2020 -- H 7693 | |
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LC004590 | |
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STATE OF RHODE ISLAND | |
IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY | |
JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2020 | |
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A N A C T | |
RELATING TO PUBLIC OFFICERS AND EMPLOYEES -- MERIT SYSTEM | |
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Introduced By: Representatives Filippi, Chippendale, Lyle, Nardone, and Place | |
Date Introduced: February 26, 2020 | |
Referred To: House Finance | |
It is enacted by the General Assembly as follows: | |
1 | SECTION 1. Section 36-4-31 of the General Laws in Chapter 36-4 entitled "Merit System" |
2 | is hereby amended to read as follows: |
3 | 36-4-31. Temporary appointment when no list available. |
4 | (a) Whenever it is not possible to certify the required number of eligible persons for |
5 | appointment to a vacancy in the classified service because no appropriate list exists, the appointing |
6 | authority may nominate a person to the personnel administrator and if the nominee is found by the |
7 | personnel administrator to have had experience and education that appear to qualify him or her for |
8 | the position and meets such other requirements as are established by this chapter and the personnel |
9 | rules, he or she may be temporarily appointed to fill the vacancy. All persons with temporary status |
10 | who have been or who shall be temporarily appointed to those vacancies shall serve at the pleasure |
11 | of the appointing authority or until removed in accordance with other provisions of this chapter. |
12 | The personnel administrator shall within one year of the appointment of the temporary appointee |
13 | establish an appropriate list. In the event the personnel administrator has failed or fails to establish |
14 | an appropriate list within one year of a temporary appointment, the temporary employee shall |
15 | become a provisional employee until a suitable list is established, at which time the appropriate |
16 | merit system laws, rules, and regulations shall apply. |
17 | (1) In the event that the personnel administrator within the department of administration |
18 | fails to establish and administer any competitive test required by chapter 4 of title 36, for a period |
19 | of more than twelve (12) months from the time a position becomes vacant, there shall exist a hiring |
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1 | freeze for all positions with the classification within that department, for which the competitive test |
2 | is required to be administered. Provided, however, any vacant position for which a hiring freeze |
3 | exists shall be permitted to be filled if the speaker of the house, president of the senate, and the |
4 | house and senate minority leaders unanimously agree in writing, that the position needs to be filled |
5 | for the health and safety of the general public. |
6 | (1)(2) Whenever any provisional employee who is serving in a competitive branch position |
7 | within the classified service completes five (5) consecutive years of satisfactory service, and the |
8 | personnel administrator has failed to establish a timely appropriate list as required by subsection |
9 | (a) during that time, that provisional employee shall be deemed to have qualified for his or her |
10 | position and shall be awarded permanent status, without the need of examination. |
11 | (2)(3) When an appropriate list is established for a position held by a temporary or |
12 | provisional appointee, the position shall be deemed to be vacant for the purposes of certification |
13 | and appointment, and no salary or other compensation shall be paid to any temporary or provisional |
14 | appointee for services in the position for more than fifteen (15) days after certification of at least |
15 | three (3) available eligibles from the appropriate list. |
16 | (b) Any employee who holds temporary or provisional status for at least twelve (12) |
17 | consecutive months in the class in which he or she is serving and who takes the appropriate |
18 | examination for the position shall receive in addition to his or her test score five (5) additional |
19 | points for each year of state service, which shall be added to his or her test score; provided, |
20 | however, that in no case shall an employee receive credit for more than four (4) years of service. |
21 | An employee who holds temporary provisional status for at least twelve (12) consecutive months |
22 | in the class in which he or she is serving and is found to be reachable for certification to the position |
23 | he or she holds shall be appointed to the position unless the appointing authority certifies to the |
24 | personnel administrator that the individual's service has been unsatisfactory. |
25 | SECTION 2. This act shall take effect upon passage. |
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EXPLANATION | |
BY THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL | |
OF | |
A N A C T | |
RELATING TO PUBLIC OFFICERS AND EMPLOYEES -- MERIT SYSTEM | |
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1 | This act would create a hiring freeze for all state positions within a classification, for which |
2 | a competitive test is required, if no test is given within twelve (12) months of the vacancy. It would |
3 | allow the hiring freeze to be lifted and the position filled, by the unanimous written agreement of |
4 | the speaker, president and minority leaders of both the house and the senate, indicating that the |
5 | position needs to be filled for the health and safety of the general public. |
6 | This act would take effect upon passage. |
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