There shall be a personnel board consisting
of three members who shall be appointed by the mayor for terms of
three years. The members first appointed shall serve for terms of
one, two and three years respectively, and thereafter their successors
shall be appointed as their respective terms expire. No person shall
be eligible to serve thereon for more than two consecutive terms.
Each member appointed to said board shall be
a person of good repute in his respective business, profession or
trade, who is known to be in sympathy with the merit principle as
applied to public employment. No member shall hold or be a candidate
for any other public office or position and shall not be or have been
for at least two years prior to his appointment, a member of any national,
state or local committee of a political party, or an officer in any
partisan political club or organization. They shall be qualified electors
of the town.
Salaries of members of the personnel board shall
be determined by the town council by ordinance.
It shall be the duty of the personnel board;
(1)
To formulate and recommend to the town council for
adoption by ordinance;
(a)
A position classification plan for all town
employees, excepting those noted hereinafter. Such plan shall define
generally the duties, responsibilities and types of work involved
for each class of position; the skills and knowledge necessary to
qualify for appointment to each position and the positions or classes
of positions to which competitive or qualifying examinations shall
apply.
(b)
A pay plan for all town employees in the classification
plans. Such pay plan shall state the salary or wage for each position
established by the classification plan; and define the method for
granting step advancements in pay in those instances where a minimum
and maximum pay range is established for a position.
(c)
Personnel policies regarding vacation; sick
leave overtime pay and the discipline of classified employees.
(2)
Upon the adoption of the position classification plan
and the pay plan by the town council, the personnel board shall assign
to the appropriate positions classification all persons employed by
the town, subject to such plans.
(3)
Formulate and administer such tests and other forms
of evidence so as to determine by the study of each person's qualifications
the capability of candidates for positions in the classified service.
(4)
Certify to appointing officers that persons who are
candidates or applicants for such positions in the classified service,
possess the qualifications required by the classification plan, such
certification to apply to present and to prospective employees.
|
Such certification lists shall show the names
of the three persons standing highest thereon who are available for
appointment to employment or to promotion, if there be as many as
three such names thereon, or all the names on the list if there are
less than three. The appointing authority shall appoint one of the
persons so certified to the position in accordance with the provisions
of the personnel rules.
|
(5)
Examine all payrolls at least twice a year covering
classified employees for the purpose of determining that all persons
to whom payments are to be made are properly employed and have been
approved and certified to the appointing officers by the personnel
board as to eligibility.
There shall be excepted from the classified
service of the town:
(1)
Officers elected by the people.
(2)
Heads of departments and agencies appointed by the
mayor or the town council.
(3)
Employees of the school department for whom state
certification is required.
(4)
Persons engaged by contract to perform special services
for the town where such contracts are certified by the personnel board
to be for employment which should not be performed by persons in the
classified service.
(5)
Persons temporarily appointed or designated to make
or conduct a special inquiry, investigation or examination, or to
perform a special service where such appointment or designation is
certified by the personnel board to be for employment which because
of its expert nature or character could not or should not be performed
by persons in the classified service.
(6)
Such temporary unskilled workers paid on an hourly
basis as the personnel board may determine.
(7)
Persons who in times of public emergency may be appointed
special employees.
All persons who, at the time this Charter takes
effect, are holding positions hereby placed in the classified service
of the town, including policemen, shall hold such positions as though
appointed in accordance with the provisions hereof, but any vacancies
thereafter occurring shall be filled in the manner herein provided
for classified service.
Whenever it is not possible to certify the required
number of eligible persons for appointment to a vacancy in the classified
service because no appropriate list exists, the appointing authority
may nominate a person to the personnel board and, if such nominee
is found by the personnel board to have had experience and education
which appear to qualify him for the position and meets such other
requirements as are established by the personnel rules, he may be
temporarily appointed to fill such vacancy.
All original appointments and promotional appointments
to the classified service shall be for a probationary period of six
months, during which time the appointing authority shall report to
the personnel board every sixty days concerning the work of the employee.
Any employee may be dismissed by the appointing authority during the
probationary period for reasons relating to the employee's qualifications
or for the good of the service stated by the appointing authority
in writing and filed with the personnel board.
In case of emergency, an appointing authority
may make an emergency appointment of any persons to any position without
regard to provisions of this article to carry on work that must be
continued in the public interest, but no such emergency appointment
shall continue beyond the time of the emergency as declared by the
town council. Emergency appointments shall be reported immediately
to the personnel board.
The personnel board may enter into arrangements
with any governmental agency, quasi governmental agency, or educational
institution for determining qualifications of employees and applicants
for employment in the classified service, and for aid in the preparation
of the personnel regulations.
The jurisdiction of the town council acting
as the board of personnel review shall extend to all cases of appeals
from dismissals, suspensions, demotions, transfers or layoffs of appointive
officers and employees of the town, whether in the classified service
or not, except those in the school department working in an administrative,
supervisory or teaching capacity and except those provided for otherwise
in this Charter. The town council in its work of receiving consideration
and disposing of appeals shall follow procedure that is informal and
of a nature calculated to effect justice in a manner as simple as
possible, as provided in the following requirements. In the event
that any person is dismissed, suspended, demoted, transferred or laid
off as provided herein, he may appeal in writing to the town council
within ten days from such action against him. Unless such appeal has
been withdrawn, the town council within ten days from the filing of
such appeal, shall give the appellant and the department head, board,
or other agency involved, the opportunity to be heard at a hearing
before said council. After such hearing which shall be public at the
option of the person making the appeal, the action of the council
shall be final and binding, and shall not be subject to further appeal
or revision except as may be otherwise specifically provided by law.
The review afforded herein shall be deemed to be alternative to and/or
in addition to that granted by general and special state laws to certain
classes of town employees. Upon reinstatement for any reason, the
dismissed, suspended, demoted or transferred officer or employee shall
be paid in full for the wages lost during the period of said disciplinary
action against him.
At any such hearings it shall be the right of
any such person making the appeal to be represented by counsel who
may conduct his case and act for him.
Unless otherwise provided in this Charter, each
elected officer, department head, board or other agency may appoint,
dismiss, suspend, demote, transfer or lay off his or their deputies,
clerks, assistants and subordinates serving under his or their supervision
or control, subject to appeal to the town council acting as the board
of personnel review as herein designated.
The town council may provide by ordinance a
system of retirement allowance to augment federal social security
or other pension plan payments, if any, for the town's regular full
time paid employees, and for the contribution by employees and the
town to a fund from which such allowance shall be paid. The town may
enter into a contract with any insurance company authorized to do
business in this state for the purpose of insuring the whole or any
part of its retirement plan.
The right of municipal employees to associate
together and to join any lawful organizations of their own choosing
for the purpose of collective bargaining is recognized by the Charter
and shall not be denied by ordinance and resolutions passed in pursuance
thereof. The town council is hereby empowered to recognize such organizations,
negotiate with them, and sign written agreements either directly or
through the town administrator; provided, that no right whatsoever
of employees to strike against the government of the town is herein
implied.
