Civil Service Commission

Civil Service Commission Rules Section 3

EMPLOYMENT PRACTICES

SECTION 3.1 - EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY POLICY
  1. Policy

    It is the policy of the Civil Service Commission that all persons shall have equal employment opportunities regardless of race, color, national origin, gender, age, religion or disability. Discrimination against any person in recruitment, examination, appointment, training, promotion, retention, discipline or any other employment practices because of non-merit factors shall be prohibited. Harassment based on race, gender, color, religion, age, national origin or disability is a form of discrimination and will not be condoned.

    The Civil Service Rules and HR operations shall be administered in such manner as to comply fully with all Equal Employment Opportunity laws and regulations.

    An affirmative action plan may be developed for those departments where thorough analysis shows the need for a plan. Any employee or applicant who feels that he or she has not been afforded equal opportunity for any employment action may file a complaint in accordance with the discrimination complaint procedure.

  2. Complaint Procedure

    A complaint of discrimination as outlined in the Guidelines on Discrimination, including a complaint of sexual harassment, may be filed according to the steps defined below. A complaint should be filed within a reasonable time frame of the occurrence or reasonable knowledge of alleged harassment and/or discrimination incident(s). If it is a continuing problem, the complainant needs to state when it began and the progression to the time of the complaint. A complaint may be filed by a current or former employee or by an applicant and by an individual or a group of people. Any complainant shall have the right to have reasonable representation of his choosing with him/her at all stages of the complaint procedure. The complaint procedure will maintain confidentiality, to the degree allowed by law.

    Reprisal or retaliation against good faith complainants or witnesses participating in the investigation is prohibited and could be grounds for disciplinary action.

    An employee who witnesses or otherwise has knowledge of discrimination is encouraged to report the incident to a supervisor or an appropriate authority.

    1. Although employees are encouraged to try to settle problems on an informal basis, any employee who feels that he/she has been subjected to discrimination may submit a complaint to his/her supervisor. The supervisor shall try, in a timely manner, to remedy any actual or perceived problem without the necessity of additional formal procedures. After reviewing the matter, the supervisor shall promptly inform the employee of his/her decision. If the complaint can not be resolved at this level, the employee may submit the complaint to the Appointing Authority or his/her designee. The Appointing Authority or designee, after a prompt and thorough investigation, should take the necessary steps to correct any problem found to exist, including taking disciplinary action. The Appointing Authority shall notify the complaining party of his/her decision following the conclusion of the investigation. If the Appointing Authority feels that the charges warrant a third party investigation, or if the charges involve rules or policies that are beyond his/her scope of authority, he/she may refer the complaint to the EEO Coordinator. (If the supervisor or the Appointing Authority is the alleged offending party, or if the complainant feels that the supervisor cannot objectively handle the complaint, or if the individual is uncomfortable discussing his/her complaint with anyone within that individual's department, the individual may file the complaint directly with the EEO Coordinator for the Civil Service Commission as set out below.)
    2. If the employee feels that the complaint has not been remedied in a timely manner by the Appointing Authority within the department, he/she may submit the complaint to the EEO Coordinator. (The EEO Coordinator may be contacted in the Department of Human Resources.) Upon receipt of a complaint or referral by an Appointing Authority, the EEO Coordinator will conduct a prompt and thorough investigation of the alleged incident(s). The Appointing Authority and the complainant will be apprised of the findings as a result of the investigation. The Appointing Authority shall then review his/her previous decision to determine if the appropriate action was taken.
    3. Right of Appeal - Any complaining party who has Civil Service status may present his/her complaint of discrimination to the Civil Service Commission for review, after the EEO Coordinator has investigated the matter, if the individual feels that the Appointing Authority has failed to adequately address the problem cited. Any request to present a complaint to the Civil Service Commission must be made, in writing, within ten (10) working days of the final determination by the Appointing Authority as set out in Step 2.
    4. If, for some reason, the complaining party is not comfortable with this complaint procedure, it should be recognized that any individual has the right to proceed directly to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the Tennessee Human Rights Commission, or Human Relations to file a complaint of discrimination.
SECTION 3.2 - PROBATIONARY AND WORK TEST PERIODS
  1. Purpose and Description

    When any employee is appointed from a register or list to a Civil Service position he generallly shall be required to successfully complete a probationary or work test period of six (6) months of satisfactory job performance before he attains Civil Service status in the position. The purpose of this time shall be for the Appointing Authority to closely observe and evaluate the work performance of the employee and to assure his adjustment to the job.

