CHAPTER 14

 

MERIT CAREER PLAN

(Hospital-Wide and Government-Wide Announcement)

 

 

14.000       PURPOSE

 

This procedure outlines the responsibilities of the Administrator when permanent classified Hospital employees apply and are being considered for career opportunities.

 

14.100        COVERAGE OF THE MERIT CAREER PLAN

 

This plan applies only to permanent classified employees.

 

14.200       EXAMINATION UNDER THE MERIT CAREER PLAN

 

The same examination will be used for all persons responding to a particular Merit Career Job Announcement.

 

14.300                   REFERRAL OF CERTIFICATION LIST

 

The top five (10 for entry level labor/custodial positions) eligibles shall be furnished to the Administrator based on rank order.   However, in the event of tie scores with the fifth (10th for entry level labor/custodial) eligible, all eligibles with the same score as the fifth (10th for entry level labor/custodial positions) eligible will be referred.

 

14.400       SELECTION INTERVIEW

 

The Administrator shall establish procedures for interviewing certified eligibles.

 

14.500                   EVALUATION OF CANDIDATES DURING THE SELECTION PROCESS

 

1.     Evaluation of candidates shall be based on job-related criteria, which measures the knowledge, skills, abilities and personal characteristics essential to successful performance in the position to be filled.  Due consideration shall be given to formal recognition of superior performance of candidates, job-related training, and performance appraisals.

 

2.  Length of service, length of experience or level of formal education may be used as an evaluation factor when there is a clear and positive relationship with the requirements of the job to be performed.  Length of service or experience may not be the factor given the greatest weight unless the nature of the vacant job is such that other factors cannot be expected to identify significant qualitative differences between qualified candidates.

 

14.600                   SELECTION DOCUMENTATION REQUIREMENTS

 

2.     The basis for selection must be job-related.  The results of the selection process must be on file with the Human Resources Division.  Evaluation results are confidential and form a part of the selection process for the candidates being considered for the position.

 

3.     The Administrator will advise all persons certified under a Merit Career Job Announcement about the selection within 10 working days of the selection.

 

4.     Individuals who were certified and were not selected may request the Administrator to review the adequacy of the consideration they received provided that such a request is received in writing by the Administrator within five working days after the non-selectee received the notice about the selection. 

 

The minimum qualifications established for the position may not be contested by a competitor. The following information shall be made available to competitors under a Merit Career Job Announcement upon request, and the Administrator shall periodically publish the competitors’ right to this information:

 

a.     whether the individual was considered eligible on the basis of minimum qualification requirements for the position;

 

b.     whether an individual was one of those in the group from which selection was made; and

 

c.      who was selected.

 

14.700                   HANDLING EMPLOYEE COMPLAINTS

 

1.       The Administrator shall respond to employee questions or complaints about the career program, or about a specific promotion action, and provide the employee with appropriate information or explanation.

 

2.       Issues that are not a basis for a formal complaint are:

 

a.     failure to be selected when proper procedures are used.  A complaint may not be filed for non-selection from a group of properly ranked and certified candidates.

 

b.     any action required to be taken under the provisions of the statute.

 

 

14.800                   EXCEPTIONS TO THE MERIT CAREER PLAN

 

1.       The provisions of the Merit Career Plan are not required for career promotions which are:

         

a.  Promotions without current competition where at an earlier date an employee was selected under a Merit Career Job Announcement for a position with known promotion potential to the position to which he is being promoted.  The promotion potential must have been included in the announcement, and where appropriate, the career ladder (intervening promotion) documented in the original announcement.

 

b.     Where the employee’s position is reconstituted in a higher grade because of gradual accretion of additional duties and responsibilities and the accretion was not the result of planned management action.  For example, an increase in the level of the employee’s performance or change in workload, procedures, or organization that affects the grade of the positions only incidentally.

 

Note:  To be eligible for a career promotion when the position is upgraded under these conditions, an employee must continue to perform the same basic function and his former position must be absorbed in the new one.  When an additional position is created, or when the new position is not a clear successor to the former position, career promotion is not authorized.  Similarly, a career promotion may not be made from a non-supervisory position to a supervisor or department head position because these levels of position inherently have specific administrative Hospital functions which can only be delegated by management.

 

2.       The provisions of this Merit Career Plan are not required for the following personnel actions:

 

a.  A transfer from a position having known promotion potential to a position having no higher promotion potential.

 

b.     A detail appointment.

 

c.      An action taken as a remedy for failure to receive proper consideration in a competitive promotion procedure.

 

d.     A promotion resulting from the upgrading of a position without significant change in duties and responsibilities due to issuance of a new classification specification (standards) or the correction of a classification error.

 

e.     Re-promotion to a class or position from which an employee was demoted without personal cause and not at his request (acceptance of a demotion in lieu of layoff is not a demotion at the employee’s request for these purposes).

 

Note:  The competitive procedures of the Merit Career Plan will not be used before these individuals are accorded their rights for re-promotion.

 

f.       Recruitment or reallocation for chief, administrator, or manager positions.        

 

 

 

 

14.900                    HOSPITAL REQUIREMENTS

 

1.       The Administrator shall provide for initial and periodic orientation to all employees, supervisors and managers concerning the provisions of this Merit Career Plan and the training of all division managers in their respective responsibilities for assuring the maximum publicity of Merit Career Job Announcements and for advising employees on requirements and provisions of this Merit Career Plan.

 

2.       The Administrator shall institute controls and audit procedures as deemed necessary to assure that all promotion actions are consistent with the provisions of the Merit Career Plan.

 

3.       The Administrator will assure that each current and future supervisor, department head, and division manger is provided a copy of the Merit Career Plan and any subsequent changes to the Plan.