Stanislaus County Municipal Code Ch. 3.01 General Provisions

Pursuant to the authority granted under the provisions of the California Government Code and applicable state and federal law, and in order to establish an equitable and uniform procedure for dealing with personnel matters, the board of supervisors hereby commits to a merit based public employment system for employees that meets the following six merit principles:

A. Recruitment, selection and advancement of employees is on the basis of their relative ability, knowledge, and skills, including open consideration of qualified applicants for initial appointment;

B. Employees are provided equitable and adequate compensation;

C. Employees are trained, as needed, to assure high quality performance;

D. Employees are retained on the basis of the adequacy of their performance, inadequate performance is addressed, and employees whose inadequate performance cannot be corrected are separated;

E. Applicants and employees are assured fair treatment in all aspects of personnel administration without regard to political affiliation, race, color, national origin, sex, religious creed, age, or disability and with proper regard for their privacy and constitutional rights as citizens. This "fair treatment" principle includes compliance with the federal and state equal employment opportunity and nondiscrimination laws;

F. Employees are protected against coercion for partisan political purposes and are prohibited from using their official authority for purposes of interfering with or affecting the result of an election or a nomination for office.

(Ord. CS 1390, 4/1/2025)

Under the authority of the laws of this state the Stanislaus County Board of Supervisors hereby prescribes and adopts these rules.

(Ord. CS 1390, 4/1/2025)

These provisions apply to all departments, officers, and employees within the county, except as otherwise specified by state or federal law or applicable memoranda of understanding (MOU) or as outlined in Section 3.01.035.

(Ord. CS 1390, 4/1/2025)

This chapter affirms the county's commitment to a merit-based hiring system while recognizing the necessity of flexibility in appointing positions in the unclassified service for critical or hard-to-fill roles. "Critical position" refers to a position in the unclassified service deemed essential to public health, safety, welfare, or the effective operation of county services. "Hard-to-fill" for the purposes of this chapter refers to a position in the unclassified service with prolonged vacancies due to a limited applicant pool or specialized skill requirements.

A. The chief executive officer may approve direct appointments to positions in the unclassified service under limited circumstances where adherence to standard merit-based hiring practices may impede the effective and efficient operation of county services.

B. All other appointments shall comply with merit principles.

(Ord. CS 1390, 4/1/2025)

If any provision of these rules or the application of such provision to any person or circumstance, shall be held invalid, the remainder of these rules or the application of such provision to persons or circumstances other than those as to which it is held invalid, shall not be affected thereby.

(Ord. CS 1390, 4/1/2025)

All previous rules/policies adopted pursuant to Title 3 are hereby rescinded and repealed in their entirety, effective as of the adoption of the ordinance codified in this chapter, except as provided in Section 3.01.055.

(Ord. CS 1390, 4/1/2025)

The rescission set forth in Section 3.01.050 shall not apply to rules, policies, or procedures adopted by individual county departments, agencies, or boards that:

A. Are not in conflict with this chapter or any other applicable ordinance, law, or regulation;

B. Do not conflict with pending personnel actions or policies adopted by the county; and

C. Are deemed necessary for the continued operations of the respective department, agency, or board.

Such departmental rules, policies, and procedures shall remain in effect until amended, superseded, or repealed by the respective department, agency, or board or as required by subsequent county action.

(Ord. CS 1390, 4/1/2025)

A. All appointments to positions in the classified service shall be made pursuant to the policies established in this chapter and in accordance with merit principles. The intent of these policies is to ensure that the job-related merit and fitness of the applicants and the needs of the county shall govern appointments.

B. Appointments in the classified service shall be made on the basis of equal employment opportunity. It shall be a violation of this section to discriminate in employment decisions on the basis of race, religion, color, creed, national origin, political affiliation or belief, age, sex, or handicap, or any other protected class as established by law except where a bona fide occupational qualification exists.

C. Consistent with the needs of the county, promotion of current employees pursuant to these provisions shall be encouraged.

(Ord. CS 1390, 4/1/2025)