CHAPTER 17
Layoff Avoidance Measures, Layoffs, and Post Layoff
Section 3 - Layoffs
17.11 Layoff of Probational
Employees Only
(a) Layoffs that involve only probational employees do not require the approval of the
Director; however, the appointing authority shall provide written notice of
such layoffs to the Director prior to the effective date.
(b) Affected probational
employees shall be given notice of their layoff prior to the effective date of
the layoff.
17.12 Layoffs Involving Permanent Employees
This rule applies to layoffs of
permanent employees and layoff plans that affect a combination of permanent and
probational employees.
(a) As soon as it is determined that a
layoff will be necessary, the appointing authority shall make a reasonable
attempt to notify all employees who may be affected.
(b) A written plan shall be submitted to the
Director for consideration at least two calendar weeks prior to the effective
date of the layoff.
(c) Employees who may be laid off or moved
to a vacant position as the result of a layoff shall be notified in
writing. The Director or Commission
shall not approve any plan until at least five calendar days after notification
of the last affected employee.
(d) Once a layoff plan is approved by the
Director or Commission, it shall be made available to the employees who may be
affected.
(e) Each employee who is eligible to move to
a vacant position created by the layoff process shall be notified of his/her
offer. There shall be at least five calendar days between the last such notice
and the effective date of layoff.
17.13 Effect of Allocation Changes on Layoff
A layoff shall not be affected by any
changes in allocations for affected positions after the layoff plan is received
at Civil Service, regardless of the effective date of the allocation.
17.14 Requirements for the Written Layoff Plan
The layoff plan shall include, but
not necessarily be limited to, the following items:
1. Affected
organizational unit
2. Reasons
why the layoff is being proposed
3. Any
budgetary measures which may have been taken to avoid a layoff
4. Proposed
effective date of the layoff.
5. Definition
of commuting area used for this layoff (refer to Rule 1.9.01)
6. How pay on relocation to lower jobs will be
set, if applicable. (refer to Rule 17.16)
7. For
the abolished positions, list:
a. parishes
where the positions are domiciled;
b. affected job
titles;
c. career field
for each affected job title; and
d. number of
positions for each affected job title.
8. If any affected employees are in Career Field 9999, propose an
appropriate expansion of their career field, with
justification. If no expansion is
proposed, explain why.
9. List
the Parish, Career Field, Name, Job Title, and Adjusted Service Date for employees who are expected to be laid off.
10.
List the Parish, Career Field, Name, Job Title, and Adjusted Service Date for
employees who will be moved to vacancies created as a result of the layoff, and
the job title planned to be offered to each employee.
11. Exemptions
made, if any, under Rule 17.15(e) and reasons for these exemptions.
12. Exceptions
requested, if any, under Rule 17.3 and reasons for these exceptions.
13. Names
and pay of employees occupying unclassified positions authorized under Rule 4.1(d)1 or
4.1(d)2 in the affected organizational unit, and how these positions will be affected by the layoff.
14. Contracts either currently in effect or anticipated that may be
causative of or related to the layoff.
17.15 Determining the Employees Who Will Be Laid
Off or Relocated
(a) Based on the budget and organizational
priorities, the appointing authority will determine which positions are to be
abolished.
(b) Employees who received a “poor” or
“needs improvement” on their last official Performance Planning and Review
rating shall be laid off first. For
purposes of layoff determination, the last official rating shall refer to a
rating received no fewer than 60 days prior to the effective date of the
layoff.
(c) A number of employees within the career
fields, organizational unit and commuting area of positions to be abolished,
and sufficient to fulfill budgetary and organizational requirements, shall be
laid off on the basis of the least years of service as determined by adjusted
service date.
(d) Employees
in positions targeted for abolishment shall move into vacant positions in accordance with Rule 17.18.
(e) The agency may exempt from layoff a
number of employees, the total of which shall not exceed 20% of the total number
of employees laid off and relocated.
These exemptions must be made for rational business reasons and may include
employees who have exceptional performance, or who possess particular
qualifications or competencies needed to effectively fulfill the requirements
of the position. Exemptions and their
reasons shall be stated in the layoff plan.
(f) Employees
with veteran’s preference as referred to in Rule 22.7 and whose performance ratings and length of
service are at least equal to those of other affected
employees shall be given preference.
17.16 Pay Upon Relocation
Pay may be reduced upon movement to lower
jobs. Pay reductions shall be uniform in
their percentage for all affected employees.
If the uniform pay reduction results in an
employee’s rate of pay
falling above the maximum of the pay range, the appointing authority may choose
one of the following options for all employees similarly situated:
1. The
pay of affected employees may be reduced to the range maximum.
OR
2. The pay of affected employees may be set
at the red-circle rate. (See Rule 1.33.01)
17.17 Domicile for Relocation
Purposes
(a) The
domicile for movement for an employee shall be the parish in which he reports to work.
(b) Employees
whose official domicile is “statewide” shall, for the purpose of relocation offers, be considered domiciled in
the parish in which they officially reside.