    The probationary or work test period shall begin with the employee's first scheduled day of work in the position. For provisional employees the probationary period begins upon completion of their respective training academies. If an employee is granted any paid or unpaid leave in excess of ten working days during this time, his probationary or work test period may be extended the number of days missed. An employee transferred to a different classification or department during the probationary period or work-test period will be required to complete a new six-month probationary or work-test period, whichever is applicable. Otherwise, the probationary or work test period shall not last longer than six (6) months. An Appointing Authority may request that the Civil Service Commission approve an additional work test period for designated classifications not to exceed six (6) months, based on specific reasons.

    In those situations where an employee is being appointed to a Civil Service position from a non-Civil Service status in the same classification, the employee may be deemed to have served the required probationary period provided: 1) the action is requested and recommended by the employee's Appointing Authority 2) the employee is appointed without a break in service and 3) the employee has served the previous six months in the same classification.

  2. Gaining Civil Service Status

    Appointing Authorities shall retain only those employees whose performance during the probationary or work test period is acceptable or better. The supervisor of each probationary or work test employee shall furnish the Appointing Authority evaluation reports, making a recommendation as to the employee's retention or separation. The Appointing Authority shall have the final authority in making the determination to retain an employee and shall consider: performance evaluation reports, attendance, critical incidents, reprimands or disciplinary actions, recommendations of supervisors and other work-related information. If an employee's performance during this period is less than acceptable the Appointing Authority must submit to the HR Department documentation of the performance deficiency and a profile document terminating the employment or reducing the employee by the end of the probationary or work test period. If this is not done by the end of this period, the employee will automatically gain Civil Service status in the position.

  3. Probationary Period
    1. Application

      A probationary period is required for the following appointments:

      • New Hire
      • Reemployment
      • Rehire
      • Transfer from a non-Civil Service position
      • Transfer from a probationary status in another classification or department
      • Disability reemployment from a non-Civil Service position
      • Layoff recall from a non-Civil Service position

    2. Dismissal of Probationary Employees

      A probationary employee may be dismissed at any time during the probationary period because of unsatisfactory job performance, conduct adversely affecting the performance of others, physical or mental inability to perform the job which cannot be reasonably accommodated, or because of violation of Civil Service or departmental rules. Dismissal of a probationary employee does not require that advance notice be given to the employee. However, this does not eliminate the Appointing Authority's responsibility to properly evaluate the employee's performance and to assure that the employee is not dismissed for reasons other than just cause. Dismissal of a probationary employee does not require a disciplinary hearing by the department unless the reason for the dismissal adversely reflects upon the employee's honesty, truthfulness or moral character, in which instances the employee shall be given the opportunity to present to the Appointing Authority his side of the incident(s). Dismissals which are documented in accordance with this section are not appealable to the Civil Service Commission.

  4. Work Test

    PROBATIONARY AND WORK TEST PERIODS

    1. Application

      A work test is required for the following appointments:

      • Promotion
      • Transfer from a work-test status to another classification or department
      • Disability reemployment to a different class series or department
      • Layoff recall to a different department or class series

      Note: The work-test for layoff/recall to a different department is for a three-month period. An employee who fails the work-test shall be returned to the layoff list unless he is dismissed for just cause. If dismissed for just cause, the employee may appeal to the Civil Service Commission for the right to be returned to the layoff list. An employee who is returned from disability and subsequently fails the work test will be referred to the Employee Benefit Board.

    2. Reduction of Work Test Employees

      A newly appointed employee may be reduced to his former classification and returned to the list from which he was appointed at any time during his work test period because of unsatisfactory job performance, conduct adversely affecting the performance of others, physical or mental inability to perform the job which cannot be reasonably accommodated, or because of violation of Civil Service or departmental rules. Reduction during work test must be preceded by adequate counseling of the employee in an effort to improve the employee's performance with any problems documented. This is to assure that an employee is not reduced for a reason other than just cause. Such documentation, along with the profile document reducing the employee, must be sent to the Human Resources Department upon the effective date of the reduction and will be maintained in the employee's file. The employee shall retain his Civil Service status held prior to the appointment. An employee who is reduced may request a review by the Appointing Authority. If questions remain after this review, the employee may request a review by the Director of HR. The request must be made in writing ten (10) calendar days following the effective date of the reduction.

SECTION 3.3 - PERFORMANCE EVALUATION
  1. Policy

    In accordance with the Metro Charter, each employee's job performance shall be evaluated on at least an annual basis. Additional evaluations may be done when necessary. The requirements of the position constitute the standards of performance or the basis upon which supervisors will rate the efficiency of employees. The standard of performance against which observed performance is compared shall be the performance that may be expected after a reasonable period of training of a fully qualified, competent and acceptable employee.

