133.13 LAYOFFS AND REEMPLOYMENT.

   (a)   Reduction in Personnel. Whenever it becomes necessary to reduce the number of employees in the classified service by abolishing one or more positions, the Director of Administration shall have the power to designate the classifications, divisions and departments to be affected by such layoffs. The Director shall notify the Civil Service Commission and furnish the names of the employees in the order in which such layoffs occurred.

   (b)   Order of Layoffs. Whenever it becomes necessary to reduce the working force in a classification in any division of the City, the Director shall lay off employees inversely in order of seniority credit. No layoffs shall be affected or influenced by politics, religion, sex or race, and no layoffs shall be used as a substitute for disciplinary action.

   ln the event two or more employees of the same status in the same classification are subject to layoff and have the same seniority credit, the order of layoff shall be according to their final average grades on the examination passed to obtain such classification . The employee with the lowest grade shall be laid off first.

   Any permanent employee who has been promoted and is subject to layoff shall be entitled to return to the position from which the employee was promoted. If such former position has been filled, the employee in that position shall be demoted into the lower position occupied prior to the promotion. This process shall continue until the most recently hired employee affected by such demotions shall be laid off.

   (c)   Seniority Credit. Seniority credit shall be the amount of continuous service an employee has accumulated in the service of the City, according to the following rules:

      (1)   Any permanent employee who has served as a temporary or probationary employee and who has achieved permanent status with no interruption in service shall receive seniority credit for the continuous service during the period served as a temporary or probationary employee.

      (2)   Part-time employees shall have their continuous service pro-rated as it relates to full-time when determining seniority credit for layoff purposes.

      (3)   Any leave without pay other than sick leave, injury leave or military leave shall be subtracted when computing the continuous service of an employee for purposes of determining seniority credit.

      (4)   The continuous service of a permanent employee who has resigned and been re-instated shall be computed from the time of the last reinstatement and no seniority credit shall accrue for service prior thereto.

   (d)   Re-employment List. When any permanent employee is laid off, the name of such person shall be placed at the top of the eligible list of the classification from which the employee was laid off. If there is no existing eligible list at the time, the name shall constitute one. When two or more persons have been laid off, whether at the same time or not, their names shall be placed at the top of such eligible list in the order of their appointment in the classification held by them when laid off.

   Such persons shall be eligible for certification and reemployment for a period of two years thereafter, or, if sooner, until such time as the employee is removed from the eligible list for the reasons provided in Section 133.05(c).

(Ord. 2017-26. Passed 9-18-17.)