4.2.0 Authority

City Charter, Article XVI, Section 4, Merit Principles

SMC 4.04.040 and subsequent revisions thereto, Administration

SMC 4.04.050 and subsequent revisions thereto, Rule-making Authority

SMC 4.04.150 and subsequent revisions thereto, Employee Selection

SMC 4.04.160 and subsequent revisions thereto, Veterans' Preference

SMC 4.14 and subsequent revisions thereto, Executive Recruiting

RCW 41.04.005 and subsequent revisions thereto, "Veteran" defined for certain purposes

RCW 41.04.010 and subsequent revisions thereto, Veterans' scoring criteria status in examinations

4.2.1 Definitions

1. "Appointing authority" shall mean the head of an employing unit authorized by ordinance or City Charter to employ others on behalf of the City, or a designated management representative. The term includes and can be used interchangeably with department head, department director, superintendent, or chief.
2. "Appointment" shall mean the placement of an employee in a position by initial hire, promotion, transfer, demotion or reduction.
3. "Classification specification" shall mean a written description of a classification that includes a title, a description of distinguishing characteristics, a statement of duties and responsibilities, and a statement of minimum qualifications.
4. "Classified service" shall mean all employment positions in the City of Seattle that are not excluded by ordinance, City Charter, or State law from the provisions of the Seattle Municipal Code Title 4 or these Rules.
5. "Employing unit" shall mean any department of the City and, within the Executive and Legislative Departments, any office created by ordinance.
6. "External applicant" shall mean an applicant for employment with the City who is not a regularly appointed employee.
7. "Inappropriate pressure" shall mean any written or verbal suggestion to a City employee the effect of which would preclude open consideration of qualified applicants, or result in the selection of an employee for reasons other than relative ability, knowledge and skills.
8. "Initial appointment" shall mean the first appointment of an individual to a non-temporary position.
9. "Opportunity for Advancement Bulletin" or "OFA" shall mean the City's official internal communication of job vacancies.
10. "Personnel Director" shall mean the head of the Personnel Department or his or her designated management representative.
11. "Probation" shall mean an extension of the selection process following appointment to a position in a classification in which the employee does not have standing, during which period an employee is required to demonstrate his or her ability to perform the job for which he or she was hired. Each probationary period shall not exceed one year of actual service.
12. "Regular status" shall mean the status an employee holds after completion of a probationary period.
13. "Regularly appointed employee" shall mean an individual who has a probationary, regular or exempt appointment to a position of employment in the City.
14. "Reinstatement" shall mean the appointment from a reinstatement list of an employee within 12 months of layoff to a position in a class in which he or she previously held probationary or regular status.
15. "Reinstatement list" shall mean a list maintained by the Personnel Director of individuals who are eligible for reappointment to a position in a class in which they previously held probationary or regular status.
16. "Veteran" shall mean a person who has received an honorable discharge or a discharge for physical reasons with an honorable record and who meets at least 1 of the following criteria:
    1. The person served between World War I and World War II; or in the Korean conflict; or during the Vietnam era, defined as beginning August 5, 1964 and ending May 7, 1975; or in the Persian Gulf War; or the period beginning on the date of any future declaration of war by the United States Congress and ending on the date prescribed by presidential proclamation or concurrent resolution of the United States Congress; or in the following armed conflicts if the person was awarded the respective campaign badge or medal: the crisis in Lebanon, the invasion of Grenada, Panama—Operation Just Cause, Somalia—Operation Restore Hope, Haiti—Operation Uphold Democracy, or Bosnia—Operation Joint Endeavor.
    2. The person was a member in any branch of the United States armed forces; a member of the women's air forces service pilots; a U.S. documented merchant mariner with service aboard an oceangoing vessel operated by the war shipping administration, the office of defense transportation, or their agents, from December 7 1941 to December 31, 1946; or a civil service crewmember with service aboard a U.S. army transport service or U.S. naval transportation service vessel in oceangoing service from December 7, 1941 to December 31, 1946.
    3. The person received the armed forces expeditionary medal, or marine corps and navy expeditionary medal, for opposed action on foreign soil for service in any branch of the armed forces of the United States or as a member of the women's air forces service pilots.