  2. Purpose

    Performance evaluations are used to give employees feedback on their job performance, to help them improve future performance and to document performance for the following purposes:

    1. to complete probation or work test
    2. to determine whether or not an increment will be granted
    3. to determine eligibility for promotions and advancement
    4. as an aid in determining layoff actions
    5. to determine reemployment eligibility
    6. to facilitate other HR decisions which may be appropriately influenced by employee performance

  3. Types and Frequency of Evaluations

    1. Probationary/Work Test - An employee is evaluated in the last month of his probationary or work test period, prior to the person gaining Civil Service status in the classification. Employees in this status shall be evaluated more than once during the six-month period and be given clear opportunities to reach an acceptable standard.
      This will not apply in the event of major disciplinary violations.
    2. Annual - Each employee is evaluated within the month prior to the anniversary date of his original appointment, promotion, or demotion, to his present position, whichever date is more recent or the adjusted date in case of re-employment or a break in service. This is to be done even if there is no increment possible.
    3. Change of Rater - An employee whose rater changes will be given an evaluation by the out-going rater to cover the period of time since the employee's last evaluation.

    (See Section 5.5, Relationship of Evaluation to Pay increases and Advancement)

  4. Appeals
    1. Grounds for Appeal:

      An employee may appeal a performance evaluation based on the following grounds:

      1. The procedures for completing the evaluation have not been properly followed.
      2. Explanation was not given for below standard ratings.
      3. The performance evaluation prevents the employee from receiving an increment. In such a case, the employee should be prepared to substantiate the ratings he believes to be appropriate.
      4. The employee was rated as not meeting expectations on a section.

    2. Appeal Procedure

      An appeal filed on the above grounds begins with the rater. The employee should discuss his feelings with the rater and request adjustment to the appropriate evaluation ratings. If the rater believes the initial ratings were correct and does not believe that a change is needed, the employee may request that the reviewer consider the desired changes. If the reviewer upholds the original rating, the employee can appeal to the Appointing Authority or his designee who has the final decision. If changes are made at any time in the process, they shall be in writing and initialed by all parties involved with a copy given to the employee. All aspects of the appeal are handled within the department, as people in outside organizations (such as HR or the Civil Service Commission), would have no effective way of accurately assessing the employee's performance. However, the employee may ask the Director of HR to review the issues to determine if a major policy or procedural violation exists.

    3. Appeal Limitations

      An employee may not appeal an evaluation simply because he disagrees with particular ratings unless such ratings result in the grounds listed above. Employees may indicate agreement or disagreement with ratings on the evaluation form when it is discussed. If an employee feels that this is insufficient he may attach a separate statement to the evaluation form to be maintained in the employee's file in the HR file. Such rebuttal should be signed by the rater, reviewer and Appointing Authority.

SECTION 3.4 - CONNECTION OF SERVICE TIME

The most recent period of service will be connected for former Civil Service and non-Civil Service employees provided they were previously employed for at least one year, resigned in good standing, and return within one year of termination. (These time limits are not applicable to employees returned from a layoff or disability reemployment list). Service time will be pro-rated for part-time employees. If time is connected after a break in service, that time off the payroll will be deducted in determining the employee's total service time. In any case with the connection of service time there shall be no retroactive payment of benefits.

SECTION 3.5 - RESIDENCY

It shall be required and the responsibility of the employee to notify the department of his current address.

(See Metro Substitute Ordinance No. S094-1078)

SECTION 3.6 - SENIORITY

Among its inherent and customary rights, management has the responsibility, among others, to assign and schedule work to ensure efficient operation. However, as far as practical, seniority shall be the governing factor in job assignments, scheduled overtime, out-of-class and call-back work after management determines that the employees at the work site and in the particular classification have the same knowledge, skills, abilities and performance and work record to perform the available job in a satisfactory manner.

SECTION 3.7 - NEPOTISM

Within each department no employees who are relatives should be placed within the same direct line of supervision whereby one relative is responsible for supervising the job performance or work activities of another relative. In no event will any employee be within two levels of the chain of command of a relative with authority to supervise that relative, including participation in a performance evaluation and excluding emergency situations which effect the health, safety or welfare of the public. A relative is defined as a member of the immediate or extended family.

SECTION 3.8 - OUTSIDE EMPLOYMENT

An employee may engage in employment with another organization as long as he or she satisfactorily performs his or her job responsibilities with Metro Government. Outside employment is any work paid in addition to the Metro salary, including self-employment. Outside employment must be reported in advance, in writing, to the Appointing Authority and must be in accordance with the following guidelines:

  1. It must not interfere with the employee's duties.
  2. It shall not involve a conflict of interest or the appearance of or potential for a conflict of interest.
  3. No employee shall use the facilities, equipment, personnel, or supplies of Metropolitan Government or its agencies for other than officially approved activities, except to the extent that they are lawfully available to the general public.

