San Luis Obispo County Municipal Code Ch. 2.40 Civil Service System

There is established in the county a civil service system to be governed by the provisions set forth in this chapter and in the county civil service enabling law (Government Code Sections 31100 etc.).

(Ord. 755 § 2 (part), 1964: prior code § 2-001)

There is created a civil service commission of five members which shall be appointed by the county board of supervisors. The members of this commission shall be selected from among the qualified electors of the county and each of them shall hold office for a term of four years and until his successor is appointed and qualified. Vacancies occurring in the commission shall be filled by appointment by the board of supervisors for the remainder of the unexpired term only. The terms of office of two members of the first civil service commission shall be one year. The terms of office of the other members of the commission shall be two, three and four years, respectively. The members thereof shall determine by lot the relative order of the expiration of their terms. No member of the commission shall hold any other salaried county office, nor shall he have been, within the year next preceding his appointment, an active executive officer in any political organization. Each member shall have been a resident of the county for one year next preceding his appointment. The board of supervisors, by a four-fifths vote of all the members, may remove a member of the commission during his term of office, but only upon stating in writing the reasons for such removal and allowing him an opportunity to be publicly heard in his own defense. The commission shall elect one of its members president.

(Ord. 755 § 2 (part), 1964: prior code § 2-002)

The members of the civil service commission shall each receive as compensation the sum of one hundred fifty dollars for their attendance at each full-day meeting of the commission or seventy-five dollars for each half-day meeting of the commission. A half-day meeting of the commission is defined as a meeting which lasts less than four hours from call to order to adjournment. In addition, the members of the commission shall receive reimbursement for mileage traveled, as provided elsewhere by the county code, from their place of residence to the place of the meeting of the commission and return.

(Ord. 3059 § 1 (part), 2005: Ord. 2731 § 1, 1995: Ord. 2324 § 1, 1987: Ord. 1984 § 1, 1979: Ord. 755 § 2 (part), 1964: prior code § 2-002.1)

The board of supervisors of the county shall appropriate funds to defray the expenses necessary and incident to the operation of the civil service system as herein provided for.

(Ord. 755 § 2 (part), 1964: prior code § 2-003)

The board of supervisors of the county may contract with any other county or city, any state department, or any competent person or agency for the conducting of competitive examinations to ascertain the fitness of applicants for employment and for the performance of any other service in connection with personnel selection and administration.

(Ord. 755 § 2 (part), 1964: prior code § 2-004)

(a) The civil service system of the county is divided into the unclassified and classified service. The unclassified service shall comprise of the following classifications:

(1) Agricultural commissioner/sealer weights & measures;

(2) Assistant assessor;

(3) Assistant chief probation officer;

(4) Assistant chief executive officer;

(5) Assistant district attorney;

(6) Assistant health agency director

(7) Behavioral health administrator;

(8) Chief of staff;

(9) Chief medical officer;

(10) Chief probation officer;

(11) Chief executive officer;

(12) Director of airports;

(13) Director of child support services;

(14) Director of information technology;

(15) Director of parks and recreation;

(16) Director of planning and building;

(17) Director of public works;

(18) Groundwater sustainability director

(19) Health agency director;

(20) Human resources director;

(21) Nuclear power plant decommissioning manager;

(22) Public health administrator-health officer;

(23) Undersheriff;

(24) Veterans' service officer;

(25) All officers elected by the people;

(26) All officers who, by reasons of state law, serve at the will and pleasure of the board of supervisors;

(27) All persons serving as temporary help employees;

(28) All persons serving the county pursuant to contracts entered into by the board of supervisors for a specified period of time or special projects;

(29) All persons serving the county without compensation;

(30) Members of all boards and commissions.

(b) The classified service shall include all other county jobs hereafter created regardless of the method or manner of payment of compensation whether monthly per diem, per folio or otherwise.