(c) Employees
who live and work outside of Louisiana shall, for the purpose of relocation offers, be considered
domiciled in the parish in which they have an official
residence. If they have none, their
domicile shall be at their department’s central
headquarters.
(d) Agencies
may request a different domicile assignment in situations not addressed in the rule through the exception procedure in
Rule 17.3.
17.18 Relocation Provisions
(a) Rights
to relocate to a vacant position created as the result of a layoff shall be granted only to permanent employees whose
most recent official performance rating
is “meets requirements” or higher.
(b) A
permanent employee, who accepted a new probational
appointment without a break in service
for a trial period may be, at the option of the appointing authority, considered as having permanent status for
the purpose of layoff.
(c) For
purposes of this rule, an employee with a rating of “unrated” shall be considered as having a rating of “meets requirements”
for that rating period.
(d) Employees
in positions that are targeted for abolishment shall move into vacant positions or positions that become vacant as
the result of the layoff within the affected
organizational unit.
(e) An
employee shall not have the right to move:
1. into
a job with a higher pay range
2. into
a job for which he does not meet the Civil Service qualification requirements
3. outside
of his organizational unit (as defined in Rule 1.21.1 and the approved Layoff Plan) except under
the provisions of part (k) of this section
4. outside of his career field (as defined in Rule 1.5.2),
unless the career field has been expanded in the Layoff Plan or under the
provisions of part (f) or part (k) of this section
5. outside
of his commuting area (defined in rule 1.9.01) except under the provisions of part (k) of this section.
(f) The
Director of Civil Service may, on his own initiative, expand career fields.
(g) Employees
who move into another position shall retain permanent status.
(h) If
the position offered is in a Career Progression Group, it shall be offered at
the highest level for which the
employee meets the Civil Service qualification requirements,
as long as it is not higher than his current job.
(i) Vacancies
to be created as the result of the layoff of the least senior employees shall
be offered first to employees who occupy targeted positions based on skills,
experience, performance, seniority and the needs of the agency as determined by
the appointing authority. These needs
shall be determined based on documented, rational business reasons.
(j) If the employee declines an offer within
his organizational unit, career field, and commuting
area, he shall be laid off and shall not be eligible for the Department Preferred Reemployment List.
(k) The
appointing authority may offer vacant positions outside of the organizational unit, career field or commuting area to an
affected employee after the requirements
of 17.18(a)-(j) have been met. If the employee
declines such an offer, he shall be
laid off and shall remain eligible for the Department Preferred Reemployment List.
(l) The
agency may end job and /or restricted appointments of employees who occupy temporary positions and may
use the position(s) to rehire, without a break in
service, a permanent employee who was laid off.
The rehired employee may be
rehired in job or restricted appointment status and shall be placed on the Department Preferred Reemployment List for
permanent appointments.
17.19 Responsibilities of Employees Affected in a
Layoff
The responsibilities of employees
affected in a layoff are listed below.
This rule applies to active employees and includes employees who are on
leave for any reason, on detail to special duty and on temporary
interdepartmental assignment.
(a) The
employee shall read or otherwise make himself aware of agency-distributed information concerning the layoff.
(b) The
employee shall supply all information required by the agency to determine adjusted state service date in the format
and by the deadline set by the agency. Failure to do so will result in the
employee’s adjusted service date being set at the date of their most recent hire.
(c) If
the employee is absent from work, he shall provide to the personnel specified by his agency, correct and current
information as required by the agency on how he
may be reached at all times.
(d) The
employee shall respond to a relocation offer in a manner determined by the agency.
Failure to do so shall be considered a declination of the offer.
(e) For
purposes of meeting the job qualifications of the relocation offer, an employee must have a grade from Civil
Service only in the instance of an employee
moving from a sub-professional level job to a professional level job. The
employee must have the grade before the effective date of the layoff to be eligible for that position. The grade need not be active; it may be
expired; however, it must be a grade for
the test currently in use and must be verifiable.
(f) Once
an employee accepts or declines a relocation offer, the decision is final.
17.20 Freeze on
Appointments to Layoff–Affected Jobs
(a) Beginning
the date the Director approves the layoff plan, no appointments shall be made in the affected department to job
titles abolished in the layoff or to equivalent
or lower jobs in those career fields and commuting areas except that jobs offers made prior to this approval
date may be honored. The freeze on appointments shall end upon the establishment
of the Department Preferred Reemployment
List.
(b) Exceptions
to the freeze that do not require the Director’s approval include:
1. reinstatement
of an employee as the result of an appeal decision;
2. internal
demotion;
3. restoration of
a former employee returning from military duty in accordance
with Rule 23.15; and
4. restricted
appointments, job appointments, details to special duty, and use of
temporary staffing service employees.
5. Other exceptions to the freeze may be
approved in accordance with Rule 17.3.
17.21
Special Provisions for Veterans in
Layoffs
A veteran who has been restored to duty
under the provisions of Rule 23.15 and who thereafter is affected by a layoff
shall be granted prior service credit for the period of time served as a member
of the armed forces of the United States on which the restoration was based.