Merced Municipal Code Art. VIII Civil Service

Appointments and promotions in the classified service of the City shall be made according to merit and fitness and from eligible lists to be established in accordance with personnel rules and regulations adopted in the manner provided in this Charter.

(Amended November 6, 2007).

The officers and employees of the City shall be divided into the unclassified and the classified service.

A. The unclassified service shall comprise the following officers and positions:

1. All elective officers;

2. City Manager, City Attorney, Finance Officer, City Clerk, and one confidential secretary to the City Manager;

3. The Assistant City Manager, all department heads, Assistant to the City Manager, and professionally licensed attorneys assuming office on or after the effective date of the 2007 Charter Amendments.

4. All voting members of boards and commissions;

5. Positions in any class or grade created for a special or temporary purpose, and which would exist for a period of not longer than ninety days in any one calendar year;

6. Persons employed to render professional, scientific, technical or expert service of an occasional and exceptional character; and,

7. Part-time, seasonal, or limited-basis employees paid on an hourly or per diem basis.

B. The classified service shall comprise all positions not specifically included by this Section in the unclassified service.

(Amended November 6, 2007: Amended January 12, 1977).

In the event an officer or employee of the City holding a position in the classified service is appointed to a position in the unclassified service, and should thereafter be removed or resign therefrom, he/she shall revert to his/her former position in the classified service, unless he/she is dismissed from the service of the City, without loss of any rights or privileges and upon the same terms and conditions as if he/she had remained in said position continuously, if the former position is vacant. If the former position is not vacant, the officer or employee may be placed on the eligibility list for that position and may be reinstated within two years from the date of his/her removal or resignation from the unclassified service.

(Amended November 6, 2007).

Examinations of applicants for positions in the classified service shall be practical and relate to those matters which fairly test the relative capacity of the applicants to discharge the duties of the positions to which they seek to be appointed.

(Amended November 6, 2007).

Upon receipt of notice of a vacancy in the classified service, the City Manager, or such officer under the City Manager having charge of personnel administration, shall certify to the appointing power the names of the three highest candidates on the eligible list for such position. The appointing power may appoint, of the three thus certified, whichever one in his/her opinion is best qualified for such position. No candidate may be certified more than three times for any one classified position.

The City Manager, or other officer having charge of personnel administration, with the consent of the appointing power and of the Personnel Board, may authorize the certification of less than three names for appointment in the event there remains less than three names on an eligible list and in the opinion of such officer and of the Personnel Board conditions warrant such action. When no eligible lists are available, the City Manager, upon the recommendation of the Personnel Board, and under such rules and regulations as it may prescribe, may authorize the appointing power to make temporary appointments in the classified service, in order to prevent the stoppage of public business and in order to meet extraordinary conditions, which appointments shall remain in force until regular appointments can be made, but in no case to exceed six months in any fiscal year.

All original appointments shall be for a probationary period of not less than twelve months for all employees except public safety, which period shall be for not less than eighteen months, during which the employee may be rejected at any time without right of a hearing before the Personnel Board. All promotional appointments shall be for a probationary period of not less than six months.

An employee rejected during the probationary period from a position to which he/she has been promoted shall be reinstated to the position from which he/she was promoted, if that position is vacant, unless he/she is dismissed from the service of the City in addition to the rejection in which event he/she shall have the right of a hearing before the Personnel Board as to such order of dismissal. If the former position is not vacant, the employee may be placed on the eligibility list for that position and may be reinstated within two years from the date of their rejection during the probationary period.

(Amended November 6, 2007).

In the event a memorandum of understanding with an employee association does not provide for lay-off procedures, or no memorandum of understanding with certain employees is in effect, then lay-offs shall be conducted in accordance with this Section.

Whenever it becomes necessary, in the opinion of the City Council, to abolish a position, or to reduce the number of employees in a given class in the classified service, the City Council may do so, by stating in its proceedings its reasons therefor.

All lay-offs occasioned by the abolishment of a position or the reduction in number of employees in a given class shall be governed by seniority in service and shall be in the reverse order of employment. Re-employment shall be determined in accordance with the needs of the City.