(Ord. 3142 § 1, 2008: Ord. 3043 § 1, 2004: Ord. 3035 § 1, 2004: Ord. 3008 § 1, 2003: Ord. 2996 § 1, 2003: Ord. 2977 § 1 (part), 2002; Ord. 2953 § 1, 2001; Ord. 2937 § 1, 2001; Ord. 2930 § 4, 2001; Ord. 2896 § 1, 2000; Ord. 2874 § 1, 1999; Ord. 2858 § 1, 1999; Ord. 2857 § 1, 1999; Ord. 2652 § 1, 1994; Ord. 2099 § 1, 1982; Ord. 1966 § 1, 1979; Ord. 1773 § 1, 1977; Ord. 1499 § 1, 1975; Ord. 755 § 2 (part), 1964; prior code § 2-005)

(Ord. No. 3271, § 1, 10-7-14; Ord. No. 3299, § 1, 7-14-15; Ord. No. 3304, § 1, 10-20-15; Ord. No. 3385, § 1, 3-26-19; Ord. No. 3396, § 1, 9-17-19; Ord. No. 3423, § 1, 10-6-20; Ord. No. 3433, § 1, 1-5-21; Ord. No. 3458, § 1, 9-14-21; Ord. No. 3565, § 1, 12-16-25)

(a) The commission shall prescribe, amend, repeal and enforce rules for the classified service, which shall have the force and effect of law, shall keep minutes of its proceedings and records of its examinations and shall, as a board or through a single commissioner, make investigations concerning the enforcement and effect thereof and of the rules and efficiency of the service. It shall make an annual report to the board of supervisors.

(b) The human resources director, under general supervision of the commission, shall administer the civil service system pursuant to the rules adopted by the commission, advise the commission upon civil service matters, furnish a secretary to the commission, the appointment of the secretary to be approved by the commission, prepare the budget for the operation of the civil service commission, and maintain all records necessary to the foregoing.

(Ord. 1491 § 1 (part), 1975; Ord. 755 § 2 (part), 1964: prior code § 2-006)

(Ord. No. 3396, § 1, 9-17-19)

Editor's note— Per Ord. No. 3396, § 1, adopted September 17, 2019, and at the direction of the city, instances of personnel director have been changed to human resources director thoughout the code.

The rules of the civil service commission shall provide:

(1) For the classification of all positions in the classified service;

(2) For open competitive examinations to test the relative fitness of applicants for such positions;

(3) For the creation of eligible lists resulting from competitive examinations upon which shall be entered the names of successful candidates in order of their standing and examinations. The lists shall remain in force not longer than two years;

(4) For the appointment of one of the ten persons standing highest on the appropriate competitive eligible list; provided that an appointing authority may elect to request certification and make an appointment where there are less than ten persons on an appropriate existing eligible list;

(5) For noncompetitive examinations for minor positions in the county institutions when competition is found by the civil service commission to be impractical;

(6) For the creation of eligible lists resulting from noncompetitive examinations upon which shall be entered the names of all successful candidates. The lists shall remain in force not longer than two years;

(7) For the appointment of any eligible from a non-competitive eligible list;

(8) For public advertisement of all examinations;

(9) For the rejection of candidates or eligibles who fail to comply with the reasonable requirements of the commission or of the law with regard to job requirements, age, residence, sex and physical condition, or who have been guilty of crime or infamous or disgraceful conduct, or who have attempted any deception or fraud in connection with an examination, or who have refused to take the oath prescribed by law;

(10) For a period of probation not to exceed the equivalent of six months of full-time service before appointment or promotion is complete, except for those classifications identified in Civil Service Rules whose probation shall be the equivalent of one year of full-time service, during which period a probationer may be discharged or reduced without a hearing. Service shall mean all paid hours in a permanent position, provided however, that the probationary period shall not include any period of leave with pay exceeding twenty days;

