TDD# 1-800-846-5277
STATE
OF LOUISIANA
DEPARTMENT
OF STATE CIVIL SERVICE
BATON
ROUGE, LOUISIANA
May 29, 2009
General
Circular No. 1767
To: Heads of State Agencies and
Human Resource Directors
Subject: Changes to Proposed Rules based
on Comments to General Circular 1761
Issue
Date: May 29, 2009
We have
received many comments in response to General Circular 1761 which outlined
proposed changes to Chapters 1, 5, 17 and related rules. Many of these comments were very specific in
nature and have assisted us in making clarifications in the proposed
rules. A number of the comments dealt
with concerns about removal of the “property right” and fear of a return to
“the spoils system.” We found that many
of these concerns reflected a lack of understanding about flexibilities in the
rules that currently exist, and have for many years. We have also been made aware of some areas
where we need to more clearly state the requirements of the rules in order to
minimize confusion. This circular is not
intended to address the minor editorial changes that have been made to the
proposal. However, it will highlight the
substantive changes that are significant in ensuring that merit system
principles are upheld. The full text of
the proposed rules as they will be presented to the Civil Service Commission on
June 3, 2009 is attached.
A. Performance Planning and Review Ratings (Rule
17.15)
We have
clarified and changed passages of the rules requiring employees who have
received a poor or needs improvement rating to be laid off first, especially as
stated in Rule 17.15. When budget and
organizational circumstances require positions to be cut and employees to be
separated from state service, those positions that the appointing
authority determines that the agency is no longer able to sustain will be
targeted for abolishment.
The
effects on employees who occupy those positions will be determined by a number
of factors, including skills, experience, performance and seniority. Employees in the same organizational unit,
career field and commuting area who received a “poor” or “needs improvement” on
their last official PPR rating will be laid off. The proposed rule has been changed so that
an employee rated “poor” or “needs improvement” in the 60 days immediately
prior to the layoff would NOT be laid off based on that rating. This change will ensure that any employee who
may be laid off as the result of a PPR rating has sufficient opportunity for
the rating to be reviewed as permitted in Chapter 10 of the Rules. It will also reduce employee vulnerability to
what may be perceived as a non-meritorious action on the part of the
supervisor. If an appointing authority
has an unusual circumstance that would cause him to wish to retain an employee
with a lesser rating, he may request an exception to this rule.
B. Required
Relocation into Vacant Positions (Rule 17.18)
Rule
17.18(i) has been clarified to address concerns that
employees with “meets requirements” or better ratings are subject to separation
from state service at the discretion of the appointing authority. The employees who will be separated from
state service as the result of the layoff will be those with the least state
service within the affected organizational unit, career field and commuting
area. The appointing authority is
required to make a relocation offer to employees who remain in targeted
positions after the least senior employees to be laid off are determined. The employee who is eligible for relocation
must be offered a position (within his / her organizational unit, career field
and commuting area) that has been vacated by the layoff of a less senior
employee. Rule 17.18(i)
allows the appointing authority the discretion to place employees who are to be
relocated into the vacancies created as the result of the layoff, based on
where the employee’s skills and abilities can be best utilized. This discretion is in determining which
vacancy better aligns with the employee’s skills and abilities and not discretion
as to whether a position will be offered.
As in
the past, the rules continue to require the layoff plan to specifically spell
out the justification for any exemptions or exceptions that are proposed. The new rules further provide that layoff
plans must list the parish, career field, name, job title, and adjusted service
date for those employees who are expected to be laid off, and the same
information for each employee who is to be relocated to a vacancy created as
the result of the layoff. The application
of the current rules does not allow this latter information to be confirmed
until after the layoff process is complete.
The proposed rules actually create a greater degree of transparency and
accountability on the part of the appointing authority. All actions that will result from the layoff
plan are made public to all affected employees prior to the approval of a
layoff plan by the Civil Service Director or Commission.
C. Organizational
Unit for Layoff Purposes (Rule 1.21.1)
We have
added language to this definition to clarify the interpretation of the term
“normally” as used in the current rule.
Current use of the term “normally” in this definition allows the
organizational unit for layoff to be narrowed to a program, unit, or activity
level, at the request of the appointing authority and when the Director of
Civil Service deems it appropriate to do so. The scope of the organizational unit
affected by a layoff is proposed by the appointing authority, and the final
determination rests with the Civil Service Director.
D. Department
Preferred Re-employment List (Rule 17.23(e)6)
We have
reconsidered our recommendation to reduce the time that an employee may remain
on the Department Preferred Re-employment List and will leave that window of
opportunity at two (2) years.
We
believe these changes, along with the other clarifications not specifically
noted, have significantly improved the proposed rules and we appreciate the
time and effort of those who chose to make their concerns known. Interested parties may still comment on these
rules and may request to address the Commission any time prior to their 9:00
a.m. Wednesday, June 3, 2009 meeting.
Sincerely,
s/Shannon
S. Templet
Director, Civil Service