Ohio Administrative Code
Title 3349 - Northeast Ohio Medical University
Chapter 3349-8 - Policies for Unclassified Hourly Employees and Classified Civil Service Employees
Section 3349-8-45 - Layoff

(a) Employees may be laid off whenever a reduction in force is necessary due to a lack of funds, lack of work or the abolishment of positions.

(b) If a reduction in force is necessary, the appointing authority shall devise and carry out a plan that may include the layoff and displacement of employees or the abolishment of positions.

(a) The determination of a lack of funds or a lack of work shall be made by the senior administration. The appointing authority will be so informed by the president or designee.

(b) A statement of rationale and any supporting documentation shall be maintained by the appointing authority for a period of one year.

(a) The determination to abolish positions shall be made by the senior administration. The appointing authority will be informed by the president or designee.

(b) A statement of rationale and any supporting documentation shall be maintained by the appointing authority for a period of one year.

(a) Whenever a reduction in force is necessary due to lack of work or lack of funds, the senior administration shall determine the job family or job families in which the layoff or layoffs will occur, and the number of employees to be laid off within each job family.

(b) Whenever a reduction in force is necessary due to the abolishment of positions the senior administration shall determine the job family or job families in which positions will be eliminated.

(c) When the determination has been made, the appointing authority will be advised by the president or designee.

(a) For purposes of this rule, the order of layoff of employees is as follows: part-time probationary, part-time permanent, full-time probationary and full-time permanent.

(b) Within these categories, the employee having the fewest retention points will be laid off first and continue to the employee with the most retention points. Retention point lists shall be complied in descending retention point order. In cases where two or more employees have identical retention points the tie shall be broken in accordance with this rule.

(a) The appointing authority shall compute the total retention points for each employee in the job family affected by a layoff due to lack of work, lack of funds or position abolishment.

(b) Retention points shall be calculated as of the ending date of the pay period in which the reduction in force will occur.

(c) Once the appointing authority has published the list of retention points, the appointing authority may not hire into or move employees into or out of affected job families by means of promotions, intra-transfers, voluntary demotions, position control number change, lateral or job family changes or reassignments.

(a) Employees shall be assigned a base of one hundred retention points at the time of hire. Computation of retention points for continuous full-time service shall be made by crediting each employee with one retention point for each bi-weekly pay period of continuous service. For the purposes of calculating retention points, full-time service shall include service as a full-time permanent, or a full-time temporary employee. Service during the probationary period will be included for purposes of calculating retention points. For full-time temporary service, credit will be given only for those pay periods in which the employee was scheduled to work. If an employee is in a full-time position at any time during a pay period, they are considered full-time for the entire pay period.

(b) Retention points for continuous service for other than full-time service shall be calculated on the basis of one-half point for each bi-weekly pay period of continuous service. Service during the probationary period will be included for purposes of calculating retention points.

(c) Retention points computed for full-time continuous service and other than full-time continuous service, whenever applicable, shall be combined to determine an employee's total retention points. Overtime shall not be considered for purposes of computation of retention points for continuous service.

(d) In the event two or more employees have identical retention points as calculated by this rule, the tie shall be broken by the following method:

(e) In the event an employee transferred to the university, the employee's length of continuous service will be deemed unbroken so long as no break in service occurs from one Ohio civil service employer to another.

(a) Each employee to be laid off shall be given advance written notice by the appointing authority after the employee's retention points have been calculated and posted. Such written notice shall be hand-delivered to the employee at least fourteen days before the effective date of layoff or displacement and the day of hand-delivery shall be the first day of the fourteen day period. If the notice is to be mailed, it shall be by certified mail. Such notice shall be mailed at least seventeen days before the effective date of the layoff or displacement. The day the letter is mailed shall be the first day of the seventeen-day period.

(b) Each notice of layoff or displacement shall contain the following information:

(a) Each employee laid off, or displaced as a result of a layoff, shall only have the right to displace another employee with the fewest retention points as specified in this rule.

(b) An employee who is to be laid off may exercise displacement rights under the provisions of this rule or be laid off. Displacement occurs on the date an employee is notified that another employee has exercised the right of displacement and that the employee with fewer retention points is to be displaced. A displaced employee may exercise the right to displace another employee if such right to displace exists. If the displaced employee does not have the right to displace another employee, then the displaced employee shall be laid off.

(c) Employees shall notify the appointing authority, in writing, of their intention to exercise their displacement rights within five days after receipt of notice of layoff or displacement.

(d) No employee shall displace an employee unless the employee possesses the requisite minimum qualifications or bona fide occupational qualifications for the position. These qualifications are established by the position description. The appointing authority shall be responsible for verifying the necessity of these qualifications.

(e) An employee exercising displacement rights, or an employee displaced as a result of a layoff or abolishment, shall be paid according to the salary range assigned to the position into which the employee displaced or was displaced. The employee shall be assigned a salary in the salary range assigned to the new position not exceeding the salary the employee was paid in the prior position. If the salary the employee was assigned in the prior position exceeds the highest salary in the salary range assigned to the new position, the employee will be assigned the maximum salary for the salary range of the new position.

