[Amended 9-15-2014 by Ord. No. 2014-10]
All new appointments to the civil service of the City except as hereinbefore exempted or qualified shall be made by the appointing authorities designated in the City Charter and ordinances, in accordance with the provisions of this chapter. All such appointments shall be based solely upon merit and the good of the service. All appointments shall be made from eligible lists furnished by the Civil Service Board whenever practicable and from up to the 10 highest persons on such lists. However, tied scores shall be treated equally.
All persons desiring employment in the City service, except to positions exempted under the provisions of this chapter, shall file applications with the Civil Service Board. Any person who is qualified shall be eligible for the examinations and tests hereinafter provided and consequent appointment to the City's service.
[Amended 8-13-2012 by Ord. No. 2012-10]
The Civil Service Board shall require persons applying for positions in the City service to file in its office a formal application, in which the applicant shall state under oath or affirmation:
A. 
His or her name and residence and post office address.
B. 
Occupation and previous employment for the five years immediately prior to such application.
C. 
Such other information as may be reasonably and legally required, relating to the applicant’s qualifications for public service.
Blank forms for applicants shall be furnished by the Civil Service Board without charge to all persons requesting same. The Board may require, in connection with such application, such licenses, diplomas, certificates or other documentation of qualifications, as the good of the service may require. The Board shall receive applications from any person desiring employment in the City service, but may reject the application of any person who is found to lack the established preliminary requirements or who has been found guilty of a recent and/or job-related crime, or who has been dismissed from the public service for cause, or who has made a false statement of any material fact or practiced or attempted to practice any deception or fraud in his application. The action of the Board in rejecting an application shall be final, but the Board may, prior to such final decision, in its discretion, hold a hearing and permit the applicant to appear and produce testimony in his behalf touching the matters concerning which his application is refused.
All appointments for any regular position in the City service, the normal duties of which require more than 1,000 hours' work a year, shall be contingent upon approval by a physician as able to perform the essential duties of the position, with or without accommodation. The Civil Service Board shall determine the examining physicians to be used for this purpose.
A. 
The Civil Service Board shall prescribe such examinations or other tests or measures of qualifications as it shall deem reasonable and practicable for each class or kind of position in the City's service. Where practicable, such examinations or tests shall be competitive in nature. Such tests and examinations shall be held from time to time at the discretion of the Civil Service Board to meet the prospective needs of the service. The Civil Service Board shall adopt rules and regulations governing the giving of such tests and examinations, which rules and regulations shall give every applicant an equal opportunity for consideration and shall be open to the public.
B. 
All examinations or tests for positions in the public service shall be practical in their character and shall relate to such matters and include such inquiries as will fairly and fully test the comparative merit and fitness of the person examined to discharge the duties of the employment sought by them.
All such examinations and tests shall be open to all applicants who have fulfilled the preliminary requirements. Notice of the time and place and purpose of every examination or test shall be given by the Board for such time and in such manner as shall by it be deemed reasonable. When practicable, such notice shall be published in a newspaper having general circulation in the City of Royal Oak at least 10 days prior to the time of holding such test or examination and posted in a conspicuous place in the City Hall. This shall be supplemented by such additional adds and postings as needed to reach a qualified and diversified audience.
The Civil Service Board may, with the approval of the City Commission, employ, on a part-time basis or otherwise, a person trained and skilled in personnel problems, to prepare examinations and other tests, to give advice regarding the same and to assist it in any way to carry out the provisions of this chapter.
Each person taking any test or examination under the merit system shall be rated according to his attainments, and in accordance with professional standards and legal requirements. The Board shall determine the method of making such ratings and prescribe a passing mark. The method of rating and passing mark shall be determined in advance of any examination or test.
A. 
The names of all applicants for a position who have attained the required rating or better on the examination and who are otherwise eligible shall be placed in the order of their relative attainment on the list of applicants eligible to appointments to the class of positions for which the examination was held.
B. 
A reemployment list shall also be kept of all persons removed from the City service because of the abolishment of his or her position or for reasons of economy, or for any reason other than dismissal for cause or voluntary resignation.
C. 
Persons already in the service who are applicants for specific vacancy in some other position and are eligible for appointment thereto shall also be listed.
D. 