(Amended November 6, 2007).

The department heads and officers having appointive power are vested with the right to exercise the disciplinary and removal powers hereafter provided.

An employee holding a position in the classified service, other than one serving a probationary period, shall be subject to suspension without pay for a period not exceeding thirty days in any one calendar year, or to demotion, or to removal from his/her position, for misconduct, incompetency, inefficiency, or for failure to observe the rules or regulations of the department, office or agency, or to cooperate reasonably with his/her superiors or fellow employees, but subject to the right of the employee to a hearing before the Personnel Board in the manner set forth herein.

Such employee shall be entitled to receive a written statement of the reasons therefore. He/She shall have ten days after the receipt of such statement within which to file an answer to such statement of reasons should he/she desire to do so.

The answer shall be filed in the Office of the City Clerk. In the answer, the employee may request a hearing by the Personnel Board to review such suspension, demotion or removal. The hearing shall be called and held as provided for in the personnel rules and regulations. Hearings may be conducted informally and the rules of evidence need not apply.

Within ten days after concluding the hearing, the Personnel Board shall certify its findings and recommendations to the City Manager and City Council. The recommendations of the Personnel Board shall be advisory only to the City Manager. The City Manager, or his/her designee, shall review the entire record of the proceedings before the Personnel Board and their recommendations and shall render a decision in accordance with the authority vested in the City Manager pursuant to Sections 501 and 607 of this Charter. The decision of the City Manager or his/her designee with respect to such recommendations shall be final and conclusive and no appeal shall be taken therefrom.

Where an appeal is taken to the Personnel Board from an order of dismissal, the vacancy in the position shall be considered a temporary vacancy pending final action by the City Manager or his/her designee and may be filled only by an acting or temporary appointment.

A reduction in pay shall be a demotion under this Section, unless it is a part of a plan to reduce salaries and wages in connection with a general economy or curtailment program. A failure to grant an increase to an individual, at a time when increases are granted generally as a part of a plan to increase salaries and wages throughout the City service, shall likewise be a demotion.

The City Manager and any other department head or officer in whom is vested the power to make transfers, promotions, demotions, reinstatements, lay-offs, and to suspend or dismiss employees, shall retain such power, subject to the provisions of this Charter and the rules established hereunder, it being the intent and spirit of this Charter to provide a fair and just approach to municipal employment in order that the City employee may be selected and promoted on a merit basis, but in no sense to impair the efficiency of the public service.

(Amended November 6, 2007).

No person holding any position in the classified service, or on an eligible list shall take an active part in any municipal political campaign or contribute thereto in behalf of any candidates, nor shall such person seek signatures to any petition seeking to advance the candidacy of any person for any municipal office. Nothing in this section shall be construed to prevent any such person from seeking election or appointment to public office. Upon becoming a candidate for public office, any such person shall request and be granted a leave of absence, without pay, to remain in effect during the period of time such person is a candidate.

No person in the classified service, or seeking admission thereto, shall be employed, promoted, demoted or discharged or in any way favored or discriminated against because of political opinions or affiliations or because of race or religious belief.

No officer or employee of the city and no candidate for any city office shall, directly or indirectly, solicit any assessment, subscription or contribution, whether voluntary or involuntary, for any political purpose whatever, from anyone on the eligible lists or holding any position in the classified service.

No person shall willfully or corruptly make any false statements, certificate, mark, rating or report in regard to any application, test, certification or appointment held or made under the personnel provisions of this Charter or in any manner commit or attempt any fraud preventing the impartial execution of such personnel provision or rules and regulations made hereunder. In addition to the penalties provided for in this Charter for violations of its provisions, any person who by himself/herself or with others willfully or corruptly violates any of the provisions of this Article shall upon conviction thereof be ineligible for a period of five years for employment in the City service and shall immediately forfeit his/her office or position if he/she be an officer or employee of the City.

(Amended November 6, 2007).

The city council may contract with the governing body of a city, or county within this state, or with a state department or other agency for the preparation or conducting of competitive examinations for positions in the city service or for the performance of any other personnel administration service.