(a) Statement of legislative intent. It is the legislative intent of the county council that this article foster excellence in the public service; high individual competence among employees; recognition that respect for the employee as an individual is first required for achieving such excellence and competence; and harmonious and efficient operation within the various components of county government.
(b) Merit system principles. The merit system established by this chapter encompasses the following principles:
(1) All county government authority, including internal supervisory authority, is for service to the people, is derived from law and the people and must not be abused;
(2) The recruitment, selection and advancement of merit system employees shall be on the basis of their relative abilities, knowledge and skills, including the full and open consideration of qualified applicants for initial appointment;
(3) Merit system employees shall be provided compensation consistent with standard of comparability with other public agencies and the private sector;
(4) Merit system employees shall be provided training as needed to assure high quality performance and such training where possible should also provide increased opportunity to facilitate their career advancement;
(5) Merit system employees are encouraged to excel in their work performance; they shall be retained if they meet standards of satisfactory overall performance and shall be separated from merit system service if they do not; both supervisors and subordinates have an equal responsibility to facilitate work performance correction and improvement;
(6) All applicants to and employees of the county merit system shall be assured fair treatment without regard to political affiliation or other nonmerit factors in all aspects of personnel administration.
(7) Merit system employees shall be protected against any coercion to engage in illegal or improper actions or partisan political activities and shall be prohibited from using their official authority for the purpose of interfering with or affecting the result of an election or nomination for office;
(8) The merit system established under this chapter shall be interpreted in accordance with these principles.
(c) Statement of purpose. The basic purpose of this article is to delineate the respective responsibilities of the county executive, the chief administrative officer and the merit system protection board for personnel management in county government. It is the further purpose of this article to implement by law the county charter responsibilities of the county council with respect to a merit system generally, including provisions for salaries and wages of all classified employees of the merit system under a uniform salary plan, the merit system protection board's authority to exercise its appellate functions, and promotion of the overall objective that the integrity of the county merit system be preserved and that it be administered fairly and efficiently in the best interests of the county and its employees.
(d) Merit system review commission.
(i) In addition to the County Council's legislative responsibilities under Sections 101 and 401 of the County Charter, the Council, as necessary, may appoint a Merit System Review Commission by resolution.
(ii) The Commission’s duties are to:
(A) strengthen the system of checks and balances among those officials and agencies of county government having merit system responsibilities; and
(B) examine and recommend legislative or administrative revision to the merit system in keeping with the intent of the Charter and this Article and with new developments in the field of public administration and personnel management.
(iii) The Commission has 11 members who are appropriately qualified County residents. The Executive must appoint 5 members and the Council must appoint the remaining members.
(iv) Each Commission terminates after it submits its final report to the Council.
(e) Applicability of article. This article shall apply to all merit system employees defined herein. Not included under this article unless specifically stated to the contrary are those positions excluded by section 401 of the county charter as amended and any other positions so excluded from the merit system under other provisions of county law. (1979 L.M.C., ch. 24, § 2; 1982 L.M.C., ch. 40, § 5; 2012 L.M.C., ch. 24, § 1.)
Editor's note—
Section 33-5 was quoted in Mayer v. Montgomery County, 143 Md. App. 261, 794 A.2d 704 (2002). This section was cited in Andre v. Montgomery County Personnel Board, 37 Md. App. 48, 373 A.2d 1149 (1977), where it was held that there was no denial of due process which would justify the award of monetary damages to a person who, along with others, was denied a promotion when the County failed to follow established promotion procedures, as the procedures are not a guarantee of promotion. In Montgomery v. Anastasi, 77 Md. App. 126, 549 A.2d 753 (1988), the court held that in selecting County employees for promotion under the merit system, the use of criteria which were not applied to all candidates and which were not set forth in published guidelines or standards to assure fairness and consistency of review and selection, constituted arbitrary action in violation of the requirements of §§ 33-5(b)(2), (6) and County Charter §401, pursuant to which § 33-5 was enacted. The court commented to the decision in Andre, but held in this case that, in accordance with § 33-7, this matter should be remanded to the Merit System Protection Board for a determination of redress to the aggrieved employees, the court declining to prescribe the specific form of redress.
See County Attorney Opinion dated 5/10/99 recognizing that authorized reimbursements for college tuition, training and/or education costs made to County employees do not violate the Charter. See County Attorney Opinion dated 2/19/97 explaining that the County Executive has the authority to establish a separate salary schedule for non- merit heads of departments and principal offices within the Executive Branch. [attachments]