(11) For the provisional appointment of persons to permanent positions without examination when no eligible list exists for the class or when the eligible list contains insufficient names to permit complete certification. The provisional appointments shall only be made with the prior consent of the human resources director. No provisional appointment shall continue beyond the date of promulgation of an appropriate eligible list for the class of employment, and in no event shall continue longer than six months. Successive provisional appointments are prohibited. Acceptance or refusal to accept a provisional appointment on the part of a person on the eligible list shall not be a bar to a permanent appointment from the eligible list;

(12) For the temporary appointment of persons to nonpermanent positions from the appropriate eligible list where such exists and the eligible thereon are willing to accept the appointment. Where no appropriate eligible list exists or where it contains insufficient names to permit complete certification, the temporary appointments may be made without examinations with the consent of the human resources director. In case of emergency where no eligible list exists, consent may be granted retroactively, provided the fact is reported to the human resources director no later than the end of the pay period within which the temporary appointment occurred. Temporary appointments to nonpermanent positions shall not continue for longer than nine hundred sixty hours within any fiscal year. Acceptance or refusal to accept a temporary appointment on the part of a person on an eligible list shall not be a bar to a permanent or provisional appointment from the eligible list;

(13) For transfer from one position to a similar position in the same class and salary range or to a position in another class with the same salary range, either within the same department or in another department, provided that the employee meets the minimum qualifications for the classification. The transfers shall be with the consent of the human resources director. In case of denial, the employee may appeal to the civil service commission;

(14) For reinstatement of permanent employees within one year, provided such persons have been separated from or reduced within the county civil service without fault or delinquency on their part; provided, however, that persons employed by the county, holding positions subject to the provisions hereof, who have entered the armed forces of the United States during a national emergency proclaimed by the President or the Congress of the United States, or an Act of Congress providing for peacetime induction or conscription, and who have been honorably discharged or on the inactive or reserved list, or relieved from such military service with a certificate of satisfactory service, shall be reinstated without loss of status, seniority or efficiency ratings to the position held by them prior to entry into such federal service, or to positions of like seniority and status, unless in the meantime such positions have been abolished, on condition that application for reinstatement is made within ninety days after release from the armed forces, and on the further condition that such persons are still qualified to perform the duties of the positions previously held by them or of such like positions. All persons appointed or transferred to fill the positions and all other persons appointed or transferred to other positions by reason thereof shall be termed to be substitute employees, and the substitute employee may be separated from such positions at any time, unless they held positions subject to the provisions of the ordinance immediately prior to the appointment or transfer as substitute employees. In any event, and notwithstanding any other provisions hereof, they shall be reinstated without loss of status or seniority to the permanent positions which they held immediately prior to their first appointment or transfer as such substitute employees to positions of like seniority and status unless, in the meantime, such positions have been abolished.

Any permanent position which remains continuously unfilled for twenty or more calendar days, due to the incumbent's approved leave of absence, may be filled by a substitute employee pursuant to a request made by the appointing authority and with the prior approval of the human resources director. Substitute employee appointments shall occur on, or at any time after, the effective date of the leave of absence; provided, that the incumbent employee is medically qualified to return to his/her former position, the appointment of the substitute employee shall be terminated prior to the return of the incumbent from the leave of absence. If the incumbent employee is not medically qualified to return to his/her former position, the substitute employee shall assume the position.

Incumbent employees have an absolute right to return to a position in their original class of employment subject only to the requirement that the position or class has not been abolished, and subject further to the medical examination requirement of civil service rule 8.02(b). A new probationary employee, who is laid off due to the return of the incumbent, shall be rejected and terminated from employment in the classified service. A substitute employee who achieved permanent status in any lower level position prior to the substitute appointment, and who is laid off due to the return of the incumbent, shall be permitted to return, without loss of status or seniority, to that permanent position, unless in the meantime such position has been abolished. A substitute employee who achieves permanent status in the substitute appointment position, and who is laid off due to the return of the incumbent, may also have bumping rights as to similar allocated positions. Any other employee displaced due to the exercise of layoff rights by a substitute employee shall have those layoff rights as provided for in the civil service rules.