4.2.2 Administration of this Rule

Appointing authorities may establish written policies and procedures for the implementation and administration of this Rule to facilitate the management of the personnel system within their employing units, provided that such policies and procedures do not conflict with the provisions of this Rule.

4.2.3 Merit Principles

1. The Personnel Director shall provide for the recruitment, selection, transfer and advancement of individuals based on their relative ability, knowledge and skills, without regard for political beliefs or activities.
2. Recruitment and selection processes shall include the advertisement of employment opportunities and open consideration of applicants based on a job-related assessment of their qualifications.

4.2.4 Employment Advertisement

1. The appointing authority must submit all official classified service job advertising to the Personnel Director for approval.
2. Notice of all classified service employment opportunities must be published in the OFA, unless the Personnel Director waives publication.
3. Published descriptions of the level, nature and complexity of duties assigned to a classified service position and the minimum qualifications required to perform them must be consistent with the adopted classification specification or, in the absence of a classification specification, with a documented description of the position. A statement of desired qualifications may be included to more closely reflect the job-related requirements of the specific position and the business needs of the hiring department.

4.2.5 External Applicants

The Personnel Director will accept job resumes from external applicants at any time, whether for an advertised employment opportunity or not.

1. Resumes from external applicants that are not submitted in response to an advertised employment opportunity will be entered into the official talent bank for matching with and referral to appropriate position vacancies.
2. The Personnel Director will forward to the employing unit external applicants' resumes submitted in response to an advertised employment opportunity. In addition, the resumes will be entered into the official talent bank for matching with and referral to other appropriate position vacancies.

4.2.6 Recruiting of External Applicants

1. When it is necessary to recruit outside regional labor markets, the appointing authority may authorize payment of reasonable and necessary expenses related to an applicant's travel to and from Seattle to participate in an interview process.
   1. The appointing authority must file and the City Finance Director must approve a claim for payment or reimbursement of travel expenses.
   2. Authorized travel expenses include lodging, meals, incidental and round-trip transportation from the applicant's home to Seattle and back. Applicants who drive their personal vehicles may be reimbursed at the rate set by the Personnel Director for mileage reimbursement. However, payment for mileage cannot exceed the round-trip airfare of a common carrier for the same trip.
2. Positions that are eligible for travel expense consideration are:
   1. Positions paid at salary range 40.0 and above, or at or above the equivalent of the top step of range 40.0 when no range is specified;
   2. Positions under salary range 40.0 for which the employing unit cannot successfully recruit in the local employment area because of the scarcity of persons possessing the position qualifications; and
   3. All positions assigned to the Accountability Pay for Executives, Manager, and Strategic Advisor Compensation Programs, regardless of pay level.

4.2.7 Selection Process

1. To ensure that selection processes are conducted in a fair and reasonable manner, each employing unit will provide a copy of its current selection procedures to the Personnel Director. The appointing authority must file revisions to its selection procedures with the Personnel Director within 30 days of adoption by the employing unit.
2. At the request of the appointing authority the Personnel Director will evaluate the qualifications of external applicants against the requirements specified by the appointing authority for any job vacancy, and will refer to the employing unit the names of those external applicants whose qualifications best match those required for the job vacancy.
3. The employing unit will evaluate resumes from external applicants referred by the Personnel Director in order to determine which applicants are best-qualified to proceed to the next phase of the selection process. Assessment of external applicants may occur concurrently with or subsequent to the assessment of internal applicants.
4. The employing unit may develop and administer any job-related skills tests and interviews that the appointing authority deems necessary. All available information related to the suitability of the applicant for the job will be used to evaluate each applicant.

