Article 1 — PERSONNEL SYSTEM

In order to establish an equitable and uniform procedure for dealing with personnel matters, to attract to municipal service the best and most competent persons available, to assure that appoint- ments and promotions of employees will be based on merit and fitness as determined by competitive tests, and to provide a reasonable degree of security for qualified employees, a personnel system is adopted by the provisions of this article.

('66 Code, § 2-4.101) (Ord. 396-A, passed 7-8-57)

(A) There is hereby created the position of Personnel Director. He shall be appointed by, and serve at the pleasure of, the City Manager. The duties of the Personnel Director may be combined with those of any other office or position. If such duties are not combined with those of any other office or position, the Personnel Director shall have had training or experience in personnel administration.

(B) The Personnel Director shall:

(1) Attend all meetings of the Board of Administrative Appeals and serve as its secretary;

(2) Administer all the provisions of this article and of the personnel rules not specifically reserved to the Council or the Board of Admini-strative Appeals;

(3) Prepare and recommend to the Council revisions and amendments to the personnel rules. The City Attorney shall approve the legality of such revisions and amendments prior to their

submission to the Council;

(4) Under the direction of the Council, prepare a position classification plan, including class specifications and revisions of the plan. The plan, and any revisions thereof, shall become effective

upon approval by the Council;

(5) Under the direction of the Council, prepare a plan of compensation, and revisions thereof, covering all classifications in the competitive service. The plan, and any revisions thereof, shall

become effective upon approval by the Council; and

(6) Publish or post notices of examinations for positions in the competitive service, receive applications therefor, conduct and score examina-tions, and certify to the appointing power a list of all

persons eligible for appointment in the appropriate class in the competitive service.

('66 Code, § 2-4.102) (Ord. 396-A, passed 7-8-57)

(A) Created. There is hereby created a Board of Administrative Appeals to consist of five members to be appointed by the Mayor and confirmed by a majority of the Council.

(B) Terms of office. The terms of office for all members of the Board of Administrative Appeals shall be four years.

(C) Chairman. The Board of Administrative Appeals shall annually select a chairman.

(D) Vacancies. Vacancies on the Board of Administrative Appeals shall be filed by appointment by the Mayor, with approval by the Council, for the unexpired term. Each member shall serve until his successor is appointed and qualified.

(E) Appointment; removal. A majority vote of the Council shall be required to appoint a member of the Board of Administrative Appeals, but a four-fifths vote shall be necessary to remove any member of the Board from office prior to the expiration of his term.

(F) Qualifications. Members of the Board of Administrative Appeals shall be residents of the city. No person shall be appointed to the Board who holds any salaried office or employment with the city.

(G) Alternate member. The Mayor may appoint and the City Council confirm one alternate member to the Board of Administrative Appeals. Any such alternate member shall serve a term of two years. The alternate member, if appointed, shall assume the position of any regular member who cannot attend any hearing or who is absent or unavailable, and in assuming such position, shall have the duties and responsibilities of the regular member. The alternate member may also attend all hearings and delibera-tions, but shall not have voting power if all regular members are in attendance. To the extent possible, the Mayor and Council shall consider the appointment of a former regular member to be the alternate to encourage continuity for the Board. In this event, the term of office limitation shall not apply to the alternate, except the two year term of alternate as mentioned above.

(H) Secretary. The Secretary of the Board of Administrative Appeals shall be the City Clerk, or upon designation, the Deputy City Clerk.

('66 Code, § 2-4.103) (Ord. 396-A, passed 7-8-57; Am. Ord. 604-C-S, passed 3-15-85; Am. Ord. 605-C-S, passed 3-28-85; Am. Ord. 861-C-S, passed 2-23-93; Am. Ord. 981-C-S, passed 7-10-01)

(A) Order of business. The Board of Administrative Appeals shall determine the order of business for the conduct of its meetings.

(B) Time. The Board of Administrative Appeals shall meet on the call of the Chairman, unless it shall decide to meet regularly.

(C) Quorum. Three members of the Board of Administrative Appeals shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business.

