1998 Minnesota Statutes

     383A.285 Classified service. 

    Subdivision 1.    General.  (a) All appointments to the 
 classified service shall be based upon merit, fitness, and 
 ability to perform the duties of the position and needs of the 
 appointing authority, including the need to achieve and maintain 
 a representative work force. 

    (b) The classified service is a permanent service to which 
 this law applies and comprises each tenured position in the 
 public service existing on, or established after, the effective 
 date of sections 383A.281 to 383A.301. 

    Subd. 2.    Classification plan.  The personnel director 
 shall maintain, revise, and administer a classification and 
 salary plan. 

    Subd. 3.    Classification of positions.  The personnel 
 director shall place each position in the classified service in 
 an appropriate class in the classification plan or in a new 
 class to be created, if appropriate.  If a class is unique to a 
 department, the personnel director shall consult the head of 
 that department before classifying the unique positions. 

    Subd. 4.    Appeal from classification or 
 reclassification.  An appointing authority or an employee 
 affected by a classification or reclassification of a position 
 may protest the action in writing to the personnel director.  
 The personnel director shall review the classification or 
 reclassification and may change the decision.  Neither the 
 appointing authority nor the employee shall have any further 
 right to appeal a decision regarding a classification or 
 reclassification to the personnel review board. 

    Subd. 5.    Study; implementation.  The personnel 
 director shall complete a reclassification study within 60 days 
 after receiving a reclassification request.  The appointing 
 authority shall implement the personnel changes required by the 
 reclassification decision in a timely manner and qualifications 
 for reclassified positions shall be reasonably commensurate with 
 the requirements of the position. 

    Subd. 6.    Incumbents.  The incumbent of a position 
 which has been reclassified shall continue in the position if 
 the employee is eligible for the position in the new class in 
 accordance with sections 383A.281 to 383A.301, and rules adopted 
 under sections 383A.281 to 383A.301.  An incumbent who is 
 ineligible to continue in the reclassified position, shall be 
 transferred, promoted, or demoted.  The incumbent's salary shall 
 not be less than it was in the former classified position but it 
 may be frozen at the level of the former classified position 
 until it is commensurate with the class and grade of the 
 position to which the incumbent was transferred or demoted. 

    Subd. 7.    Examinations; incumbents.  An employee with 
 permanent or probationary status whose position is reclassified 
 shall be considered eligible to compete in any examination held 
 to fill the reclassified position as provided in the rules or 
 administrative procedures. 

    Subd. 8.    Reinstatement.  (a) An employee who is 
 granted a leave of absence from a position in the classified 
 service to accept a position in the unclassified service, upon 
 request, shall, during the unclassified appointment or within 60 
 days after the end of the unclassified appointment, be 
 reinstated to the department from which the employee was granted 
 a leave, to a classified position comparable to that which was 
 held immediately prior to being appointed to the unclassified 
 position. 

    (b) At the discretion of the appointing authority, any 
 employee who without fault or delinquency has resigned or been 
 demoted, within one year after leaving the position in the 
 classified service, may be appointed or reinstated to a 
 classified position within the same department which is 
 comparable to the position held previously.  An employee may be 
 reinstated from a leave of absence as determined by the rules 
 and regulations adopted by the county board pursuant to sections 
 383A.281 to 383A.301. 

    Subd. 9.    Classifying positions.  An employee in an 
 unclassified position on the effective date of sections 383A.281 
 to 383A.301 which becomes classified by sections 383A.281 to 
 383A.301 shall continue to serve in the classified position and 
 have all the benefits of classified service notwithstanding any 
 other provision of sections 383A.281 to 383A.301. 

    Subd. 10.    Unclassifying positions.  An employee in 
 the classified service with permanent tenure, who is an 
 incumbent of a position which becomes unclassified and is not 
 appointed to or is removed from the unclassified position, shall 
 be transferred by the personnel director to a classified 
 position within the same department comparable to the 
 unclassified position.  If a comparable position is unavailable, 
 the person shall be transferred by the director to a classified 
 position comparable to that held immediately prior to being 
 appointed to the position which was unclassified.  If the 
 employee held an unclassified position with the same agency 
 before being appointed to the classified position that is 
 unclassified, the person shall be transferred by the director to 
 a classified position comparable to the classified position next 
 in rank below the position that is unclassified.  The employee's 
 salary shall not be less than it was in the position which was 
 unclassified, but it may be frozen until it is commensurate with 
 the class and grade of the position to which the employee was 
 transferred. 

    HIST: 1985 c 89 s 5; 1986 c 444