There is hereby established for the administrative
service of the town a system of personnel administration based on
merit principles. To carry out this purpose, there shall be a department
of employee services, which shall be responsible for personnel administration
in all departments and all boards, except as otherwise provided in
this charter, under such rules and regulations as the council may
determine by resolution or as may be provided in working agreements
negotiated with employee organizations in accordance with statute.
The classified service shall consist of persons
who are appointed and promoted to all positions now or hereafter created
in the administrative service of the town. Such appointments and promotions
shall be made according to merit and fitness to be ascertained, as
far as practicable, by competitive examinations. The classified service
shall exclude the following: elective officers and persons appointed
to fill vacancies in elected offices; members of boards and commissions;
the town manager and the assistant town manager, if any; the council
clerk, and other officers appointed by the council; the corporation
counsel and assistants, if any; employees of the registrars of voters,
if any; part-time secretaries of boards and commissions; department
heads and directors of departments; supernumeraries in the police
department and substitutes in the fire department; one secretary for
the town manager and one secretary for the mayor and council; employees
of the board of education; such other persons employed in the service
of the town as are exempted by other provisions of this charter; persons
employed in a professional capacity to make or conduct a temporary
or special inquiry, study or investigation or to provide professional
services on a part-time basis; and persons employed for a temporary
or special inquiry, study or investigation or to provide professional
services on a part-time basis; and persons employed for a temporary
period not exceeding four months. It shall be the duty of the manager
who may act through the director of the department of employee services
to prepare and maintain a position classification plan which shall
describe the duties and responsibilities of each position in the classified
service and the minimum qualifications for appointment to such positions.
The position classification plan shall become effective upon approval
by resolution of the council and may be amended, upon recommendation
of the manager, except as hereinafter provided, by resolution of the
council. New or additional positions in the classified service may
be created and changes in the duties, responsibilities and qualifications
of existing positions may be made by resolution of the council. With
respect to their individual departments or boards, the library board,
the board of assessors, the town clerk and the corporation counsel
may recommend to the council amendments to the classification plan
of the town and the creation of new or additional positions in the
classified service and the changing of duties and responsibilities
of existing positions. A pay plan for all positions in the classified
service shall be prepared, adopted, amended and maintained in the
same manner as hereinabove provided for the position classification
plan. It shall become effective upon approval by resolution of the
council and may be amended, upon recommendation of the manager, by
resolution of the council. The manager, who may act through the director
of the department of employee services, shall prepare and maintain
a set of personnel rules and any amendments thereto which shall provide
an adequate and systematic procedure for the handling of the personnel
affairs of the town. Said personnel rules shall govern in all agencies,
boards, commissions, departments or offices of the town except those
specifically exempted by this chapter. Such rules and any amendments
thereto shall become effective upon being adopted by resolution of
the council and filed with the town clerk. Copies of rules and any
amendments thereto shall be available to all members of the classified
service.
The council may provide by ordinance a system of retirement allowances for the town's regular full-time paid employees and for contributions by employees and the town to a fund from which such allowances shall be paid, and said council may without limitation of Section 1, Chapter XIV, authorize the management and investment of the town's pension funds by any fiduciary institution, including but not limited to banks, trust companies and insurance companies chartered or licensed to operate in the State of Connecticut under the provisions of the General Statutes, Revision of 1958, as amended. The town may, without limitation of Section 1, Chapter XIV, enter into a contract with any insurance company authorized to do business in this state for the purpose of insuring the whole or any part of its retirement plan, may elect to participate in the Connecticut Municipal Employees' Retirement Fund, or elect to participate in the old-age and survivors' insurance system under Title II of the Social Security Act, in accordance with the provisions of Part II of Chapter
113 of the General Statutes, Revision of 1958, as amended, or may elect any combination thereof. The council may by ordinance provide for compulsory retirement at any age to be determined.