exclusive of the time the employee spent in the armed services.

When a position above the rank of Police Officer in the Police Division and above the rank of regular Fire Fighter in the Fire Division is abolished, and the incumbent has been permanently appointed, he shall be demoted to the next lower rank and the youngest officer in point of service in the next lower rank shall be demoted, and so on down until the youngest person in point of service has been reached, who shall be laid off.

Section 7. Appeals: An employee may appeal a layoff, or displacement which is the result of a layoff, to the Civil Service Commission. The appeal shall be filed or postmarked no later than ten days after receipt of the notice of layoff or after the date the employee is displaced. In cases involving the laying off of classified employees the affected employee may appeal the decision of the Civil Service Commission to the common pleas court.