If any name on any eligible list is passed over three times by any appointing authority, that name shall be removed from such eligible list by the Board. The appointing authority shall notify the Secretary of the Board, who in turn shall notify the Board when a name has been so passed over.
[Amended 9-15-2014 by Ord. No. 2014-10]
A. 
Whenever a position in the classified civil service is to be filled, the appointing authority shall notify the Board of that fact and the Board shall certify up to 10 names for the first vacancy, and for each additional vacancy involving the same job classification the Board shall certify one additional name. Tied scores shall be treated equally for purposes of certification. The Board shall follow the following order of preference in the certifying of eligibles:
(1) 
The Board shall first certify the names of persons currently in the City service who are applicants for the vacancy and who are eligible for appointment thereto, in the order of their attainment on the required examination.
(2) 
The Board shall next certify the names of persons on the reemployment list who are eligible for appointment to the vacancy and desire appointment thereto, in the inverse order of their layoff.
(3) 
The Board shall next certify the names of persons who have voluntarily resigned from the City service in good standing not more than two years prior to the date the vacancy occurs, who are eligible for appointment to the vacancy and have indicated that they desire appointment thereto, but such persons shall be eligible only for the lowest position in a work series or a job classification series.
(4) 
The Board shall next certify the names of persons who have passed the prescribed examination for the position, in the order of their attainment on such examination.
B. 
The appointing authority shall appoint to the vacant position or positions from the persons to be certified. If there are not enough persons eligible for appointment to furnish the appointing authority with the choice contemplated by the foregoing provisions, the appointing authority may request the Board to hold an examination for the purpose of certifying additional names of the eligible persons, and in such case the appointing officer may, with the approval of the Board, make a temporary appointment which shall be effective only until a permanent appointment can be made from the eligible list.
In case of emergency or to fill a temporary vacancy by sick leave or other leave of absence, an appointing officer may make a temporary appointment during the period of such temporary vacancy in his own discretion and without waiting for certification of eligibles.
In permanent and continuing positions employing only persons having professional or technical qualifications where there are likely to be few satisfactory applicants, and the persons qualified to serve are relatively few in number, the Civil Service Board may dispense with the requirements for formal tests and examinations and prescribe other methods of determining the qualifications of the applicants; may dispense with its customary rules and regulations and proceed in an informal manner to assist the appointing authority in choosing a person qualified to fill any vacancy that may occur in such position. The Board may, in its discretion, authorize either temporary or probationary status for such appointees.
All original appointments to nonexempt positions in the City service shall be for a probationary period of six months, except that in the case of police officers the probationary period shall be one year. If at any time during such probationary period the appointing officer shall find the appointee unsatisfactory, he may dismiss such probationer and ask for the certification of new applicants. In case of such dismissal, the probationer, if he had civil service status in another position prior to his appointment to the position from which he is dismissed, shall automatically be restored to his former position; in other cases he may, in the discretion of the Civil Service Board, be reinstated on the eligible list if, after due inquiry, the Board deems him worthy of such reinstatement. If, at the end of the probationary period, the appointing authority has found the services of the appointee satisfactory, he shall so notify the Board and the probationer shall thereupon forthwith come under the merit system. The appointing officer may in his discretion extend the probationary period of any employee for one six-month period, provided that he shall so notify the Board and furnish the Board with a complete statement of his reasons for taking such action.
A record shall be kept of all examinations and other tests and shall be kept on file for the private use of the members of the Civil Service Board for at least six months. Such records shall not be open to inspection by the general public without the consent of the Civil Service Board, except by order of a court of competent jurisdiction. Any applicant for a position, however, shall be fully informed as to his exam results.
For the periods of time during which Public Law 92-54, 92nd Congress, S. 31, adopted July 12, 1971 (An Act to provide during times of high unemployment for programs of public service employment for unemployed persons, to assist States and local communities in providing needed public services, and for other purposes) is in effect, provisions of this chapter relative to new appointments to the civil service shall be suspended and inoperative to the extent that such provisions conflict with provisions of Public Law 92-54 or any regulations adopted by the Secretary of Labor pursuant thereto. It is the intent of the City Commission that the provisions of this chapter relative to new appointments shall be applied, insofar as possible, to the hiring of unemployed and underemployed persons pursuant to Public Law 92-54, but that such provisions shall be inoperative to the extent that they impede expeditious and effective implementation of said Public Law 92-54.