Whittier Municipal Code Ch. 2.24 Personnel Board

There is created and established a personnel board in conformity with Article VII of the Charter of the city.

(Prior code § 2460)

Three members of the board shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business. The functions of the board shall be:

A. To consider and recommend to the council a set of rules and regulations and revisions and amendments thereof to supplement this chapter. All rules and regulations so recommended shall be consistent with the provisions of this chapter.

B. To act in an advisory capacity to the council on problems concerning personnel administration.

C. As provided in this chapter and by the rules and regulations, to hear appeals submitted by any person in the classified service relative to any situation connected with his/her employment status or condition of employment. Upon the conclusion of any such hearing, the personnel board shall certify to its findings to the council and make such recommendations as it may deem warranted, and the council shall consider such recommendations in any decision it may make.

D. In any investigation or hearing conducted by the board, it shall have the power to examine witnesses under oath and compel their attendance or the production of evidence before it 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 refusal of a person to attend or to testify in answer to such subpoena shall subject the 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 personnel board shall have the power to administer oaths to witnesses.

E. To hold hearings and make recommendations to the council on the adoption or revision of the position classification plan. The council shall adopt a position classification plan and class specifications and revisions thereof and allocate and reallocate positions in the classified service to classes in the classification plan.

(Prior code § 2461.1)

(Ord. No. 3112, §§ 2, 4, 2-25-20; Ord. No. 3122, § 12, 9-8-20)

The council shall appoint a personnel officer whose duty it shall be to act in the capacity of clerk for the personnel program. The duties of the office of personnel officer may be combined with those of any other office in the event the work involved does not warrant, in the discretion of the council, the creation of a special position. The personnel officer shall:

A. Be the custodian of all personnel records and shall be the official upon or with whom all notices, requests for hearings, complaints and other official documents shall be served and filed;

B. Attend all meetings of the personnel board;

C. Administer all provisions of this chapter and the rules established under this chapter, not specifically reserved to the council or the personnel board;

D. Under the direction of the personnel board, prepare rules and amendments thereof, for the consideration of the personnel board;

E. Under the direction of the personnel board, prepare a position, classification plan, class specifications and divisions thereof, for the consideration of the personnel board.

(Prior code § 2461.2)

A. The provisions of this chapter shall apply to all appointees, officers and employees of the city except the following:

1. City manager, city attorney, department heads, other positions as may be so designated by resolution of the city council, and all elective officers of the city elected pursuant to the laws of the state and the Charter of this city;

2. Members of the appointive boards, commissions and committees;

3. Casual, part-time or full-time temporary, casual, seasonal or emergency employees of any office or department;

4. All employees in any office or department receiving an hourly or per diem wage or salary;

5. Appointees, officers and employees of the county doing contractual work for the city;

6. Disaster volunteer appointees, officers or employees appointed to such positions pursuant to the city disaster ordinance.

B. All employees of the city except those specifically exempted in subsection A of this section shall constitute the classified service of the city. All appointees, officers and employees excluded from the classified service of the city shall abide and be governed by the personnel rules and regulations that may be specifically adopted for said employees by the city council.

(Ord. 2577 §§ 7—12, 1992; Amended during 1983 codification; prior code § 2461.3)

(Ord. No. 3112, § 4, 2-25-20; Ord. No. 3120, § 5, 7-28-20)

In addition to such other matters as may be necessary and proper to carry out the intent and purposes of this chapter, rules shall be formulated by the personnel board, subject to approval by the city council, establishing specific procedures to govern the following phases of the personnel programs:

A. The preparation, installation, revision and maintenance of a position classification plan covering all positions in the classified service;

B. The formation of minimum standards and qualifications for each class providing that, all things being equal, preference shall be given applicants who are residents of the city, but the council may authorize open recruitment whenever it deems this procedure necessary in the best interests of the public service;

C. The public announcement of vacancies and pending examinations and the acceptance of applications for employment;

D. The preparation and conduct of examinations and the establishment of employment lists containing names of persons eligible for appointment;

E. The certification and appointment of persons from employment lists to fill vacancies and the making of temporary and emergency appointments;

F. The evaluation of employees;

G. The transfer, promotion, demotion and reinstatement of employees in the competitive service;

H. The separation from the service of employees through layoff, suspension, dismissal and for incapacity to perform required duties;

I. The development of employee morale and training programs;

J. The maintenance and use of necessary records and forms.

(Ord. 2577 § 13, 1992; prior code § 2461.4)

A. Appointments and promotions to vacant positions in the classified service shall be made in accordance with the rules established under this chapter, from employment lists and promotional lists resulting from competitive examination or by transfer, demotion or reinstatement.

B. Appointments shall be made by the council or by the officer in whom the power to make appointments is vested by law.

C. If appointment is to be made from employment or promotional lists, the names of persons willing to accept appointment shall be certified by the personnel officer to the appointment power in the order they appear on the lists. The personnel officer shall certify a minimum of three to each eligible list whenever possible.