('66 Code, § 2-4.104) (Ord. 396-A, passed 7-8-57; Am. Ord. 430-C-S, passed 1-10-80; Am. Ord. 600-C-S, passed 11-13-84; Am. Ord. 605-C-S, passed 3-28-85)

The functions of the Board of Administrative Appeals shall be:

(A) As provided by this article and by the personnel rules, to hear appeals submitted by any person in the competitive service relative to any disciplinary action, dismissal, demotion, or alleged violation of this article or the personnel rules and to certify its findings and recommendations as provided in this article;

(B) To hear appeals regarding administrative decisions made by any official of the city, all as pursuant to the procedures set forth in Chapter 4 of Title 1 of this code;

(C) In any investigation or hearing conducted by the Board of Administrative Appeals, it shall have the power to examine witnesses under oath and compel their attendance or production of evidence by subpoenas issued in the name of the city and attested by the City Clerk. It shall be the duty of the Chief of Police to cause all such subpoenas to be served, and the refusal of any person to attend or to testify in answer to such a subpoena shall subject such person to prosecution in the same manner set forth by law for failure to appear before the Council in response to a subpoena issued by the Council. Each member of the Board shall have the power to administer oaths to witnesses; and

(D) When requested by the Council or the City Manager, the Board of Administrative Appeals shall hold hearings and make recommendations on any matter of personnel administration within the limits of a request by the Council or the City Manager.

('66 Code, § 2-4.105) (Ord. 396-A, passed 7-8-57; Am. Ord. 605-C-S, passed 3-28-85)

The provisions of this article shall apply to all positions and employment in the city service as follows:

(A) All classifications, except temporary or provisional appointments, listed in the salary resolutions for Units I, II, III, and IV are included;

(B) All classifications in the management unit, except temporary and provisional appointments, listed in the senior management tier and the mid-management/professional tier, are included except that the City Manager may designate, prior to appoint-ment, that any position in the City Manager's Department and City Attorney's Department may be declared exempt;

(C) All classifications in the confidential unit, except the Secretary to the City Manager/Council and temporary or provisional appointments, are included;

(D) All other positions, including, but not limited to, elected officials; all members of boards and commissions or persons serving without compen-sations or on a part-time or provisional basis; executive management; and those so designated under divisions (B) and (C) above shall be exempt from the city's competitive service rules;

(E) Positions designated as exempt serve at the will of the City Manager except the City Attorney and his legal staff, and members of Boards and Commissions who, like the City Manager, serve at the will of the City Council, and elected officials who serve at the will of the electorate;

(F) Any incumbent holding a position in a classification which was not designated exempt prior to October 22, 1991, but which is now so designated, shall remain a competitive service employee so long as they remain in that position. Upon vacating, those positions will become exempt.

('66 Code, § 2-4.106) (Ord. 396-A, passed 7-8-57; Am. Ord. 143-C-S, passed 7-21-71; Am. Ord. 207-C-S, passed 3-29-73; Am. Ord. 823-C-S, passed 12-12-91)

(A) Personnel rules, prepared by the City Manager subject to the provisions of this article and to revision by the Council, shall be adopted and may be amended from time to time by resolution of the Council.

(B) The rules shall establish specific procedures and regulations governing the following phases by the personnel system:

(1) The preparation, installation, revision, and maintenance of a position classification plan covering all positions in the competitive service, including employment standards and qualifications for

each class;

(2) The preparation, revision, and administration of a plan of compensation directly correlated with the position classification plan, providing a rate or range of pay for each class;

(3) The public announcement of all tests and the acceptance of applications for employment;

(4) The preparation and conduct of tests and the establishment and use of resulting employ-ment lists containing names of persons eligible for appointment;

(5) The certification and appointment of persons from employment lists and the making of temporary and emergency appointments;

(6) The evaluation of employees during the probationary period;

(7) The transfer, promotion, demotion, and reinstatement of employees in the competitive service;

(8) The separation of employees from the city service through layoff, suspension, and dismissal;

(9) The standardization of hours of work, attendance and leave regulations and working conditions and the development of employee morale, welfare, and training;

(10) Suitable provisions for orderly and equitable presentations to the City Manager and to the Council by employees relating to general conditions of employment; and

(11) The content, maintenance, and use of personnel records and forms.

('66 Code, § 2-4.107) (Ord. 396-A, passed 7-8-57)

(A) Qualifications.

(1) Appointments to vacant positions in the competitive service shall be made in accordance with the personnel rules. Appointments and promotions shall be based on merit and fitness to be

ascertained so far as practicable by competitive examinations. Examinations shall be used and conducted to aid in the selection of qualified employees and shall consist of such recognized selection techniques as achieve-ment and aptitude tests, other written tests, personal interviews, performance tests, evaluation of daily work performance, work sampler, or any combination of these, which will, in the opinion of the Personnel Director, test fairly the qualifications of candidates. Physical and medical tests may be given as a part of any examination.

(2) In any examination the Personnel Director may include, in addition to competitive tests, a qualifying test or tests and set minimum standards therefor.

