The city will recognize the lateral entry of experienced police and fire personnel employed by the city in accordance with the following requirements:
(A) The intent of this section is to encourage experienced police and fire personnel from other qualified agencies to participate in recruit testing procedures for prospective employment with the city.
(B) Only those candidates from police and fire agencies currently employing full-time police and fire personnel, eligible for state incentive pay, shall be eligible for lateral entry.
(C) Lateral entry credit shall be applied for only those years of service the applicant was actively employed, full-time, by a police or fire agency, whose personnel were eligible for state incentive pay.
(D) A maximum of ten years of credit is available to qualified applicants employed by the city. Such credit shall apply to hourly wages, annual leave time and personal time. Credit shall not apply for purposes of seniority, rank or any additional benefits not specified herein.
(E) Newly hired personnel under "lateral entry" shall be appointed into entry level positions including Firefighter/Paramedic (Grades 1B, 2B or 3B), Firefighter (Grades 1, 2 or 3), Police Officer-Second Class, Police Officer-First Class or Senior Police Officer as outlined in respective labor agreements.
(F) Lateral entry credit shall not apply to departmental seniority or benefits related to seniority such as promotional examination eligibility or promotional seniority points in composite score, annual leave requests and related police and fire labor agreement benefits.
(G) Application for lateral entry credit must be submitted to the city for verification prior to the date of the written examination used for purposes of establishing an eligibility list.
(H) All hiring processes will be consistent regarding lateral entry and non-lateral entry hiring, including the city's employment and selection process and applicable provisions contained within police and fire labor agreements.
(I) Eligible applicants, having completed a minimum of two full years of service with another qualifying police or fire agency shall be eligible for bonus points on the written examination in an amount equal to five percentage points of the total possible points on the examination.
(J) Lateral entry police and fire applicants shall be subject to the standard probationary period of one year consistent with the provisions of this subchapter and police and fire labor agreements.
(Ord. O-8-2005, passed 5-2-05)