(A) Dismissal. A permanent employee in the classified service may be dismissed by the appointing authority only for cause as set forth in § 2.48.170 (Rule XVI) of this code. Such dismissal shall be made by the appointing authority with the approval of the personnel officer.
(B) Layoff.
(1) Commission to provide plan for layoff or reduction. For economic reasons, the Council may abolish any position in the classified civil service. The Commission shall administer a plan which shall provide for layoff and reduction on the basis of seniority and for the establishment of reemployment lists.
(2) Layoff and reduction procedure. The head of the department in which a layoff is to be made shall notify the personnel officer in writing of the number of employees to be laid off. The Personnel Officer shall then determine the employees who shall be reduced and/or laid off and so inform the department head in writing. The department head shall then immediately notify the employees who are to be reduced and/or laid off, giving them the effective date of such action.
(3) Emergency and temporary employees to be laid off first. Emergency and temporary employees in a classification shall be laid off before probationary or permanent employees.
(4) Plan for lay off and reduction. Layoff in a classification shall take place in inverse order of seniority credit within the classification from which an employee or employees are to be laid off. If there is a class of positions in a lower rank that is in the same regular promotional line for which the employee meets the requirements, the employee shall be reduced to such lower-ranking class, provided he has greater combined seniority in the lower ranking class and higher classes than other employees in that lower-ranking class. The employee in the lower-ranking class with the least seniority credit shall in turn be laid off or reduced in the same manner, to the end that the last person employed in the lowest-ranking class shall be the person laid off.
(5) Plan for computing seniority.
(a) Seniority credit shall be allowed only for continuous service in the class in which the employee is serving or in higher ranking classes in which he has served. No seniority credit shall be allowed for service prior to a break in the employee's employment with the city. Authorized leaves of absence shall not count as breaks in service. However, time while on leave shall not count toward seniority credit, except in the case of sick leave, military leave, and leave for which an employee receives disability payments under workmen's compensation.
(b) After temporary and emergency employees have been separated, seniority credit for probationary and permanent employees shall not include service as temporary and emergency employees.
(6) Layoffs when there are ties in seniority credit. In the event of ties in seniority credit, the employee who stands the highest on the eligible list from which the employees were appointed shall be considered to have the greatest seniority credit. In the event that the tied employees were appointed from separate lists, the employee on the list with the highest priority shall be considered to have the greatest seniority credit.
(7) Establishment of reemployment lists. Permanent and probationary employees who are laid off and reduced shall have their names placed on reemployment lists in the reverse order of layoff or reduction.
(8) Reemployment of employees laid off or reduced. If, within two years, a vacancy occurs in any existing class having the same or substantially similar qualifications as the position abolished or vacated, the employee laid off or reduced shall have the right to appointment to such vacancy, unless such person shall file a written waiver with the Personnel Officer: or fails to report for work within two weeks of notice of appointment.
(9) Reclassification lists. The employee on the reemployment list who has the greatest seniority shall be appointed to the first vacant position in the class for which the list exists unless he waives appointment. The reclassification or reallocation of all positions in a given class automatically reclassifies the reemployment list.
(C) Resignation. An employee wishing to leave the classified service in good standing shall file with the appointing authority a written resignation stating the effective date and the reasons for leaving. Such resignation should be filed at least two weeks before leaving the service, unless such time limit is waived by the appointing authority. A statement as to the resigned employee's service performance and other pertinent information shall be forwarded by the concerned department head to the Personnel Officer. Failure to give notice as required hereby may be cause for denying future employment by the city. The department head may rescind a resignation notice on request of the employee.
('86 Code, § 2.48.190) (Ord. 3898, passed - - )