A substitute employee must meet the minimum qualifications for the class to which he/she is appointed as a substitute employee. All substitute appointments will be from appropriate eligible lists. Substitute employees shall serve a probationary period, shall receive time in service for purposes of layoff while serving as a substitute employee, and shall be subject to all provisions of the civil service rules, including especially those dealing with probation and disciplinary action;

(15) For promotions based on competitive examinations and records of efficiency, character, conduct and seniority. The provisions of subsection (4) of this section shall apply with respect to promotions. An advancement in rank or an increase in salary beyond the range fixed for class shall constitute promotion;

(16) For a systematic manner of reporting upon the performance of employees in the classified service;

(17) For the establishment of a plan for resolving employee grievances and complaints;

(18) For the adoption and amendment of rules only after public notice and hearing.

The commission shall adopt such other rules not inconsistent with the foregoing provisions hereof as the commission may consider necessary and proper.

(Ord. 3151 § 1, 2008; Ord. 3059 § 1 (part), 2005: Ord. 2915 § 1, 2000; Ord. 2571 § 1, 1992; Ord. 2104 § 1, 1982; Ord. 2072 § 1, 1981: Ord. 2037 § 1 1980: Ord. 1491 § 1 (part), 1975; Ord. 755 § 2 (part), 1964: prior code § 2-006.1)

(Ord. No. 3396, § 1, 9-17-19; Ord. No. 3444, § 1, 5-18-21)

Editor's note— Per Ord. No. 3396, § 1, adopted September 17, 2019, and at the direction of the city, instances of personnel director have been changed to human resources director thoughout the code.

In case of a vacancy in a position requiring peculiar and exceptional qualifications of a scientific, professional or expert character, upon satisfactory evidence that competition is impracticable and that the position can best be filled by the selection of some designated person of recognized attainments, the human resources director, if designated by the rules of the commission, or the commission by affirmative vote of three members of the commission, may suspend competition. No such suspension shall be general in its application to such positions, and all such cases of suspension shall be reported, together with the reasons therefor, in the annual reports of the commission.

(Ord. 3059 § 1 (part), 2005: Ord. 755 § 2 (part), 1964: prior code § 2-007)

(Ord. No. 3396, § 1, 9-17-19)

Editor's note— Per Ord. No. 3396, § 1, adopted September 17, 2019, and at the direction of the city, instances of personnel director have been changed to human resources director thoughout the code.

All examinations shall be impartial and shall deal with the duties and requirements of the class for which they are given. Records of all examinations showing the basis of rating shall be maintained. The examinations shall be administered by the human resources director. The commission may call on other persons to draw up, conduct or grade examinations, and when such persons are county employees, it shall be deemed a part of their official duties to perform such services without extra compensation.

(Ord. 1491 § 1 (part), 1975; Ord. 755 § 2 (part), 1964: prior code § 2-008)

(Ord. No. 3396, § 1, 9-17-19)

Editor's note— Per Ord. No. 3396, § 1, adopted September 17, 2019, and at the direction of the city, instances of personnel director have been changed to human resources director thoughout the code.

No person employed under the system hereby created or seeking admission thereto shall be appointed, reduced, removed or in any way favored or discriminated against because of political or religious opinions or affiliations, or because of age, sex, race, color, national origin, marital status, disability, sexual orientation, or other nonmerit factors.

(Ord. 3059 § 1 (part), 2005: Ord. 755 § 2 (part), 1964: prior code § 2-009)

Reductions, suspensions and dismissals shall be made pursuant to the following provisions, unless otherwise provided for by the Fair Labor Standards Act:

(1) Any officer or employee in the classified service may be dismissed, suspended or reduced in rank or compensation by the appointing authority after appointment or promotion is completed through the prescribed probationary period by a written order, stating specifically the reasons for the action. The order shall be filed with the county human resources director and a copy thereof shall be furnished to the person to be dismissed, suspended or reduced.

