[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:
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.