An employee eligible for FMLA leave may engage in outside employment provided: A) the employee’s health care provider approves the outside employment by certifying that the outside employment will not impede the employee’s recovery from, or treatment for, a serious health condition; and B) the employee’s Human Resources Coordinator approves the outside employment as being consistent with this Section. An employee seeking permission to engage in outside employment while on FMLA leave is responsible for having their health care provider submit a separate letter to their HR Coordinator that satisfies these requirements.

The Appointing Authority shall approve or disapprove an employee's outside employment in accordance with the guidelines above.

NOTE: See Police and Fire Chapters

SECTION 3.9 - TRANSFERS

Employees may transfer into Civil Service departments according to the guidelines listed in this rule. All transfers must be reported to the Civil Service Commission.

  1. Same Class - A full-time Civil Service employee may transfer to another department in the same classification upon agreement by both Appointing Authorities without having his name placed on a transfer list.
  2. Lateral Class - A full-time Civil Service employee may be appointed to a lateral or lower classification in another department from a transfer list or eligibility register upon agreement by both Appointing Authorities. Voluntary Re-assignment to a different lateral classification within the employee's department will be considered a lateral transfer and the class change will be reported as an appointment to the Human Resources Department and the Civil Service Commission.
  3. Functional - A department may initiate the lateral transfer of employees when services or functions are moved from one Civil Service department to another.
  4. Metro-Wide - Employees who have Civil Service status under another Metro Civil Service Board (Board of Hospitals, Board of Health, or Board of Education) may transfer to a Civil Service Department as provided for in the "Transfer from Other Metro Systems" policy. They may also receive a functional transfer provided they are Civil Service employees under their respective board."
  5. Promotion - A Civil Service employee may accept a promotion from an eligibility register with transfer to another department. If such an employee fails his work test, he will revert to his original classification and the two departments involved will attempt to place him in an appropriate position.
  6. Intra-Departmental - Transfers within a department are considered as job assignments, as long as the employee remains in their classification and the work involved is similar in nature and requires similar skills and abilities. Intra-departmental transfers are at the discretion of the Appointing Authority, however, TLS non-exempt employees may bid on vacancies within their department if they already hold the classification that is vacant. Seniority will be the governing factor provided everything is equal. Employees whose request to transfer to fill a vacancy is denied, will be provided a reason if requested. Sworn members of the Police Department and Fire Department employees may not transfer during the probationary period.

NOTE: See Fire and Police Chapters

SECTION 3.10 - VOLUNTARY REDUCTION IN GRADE

(See section 5.6 for information on setting pay).

A voluntary reduction in grade occurs when an employee requests assignment to a lower classification than his current one for which there is a vacancy and is subject to approval by the Appointing Authority and the Director of HR. The employee must meet the minimum qualifications if he is going to a different class series. A work test is not required but the employee must have a performance evaluation by the end of six months in the new position. If an employee subsequently wishes to return to the higher classification, he must compete in the promotional process.

(See Fire Chapter)

SECTION 3.11 - LAYOFF

An Appointing Authority, in accordance with these rules and procedures and with the approval of the Director of HR, may effect layoff actions in his department when necessary due to shortage of work or funds, or abolishment of position(s). Employees will be notified of the effective date of the action at least two weeks in advance. Layoff actions are defined as termination of employment, rollback in classification or rollback in increment. Layoff actions will be determined on a departmental basis and do not create any employee rights between departments.

Refer to Layoff Policy 3.11 for a detailed description of the process.

SECTION 3.12 - SEPARATION

When an employee takes the initiative of terminating his employment with the Metropolitan Government, he is expected to give his supervisor written notice at least two weeks before leaving his job. Failure to give adequate notice shall be noted in the employee's file and may become a factor in his being considered for reemployment.

SECTION 3.13 - REEMPLOYMENT
  1. Re-employment

    A former Civil Service employee may request, in writing, that his name be placed
    on a reemployment list. Such employee may return to any related classification in the class series to which he could have been demoted, reduced in rank or transferred. The employee may also be re-employed in an unrelated class if appointed from an eligibility register. To be eligible for reemployment the person must have been employed by Metro Government for at least two years and cannot have been evaluated on his most recent evaluation as below standard or dismissed for cause. A person is eligible for reemployment for a period of one year, commencing with the date of the employee's separation from Metro Government. No employee may be re-employed under this provision more than one time.

    Note: See layoff rule.

  2. Disability Reemployment

    A former employee currently drawing a disability pension may be referred by the Employee Benefit Board to the HR Department to have his name placed on the most appropriate disability reemployment list(s). The Benefit Board will provide information regarding restrictions or other pertinent information needed to determine what classifications the person is physically capable of performing. Former employees will have their names placed on disability eligibility lists according to HR Department operating procedures. There shall be no limit to the number of times an employee may be returned from disability.

    Note: See Fire and Police Chapters

  3. Reporting

    All re-employment will be reported to the Civil Service Commission on a monthly basis.