(2) Employees designated by the board of supervisors as salary basis employees within the meaning of the Fair Labor Standards Act shall not be subject to any disciplinary actions in the form of reduction in pay, unless otherwise provided for by the Fair Labor Standards Act.

(3) The officer or employee may reply in writing to the order within ten days from its filing with the county human resources director. The officer or employee may, within ten days after presentation to him of the order, appeal through the county human resources director to the civil service commission from the order. Upon the filing of the appeal, the county human resources director shall forthwith transmit the order and appeal to the civil service commission for hearing.

(4) Where possible, within twenty days from the filing of the appeal the commission shall commence the hearing, and either affirm, modify or revoke the order. The appellant may appear personally, produce evidence and have counsel and a public hearing as prescribed by law.

(5) The findings and decision of the commission shall be certified to the appointing authority whose action was the subject of the hearing and forthwith be enforced and followed by him.

(Ord. 3059 § 1 (part), 2005: Ord. 2585 § 1, 1992: Ord. 1259 § 1, 1972: Ord. 755 § 2 (part), 1964: prior code § 2-010)

(Ord. No. 3396, § 1, 9-17-19; Ord. No. 3566, § 1, 1-6-26)

Editor's note— Per Ord. No. 3396, § 1, adopted September 17, 2019, and at the direction of the city, instances of personnel director have been changed to human resources director thoughout the code.

All persons in the county service holding positions in the classified service as established by the ordinance codified herein or any earlier ordinance and who have been in such service for the six months next preceding June 22, 1964, shall hold their positions until discharged, reduced, promoted, resigned, suspended, transferred or terminated in accordance with the provisions hereof.

(Ord. 755 § 2 (part), 1964: prior code § 2-011)

The auditor shall not approve any salary or compensation for services to any person holding or performing the duties of a position in the classified service or serving under a provisional or temporary appointment unless the payroll or account for such salary or compensation shall bear the certificate of the human resources director on behalf of the civil service commission that the person or persons named therein have been appointed or employed and are performing service in accordance with the provisions and the rules established in this chapter.

(Ord. 1491 § 1 (part), 1975; Ord. 755 § 2 (part), 1964: prior code § 2-012)

(Ord. No. 3396, § 1, 9-17-19)

Editor's note— Per Ord. No. 3396, § 1, adopted September 17, 2019, and at the direction of the city, instances of personnel director have been changed to human resources director thoughout the code.

Persons found eligible pursuant to the provisions below as to service and type of discharge or separation from the armed forces of the United States, who enter any competitive civil service examination for original appointment in the classified service, and who attain at least the minimum rating established for the examination, shall be given a preferential credit in the amounts set forth below, which when added to his or her actual rating on the examination shall constitute his or her total rating:

(1) A preferential credit of five percent of the maximum rating shall be added to the examination score of an individual who meets any of the following criteria:

a. Any honorably discharged or separated veteran of the armed forces of the United States who has served in such forces during a period of war or armed insurrection as defined by the regulations of the United States Veterans' Administration;

b. The spouse of any veteran who is found eligible by reason of services indicated above and who because of total disability is prevented from following any remunerative occupation;

c. The unremarried widow of any veteran whose service and discharge or separation is of a character to establish preference as indicated above.

(2) A preferential credit of ten percent of the maximum rating shall be added to the examination score of an individual who meets all of the following criteria:

a. Is a veteran as described in subsection (1)a., above;

b. Has on file with the County Veterans' Service Office an acceptable Veterans' Preference Certificate; and

c. Is currently declared by the United States Veterans' Administration to be ten percent or more disabled as a result of his or her military service. Proof of disability shall be deemed conclusive if it is of record with the United States Veterans' Administration.

(Ord. 3059 § 1 (part), 2005: Ord. 755 § 2 (part), 1964: prior code § 2-013)