Opinion ID: 2576191
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The Post and Bid Pilot Programs

Text: As indicated in part A, ante, the process relating to permanent civil service appointments and promotions generally involves three phases. The first phase, pertaining to eligibility, involves administration of a competitive examination to a group of candidates seeking permanent appointment or promotion to positions within a classification. The examination results in a certified eligible list identifying those candidates with examination scores in the top three ranks who have indicated their willingness to accept appointment under the conditions of employment specified. In the second phase, the appointing power reviews the candidates on the eligible list and selects the candidate it finds best suited to the position it seeks to fill. The third phase requires the appointing power to evaluate the selected candidate throughout a probationary period to determine whether permanent appointment or promotion to the position is merited. The post and bid pilot programs follow this general process for the eligibility phase and the probationary phase, but mandate a significantly different procedure for the hiring or selection phase, as described below. The post and bid programs require appointing powers to post, in approved locations, bid notices regarding available positions in specified clerical, technical, and professional classifications. Eligible employees may bid for posted positions by completing and submitting the appropriate bid forms. An employee must meet several requirements to be eligible to bid. First, the employee must have immediate list eligibility or be eligible for appointment under the civil service rules and either have permanent full-time civil service status, or have permanent intermittent civil service status and meet certain specified criteria. Although each MOU is slightly different, an employee in a nontransfer situation must score within the top three ranks on a competitive examination in order to be eligible for a list appointment or promotion. Each employee must not only meet certain minimum qualifications for the posted position and possess the physical ability to perform the essential job functions, but also must have demonstrated an overall satisfactory performance in his or her current job. Finally, the employee must not be on probation or on an official training and development assignment, and must not have had an adverse action related to job performance in the 12 months preceding the bid process. Once the bidding process is closed, the post and bid programs generally require the appointing power to hire or promote from among eligible bidders-including those employees scoring in the top three ranks on a competitive examination and meeting all other eligibility requirements-on the basis of seniority. [6] Specifically, the eligible bidder with the most seniority in state service must be selected, regardless of the nature of the positions in which the seniority was earned, the specific duties and responsibilities of the position to be filled, or the relative qualifications of the competing eligible bidders. Two of the MOU's provide for a 30-day trial period during which management or the selected employee may terminate the post and bid appointment and the employee may be returned to the former position. All three MOU's retain the probationary period applicable under state civil service statutes and rules. (§ 19170 et seq.; Cal.Code Regs., tit. 2, § 322.) The MOU's state they are not intended to . . . contravene the spirit or intent of the merit principle in State employment, and that [a]ny matters which concern the application of the merit principle to State employees are exclusively within the purview of those processes provided by Article VII of the State Constitution or bylaws and rules enacted thereto.