D. In the absence of appropriate employment lists, a temporary appointment may be made by the appointing power; provided, however, that an employment list shall be established for the position within ninety days. A person so appointed must meet the minimum qualifications for the position. No person shall be employed by the city under temporary appointment for a total of more than six months in any fiscal year. The temporary appointment shall not be construed as being a probationary appointment. In the event of emergency, the appointing power may appoint such persons as are required to meet the emergency, but the appointment shall not exceed thirty working days.

E. No credit shall be allowed in the giving of any examination or the establishment of any employment or promotional lists for service rendered under a temporary appointment.

F. During the period of suspension of any employee, or pending final action on proceeding to review the suspension, demotion or dismissal of any employee, the vacancy so created may be filled by a temporary employment by the appointing power from the appropriate employment list. The employee thus temporarily employed holds the position subject to the final disposition of the suspension or dismissal proceedings.

(Prior code § 2461.5)

All original and promotional appointments shall be for a probationary period of six months, except sworn police personnel which shall be for a probationary period of twelve months, during which the employee may be rejected by the appointing power, upon assigning reasons therefor in writing in accordance with Section 2.24.110. The name of the discharged probationer may at his/her request be restored to the eligible list with its original percentage in the discretion of the board. The restoration, however, shall not permit the certification to the position or department from which the probationer has been dismissed, except on the written request of the appointing power. 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 has been promoted unless charges are filed and he/she is discharged as provided in this chapter and the rules.

(Amended during 1984 codification; prior code § 2461.6)

(Ord. No. 3112, § 2, 2-25-20)

Editor's note— Ord. No. 3112, § 1, adopted Feb. 25, 2020, repealed § 2.24.090, which pertained to status of persons employed August 25, 1950 and derived from prior code, § 2461.7.

The council and any other officer in whom is vested by law the power to make transfers, promotions, demotions, reinstatements, layoffs, and to suspend or dismiss employees, shall retain such power subject to the provisions of this chapter and the rules established under this chapter where not inconsistent with the laws of the state or the city Charter, it being the intent and spirit of this chapter to improve the efficiency of the public service by providing a fair and just approach to municipal employment in order that city employees may be selected and promoted on a merit basis.

(Prior code § 2461.8)

Editor's note— Ord. No. 3112, § 1, adopted Feb. 25, 2020, repealed § 2.24.110, which pertained to removal or suspension of employees and derived from prior code, § 2461.9.

Whenever in the judgment of the council it becomes necessary in the interest of economy or because the necessity for the position involved no longer exists, the council may abolish any position or employment in the competitive service and thereby reduce the personnel by laying off employees without the filing of written charges or without the right of appeal. In reducing the personnel and laying off any employee or employees through the abolition of position, the council shall observe the seniority rule. The name of the employee or employees so laid off shall be placed at the top of the appropriate employment list or lists as provided by the rules.

(Prior code § 2461.10)

Any permanent employee in the classified service of the city in good standing, who enlists or is enlisted in the armed forces of the United States of America engaged in a war declared by the Congress or proclaimed by the President of the United States, shall be on leave of absence, without pay, from the date of his/her enlistment until ninety days after the termination of his/her service thereunder, at which time, or earlier if he/she desires, upon presentation of a certificate of honorable discharge from, or satisfactory termination of, the services, the employee shall be restored to the position in which he/she was employed at the time of his/her enlistment, if he/she is still qualified to perform the duties of the position.

(Prior code § 2461.11)

(Ord. No. 3112, § 2, 2-25-20)

No officer, agent, clerk, or employee, under the government of the city, and no candidate for any city office, shall directly or indirectly solicit or receive or be in any manner concerned in soliciting or receiving any assessment, subscription or contribution, whether voluntary or involuntary, for any political purpose whatever, from anyone on the employment lists or holding any position under the provisions of this chapter.

(Prior code § 2461.13)

The council may contract with any reputable public or private agency for the performance of technical personnel services as needed.

(Prior code § 2461.14)

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

(Prior code § 2461.15)

The council declares that it is the intent of this chapter to operate a personnel system for the employees of the city placed in the classified service in this chapter in conjunction with Ordinance No. 1048, an initiative ordinance of the city adopted by the electors and providing a personnel system for the appointees, officers and employees of the police department of the city. The personnel board and personnel officer appointed by the council pursuant to Ordinance No. 1048 shall be the personnel board and personnel officer appointed pursuant to the terms of this chapter. Insofar as possible, Section 2.24.010 of this code (established by Ordinance No. 1048) and the provisions of this chapter shall be operated as a whole, it being the intent that there shall be but one personnel system in the city.

(Ord. 2869 § 7, 2006: amended during 1984 codification; prior code § 2461.16)

The recruitment and training of police officers of the city shall hereafter be in accordance with the standards as established from time to time by the Commission on Peace Officers' Standards and Training of the Department of Justice of the state, created pursuant to Penal Code Part 4, Title 4, Chapter 1 (Penal Code § 13500 et seq.).

(Prior code § 2461.17)

(Ord. No. 3120, § 6, 7-28-20)