All regular, salaried employees of the town, shall be appointed
and promoted on the basis of merit, as determined by examination,
except the following:
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officers elected by the people or appointed to fill vacancies
in elective offices
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officers appointed by the Governor and General Assembly
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officers appointed by the Council
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employees of the Board of Education
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employees of the Library Board.
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There shall also be excluded from the classification system
persons temporarily employed in a professional or scientific capacity
to conduct a special inquiry, investigation, examination or installation
and temporary or seasonal employees.
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The Manager, or, when the Council shall so determine, a person
qualified by education and/or experience appointed by the Manager,
shall be the Human Resources Manager of the town.
Whenever a vacancy occurs in any position within the classification
system, it shall be the duty of the Human Resources Manager to conduct
or cause to be conducted an open competitive examination, written
or oral, or both, including consideration of the education, experience
and previous record of each candidate. The Human Resources Manager
shall have authority, if deemed advisable, to appoint a three (3)
member board versed in the duties of the position to be filled, and
who need not be residents of the town, to conduct any such examination.
At least two weeks prior to the closing date for applications, the
Human Resources Manager shall cause notice of the closing dates for
applications for any position within the classification system to
be published at least once in a newspaper of general circulation in
the town or, where applicable by law and any applicable agreement,
by other alternative means established by the Council. The Town Clerk
shall post in a conspicuous public place designated for the posting
of public notices the application opening and closing dates for the
position. The results of the examination shall be certified by the
Human Resources Manager to the appointing authority and shall be a
public record in the office of the Human Resources Manager. No person
shall be appointed to any position in the classification system who
has not attained in the examination a passing grade representing,
in the opinion of the examining authority, the minimum qualifications
necessary to fill the position. When more than one (1) candidate attains
such a passing grade, the names of all such persons shall be placed
on an eligible list, in the order of the grades attained, and the
appointing authority shall make the appointment from the three (3)
highest on such list, if there be that many, and otherwise from the
list as a whole.
There shall be a Personnel Appeals Board of five (5) members
appointed by the Council for three (3) years and not more than three
(3) of whom shall be members of the same political party. Vacancies
shall be filled by the appointment of a person of the same political
affiliation as the member whose place is being taken for the unexpired
portion of the term. The members of the Personnel Appeals Board shall
serve without compensation.
No employee in the classification system without contractual
right of appeal under the statutes or contracts shall be removed or
reduced in rank or grade or suspended for more than thirty (30) days
unless that employee shall have been served with a statement of the
grounds for such action and setting the time and place, not less than
five (5) nor more than ten (10) days after the date of such service,
at which the employee may be heard by the Personnel Appeals Board,
publicly if that employee so desires, and with the privilege of being
represented by counsel. If the employee does not appear at the hearing,
the action of the removing authority shall be final. If an employee
does so appear, the Personnel Appeals Board, after hearing the employee
and taking such other evidence as it may deem necessary, shall have
authority to affirm, modify or reverse the action appealed from. The
action of the Personnel Appeals Board shall be final.
Rules relating to the advertising and conduct of examinations,
the certification of eligibles, the records to be kept by the several
departments, offices and agencies of the town of the efficiency and
behavior of employees, lines of promotion and generally to carry out
the purposes of this chapter shall be made by the Human Resources
Manager and, when approved, by the Council, shall be binding on all
persons, employees, departments, offices and agencies concerned.
The town shall continue to maintain or to participate in a retirement
or pension system. Any change in such system shall require the affirmative
vote of not less than seven (7) members of the Council and shall not
diminish or eliminate the rights or benefits granted to any individual
under the existing retirement or pension system.