(f) An employee may appeal a layoff, or a displacement which is the result of a layoff, to the state personnel board of review. Such an appeal must be filed or postmarked no later than ten days after the employee receives notice of the layoff or the date the employee is displaced. An employee shall be considered displaced the date the employee is notified by the university that another employee has exercised the right to displace the employee from the employee's position. An appeal may be made in accordance with the rules promulgated by the state personnel board of review.

(a) An employee who is to be laid off or displaced may fill an available vacancy, or if no vacancy exists, displace within their job family as set forth in this rule.

(b) An employee who is to be laid off or displaced may fill an available vacancy, or if no vacancy exists, displace the employee with the fewest retention points in the same and then successively lower job group in the job family. This process shall continue, if necessary, until the employee with the fewest retention points in the lowest job group of the job family has been reached and, if necessary, laid off.

(c) An employee who is to be laid off or who is displaced may fill an available vacancy, or if no vacancy exists, displace the employee with the fewest retention points in the job family the laid-off or displaced employee held immediately prior to their current job family, provided the job group is lower than or equivalent to the employee's current job group.

(a) The recall lists shall contain the employee's name, type of appointment, number of retention points, and date of commencement of continuous service. In cases of identical retention point ratings, the order of recall shall be the reverse order of the layoff. Any ties of retention points shall be broken in accordance with the procedure established in this rule.

(b) An employee's name shall remain on the appropriate recall list for a period of one year from the date the employee was first laid off or displaced from the original job family.

(c) Vacancies that occur in a job family for which a recall list exists must be accepted or declined in writing within ten days by the first person on the recall list for that job family before the next person on the recall list may be offered the position.

(d) If a position has specific minimum qualifications or bona fide occupational qualifications, the first person on the recall list who meets these qualifications, must accept or decline the position in writing within ten days before the next person on the recall list may be considered for reinstatement.

(e) Employees on the recall list shall be offered a position in a job family or job group with the same or lower salary range assignment or appointment category than that of the job group or job family from which the employee was laid off or displaced.

(f) A laid off or displaced employee who chooses not to exercise the option to displace shall only be entitled to reinstatement to the job group from which the employee was laid off or displaced.

(g) If the appointing authority has any employee on a recall list, the appointing authority shall only hire, or promote into the job family or the job group subject to the recall list.

(h) Any employee reinstated under this rule shall not serve a new probationary period when reinstated; except, any employee laid off or displaced while serving an original or promotional probationary period shall begin a new probationary period upon reinstatement.

(a) Each employee recalled from layoff shall be notified of the offer of reinstatement by certified letter.

(b) Each recalled employee shall be allowed ten days from the date of receipt of the letter to return to work, and such time limit shall be included in the employee in the notification of recall letter.

(c) The employee is responsible for keeping a current address and phone number on file with the appointing authority.

(a) Any employee accepting or declining reinstatement to the same job family and appointment type from which the layoff or displacement initially occurred shall be removed from the reinstatement and recall list. Any employee declining reinstatement to a different appointment category than that from which the employee was laid off or displaced or declining reinstatement for reasons of hardship, as approved by the appointing authority, shall not be removed from the recall list as set forth in this rule.

(b) Any employee declining reinstatement to a position with a salary range lower than the job group from which the layoff initially occurred shall not be removed from the appointing authority recall list, however such employee shall thereafter only be offered reinstatement to a job group with a salary range higher than the position declined, up to and including the job group from which the employee was laid off.

(c) If not otherwise removed, the name of any laid off employee shall be removed from the appointing authority's recall list one calendar year after the employee was first laid off or displaced from the original job family. In the event any displaced employee is subsequently laid off, such employee's name shall be removed from the recall list one calendar year after the subsequent layoff.

(a) On the date of any layoff, the appointing authority shall post for inspection in a conspicuous and public place accessible to affected employees a list containing the name, continuous service date, type of appointment, job family, and number of retention points of all employees in that job group and lower job groups in the job family. The list will be posted for a period of ten days.

(b) The appointing authority's layoff list and copies of the rule regarding layoff shall, upon request, be made available for inspection and copying by anyone during normal working hours. A reasonable charge for reproduction may be made.

(a) Employees who are on sick leave at the time a layoff is effective shall be subject to layoff, under the provisions of this rule. The effective date of layoff or displacement of an employee may not be extended on the basis that an employee is on sick leave or fmla leave.

(b) An employee who is on a leave of absence without pay at the time a layoff is effective shall be subject to layoff under the provisions of this rule. The effective date of a layoff or of displacement for an employee may not be extended on the basis that an employee is on a leave of absence without pay.

(c) An employee who is receiving disability leave benefits under the provisions of the university's disability leave rule at the time a layoff is effective shall be subject to layoff under the provisions of this rule. An employee who is to be laid off while receiving disability leave benefits shall continue to receive disability leave benefits until the period of disability is over and the employee would otherwise be able to return to work. The receipt of disability leave benefits shall be subject to the provisions of the university's rule on disability leave.

(a) Any employee who has accumulated but unused balances of vacation leave and compensatory time at the time of layoff shall have such balances converted to a cash benefit according to the following:

(b) Employee's leave balances may only be reinstated if the employee's layoff is disaffirmed by the state personnel board of review and the employee submits a reimbursement for the entire amount of the leave balance previously converted.

Replaces: 3349-8-45