(B) Appointing officers. Appointments shall be made by the City Manager or by the officer in whom the power to make appointments is vested by law.

(C) Employment lists. When an appointment is to be made to a vacancy in the competitive service, the Personnel Director shall transmit to the appointing power the names of all persons on the appropriate certified employment or promotional list in the order in which they appear on the list.

(D) Temporary appointment. In the absence of appropriate employment lists, a temporary appoint-ment may be made by the appointing authority of the person meeting the minimum training and experience qualifications for the position. An employment list shall be established within six months for any permanent position filled by temporary appointment. The City Manager may extend the period for any temporary appointment to a temporary position for not more than 30 days.

(E) Credit during temporary appointments. No special credit shall be allowed in meeting any qualification or in the giving of any test or the establishment of any employment or promotional lists for service rendered under a provisional appointment.

(F) Filling vacancies during suspension, demotion, or dismissal.During the period of suspension of an employee or pending final action on proceedings to review suspension, demotion, or dismissal of an employee, such vacancy may be filled by the appointing authority subject to the provisions of this article and the personnel rules.

('66 Code, § 2-4.108) (Ord. 396-A, passed 7-8-57)

(A) All regular appointments in the competitive service, including promotional appointments, shall be for a probationary period of not less than six months, except that as to any class of position in the competitive service, the personnel rules may provide for an extension of the period for not more than an additional six months. During the probationary period, the employee may be rejected at any time without the right of appeal or hearing.

(B) An employee rejected during the probationary period from a position in the competitive service to which he has been promoted shall be reinstated to the position from which he was promoted unless he is dismissed from the city service as provided in this article and the personnel rules.

(C) An employee in the competitive service promoted or transferred to a position not included in the competitive service shall be reinstated to the position from which he was promoted or transferred if, within not more than six months after such promotion or transfer, action is taken to reject or dismiss him, unless he is discharged in the manner provided in this article and the personnel rules for positions in the competitive service.

(D) If, however, the action to reject or dismiss an employee of the class referred to in division (C) of this section is taken more than six months after such employee was promoted or transferred, the employee shall be reinstated in a position in the competitive service in his former department only, at the current or last salary level of the competitive position he held at the time he was promoted or transferred to the non-competitive service position, unless he is discharged in the manner provided in this article and the personnel rules for positions in the competitive service. The salary at which he shall be reinstated shall remain unchanged until the salary of the position in which he is placed is equal to or more than the salary he is receiving.

(E) (1) An employee reinstated in the competitive service pursuant to the provisions of division (C) of this section shall be entitled to the competitive service rights he would be entitled to if time served in the noncompetitive service position had been served in the competitive service position last held.

(2) An employee reinstated in the competitive service pursuant to the provisions of division (D) of this section shall be entitled to the competitive service rights he would be entitled to if the time

served in the noncompetitive position had been served in the competitive service position last held, except that he shall not be entitled to replace or “bump” an employee who acquired permanent job status prior to such reinstatement.

('66 Code, § 2-4.109) (Ord. 396-A, passed 7-8-57; Am. Ord. 143-C-S, passed 7-21-71)

§ 2-4.110 [RESERVED].

The provisions of the personnel rules relating to attendance and leave shall apply to the incumbents of full-time exempt positions.

('66 Code, § 2-4.111) (Ord. 396-A, passed 7-8-57)

The Council, the City Manager, and any other officer in whom is vested the power to appoint, make transfers, promotions, demotions, reinstatements, layoffs, and to suspend or dismiss employees shall retain such power subject to the provisions of this article and the personnel rules.

('66 Code, § 2-4.112) (Ord. 396-A, passed 7-8-57)

Any person holding a position of employment in the competitive service shall be subject to disciplinary suspension without pay by the appointing power. Any suspension shall be subject to appeal to the Board of Administrative Appeals as provided in § 2-4.115 of this article. A department head not having the power of appointment may make disciplinary suspensions in accordance with the personnel rules. Any permanent employee in the competitive service who has been suspended shall receive a written statement of the reasons for such action at the time the disciplinary action is taken.

('66 Code, § 2-4.113) (Ord. 396-A, passed 7-8-57; Am. Ord. 117-C-S, passed 5-13-70; Am. Ord. 605-C-S, passed 3-28-85)

Any permanent employee in the competitive service who has been demoted, dismissed, or reduced in pay shall receive a written statement of the reasons for such action. The employee shall have 10 working days within which to answer the charges in writing. In the event the employee receives the statement and prepares his written answer, copies of both shall be filed with the Personnel Director, who shall transmit them to the Secretary, who in turn shall transmit them to the Board of Administrative Appeals. Within 10 working days after the date of filing his or her answer to the written charges, or in the event such written charges have not been made available to the employee, then within 10 working days after the action taken to demote, dismiss, or reduce the pay of the employee, he or she may file a written demand with the Secretary requesting a hearing before the Board. The Board shall then investigate the case and conduct a hearing as provided in this article and the personnel rules.

