2007 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.
History: 1985 c 89 s 5; 1986 c 444