4.2.8 Final Selection

1. The Personnel Director will conduct qualifications audits of all applicants identified by the employing unit as finalists for a job. The audit will include a comparison of the finalist's or finalists' qualifications with those advertised for the job. No job offer will be made to any finalist for a job vacancy until the Personnel Director has approved a qualifications audit.
2. The employing unit shall make a provisional job offer to the position finalist contingent upon passing a pre-employment physical and/or drug test if either is required for the position. The position finalist must demonstrate authorization to work in the United States prior to commencing work.
3. No individual shall apply inappropriate pressure to influence the outcome of a selection process.
4. If the employing unit's selection process includes a competitive examination, veterans' preference shall be added to the passing mark or grade, based upon a possible perfect mark or grade of 100 points, as follows:
   1. 10% to a veteran who does not receive military retirement;
   2. 5% to a veteran who receives military retirement.
   Eligible veterans must claim veterans' preference within 15 years of the date of their release from active military service. This period may be extended for valid and extenuating reasons, including but not limited to documented medical reasons beyond the veteran's control or documentation of a disability from the United States Department of Veterans' Affairs.

4.2.9 Re-Employment of Former City Employees

1. Employees whose most recent period of City employment ended in a layoff are eligible for reinstatement to the same classification or budget title within 12 months of such layoff.
   1. The Personnel Director shall send the names of individuals who are eligible for reinstatement to the appointing authority of any employing unit who has a vacancy in that classification or budget title. The appointing authority may refuse to hire from the reinstatement list only upon stating a reason therefor to the Personnel Director.
   2. An individual who is reinstated from layoff shall have the same status as he or she held prior to layoff, with credit given toward time already served if such status is probationary. The employee shall be placed at the same step in the salary range as he or she had attained prior to layoff, and credit will be given for prior service for purposes of salary step progression. Any unused sick leave balance shall be restored, and the vacation accrual rate shall be the same as when the employee was laid off.
   3. An individual whose layoff occurred longer than 12 months before his or her re-employment shall be considered an external applicant as provided in Rule 4.2.9 (B).
2. A former City employee who resigned or quit City employment may apply and be considered for employment as an external applicant. His or her vacation accrual rate will reflect prior service; otherwise, an individual re-employed under this Rule shall be treated the same as a new hire.
3. A former City employee who took a service retirement from City employment may apply and be considered for employment as provided by Rule 4.2.9 (B). The amount of his or her monthly pension payment may be affected by re-employment with the City, or he or she may be subject to limitations on the number of hours he or she is permitted to work.
4. A former City employee who was terminated for cause may apply and be considered for rehire as an external applicant only with the approval of the appointing authority and the concurrence of the Personnel Director.
5. A former City employee whose termination was a probationary dismissal may apply and be considered for rehire as an external applicant only with the approval of the appointing authority.

4.2.10 Moving Expenses

1. The appointing authority may authorize, upon the approval of the City Finance Director, moving expenses for individuals who must relocate to Seattle in order to accept an offer of employment with the City as:
   1. Any nonrepresented position compensated at the equivalent of salary range 40.0 or above;
   2. Any nonrepresented position compensated at less than salary range 40.0 for which the employing unit was unable to recruit qualified persons in the regional labor market;
   3. Any nonrepresented position assigned to the Strategic Advisor and Manager (SAM) Compensation Program.
2. An individual's new job with the City must be at least 50 miles farther from his or her place of residence than his or her former job to qualify for moving expenses.
3. Moving expenses include the cost of transportation to Seattle to find housing; food and lodging expenses for up to five days while engaged in the search for housing; and the cost of transporting the employee and his or her family and household goods and personal effects to Seattle. Payment or reimbursement of moving expenses may not exceed the authorized maximum rate set by the Personnel Director in January of each year.
4. The appointing authority and the employee for whom moving expenses have been authorized must stipulate in writing that, if the individual leaves City employment within 12 months of initial appointment, he or she shall reimburse the employing unit for such expenses.

4.2.11 Probation

Upon initial appointment to a position in the classified service, an employee must complete a one-year probationary period in the position to which he or she is appointed. Cumulative absences of more than 30 working days shall be excluded from the calculation of the length of the probationary period.