('66 Code, § 2-4.114) (Ord. 396-A, passed 7-8-57; Am. Ord. 117-C-S, passed 5-13-70; Am. Ord. 605-C-S, passed 3-28-85; Am. Ord. 981-C-S, passed 7-10-01)

(A) Hearings. Any employee in the competitive service shall have the right to appeal to the Board of Administrative Appeals relative to any disciplinary action, dismissal, demotion, or alleged violation of the provisions of this article or the personnel rules, except in instances where the right of appeal is prohibited by the provisions of this article. Thereupon, the Board shall make such investigations as it may deem necessary, and, within 20 working days after the request for a hearing was filed, the Board shall hold a hearing. The hearing need not be conducted according to technical rules relating to evidence and witnesses.

(B) Rendering of decision. Within 10 working days after concluding the hearing, the Board of Administrative Appeals shall render its decision in writing, which shall be final 20 calendar days following its written notice of decision, unless such decision is transferred to the City Council pursuant to § 1-4.03 of this Code. Upon the rendering of the Board's decision, the City Attorney shall promptly deliver to the City Council a written summary of the decision so as to assist the Councilmembers determine whether they wish to review the decision pursuant to § 1-4.03 of this Code.

('66 Code, § 2-4.115) (Ord. 396-A, passed 7-8-57; Am. Ord. 605-C-S, passed 3-28-85; Am. Ord. 981-C-S, passed 7-10-01)

(A) Authority. Whenever, in the judgement of the Council, it becomes necessary in the interests of economy or because the necessity for the position or employment involved no longer exists, the Council may abolish any position or employment in the competitive service and lay off, demote, or transfer an employee holding such position or employment without filing written charges and without the right of appeal.

(B) Seniority.

(1) Seniority shall be observed in effecting such reduction in personnel, and the order of layoff shall be in the reverse order of total cumulative time served in the city service upon the effective date

of the layoff. Layoffs shall be made within classes of positions, and all provisional employees in the affected class or classes shall be laid off prior to the layoff of any probationary or permanent employee.

(2) For the purposes of determining the order of layoff, total cumulative time shall include time served on military leaves of absence.

(C) Reemployment lists.

(1) The names of probationary and permanent employees laid off shall be placed upon reemployment lists for classes which, in the opinion of the Personnel Director, require basically the same

qualifications, duties, and responsibilities as those of the class of position from which layoff was made.

(2) Names of persons laid off shall be placed upon reemployment lists in the order of their competency and shall remain on such lists for a period of two years unless reemployed sooner. For

reemployment purposes, competency of a person laid off shall be determined by the head of the department in which such person worked.

('66 Code, § 2-4.116) (Ord. 396-A, passed 7-8-57)

Any period of time during which an employee is required to be absent from his position by reason of an injury or disease for which he is entitled to receive compensation under the provisions of Cal. Labor Code Division 4 (commencing with § 3201) shall not constitute a break in his continuous service for the purposes of his rights to salary adjustments, sick leave, vacation time, or seniority.

('66 Code, § 2-4.117) (Ord. 80-C-S, passed 3-12-69)

§ 2-4.118 [RESERVED]

§ 2-4.119 [RESERVED]

§ 2-4.120 [RESERVED]

(A) The City Manager shall consider and make recommendations to the Council regarding the extent to which the city shall contract for the performance of technical services in connection with the establishment or operation of the personnel system.

(B) The Council may contract with any qualified person or agency for the performance of all or any of the following responsibilities and duties imposed by the provisions of this article:

(1) The preparation of personnel rules and subsequent revisions and amendments thereof;

(2) The preparation of a position classi-fication plan and subsequent revisions and amendments thereof;

(3) The preparation of a plan of compensa-tion and subsequent revisions and amendments thereof;

(4) The preparation, conduct, and grading of competitive tests; and

(5) Special and technical services of advisory or informational character on matters relating to personnel administration.

('66 Code, § 2-4.121) (Ord. 396-A, passed 7-8-57)

The Council shall appropriate such funds as are necessary to carry out the provisions of this article.

('66 Code, § 2-4.122) (Ord. 396-A, passed 7-8-57)