Section 81. Preferred lists; certification and reinstatement therefrom  


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  • 1.
      Establishment of preferred lists; general provisions. The  head  of  any
      department,  office  or institution in which an employee is suspended or
      demoted in  accordance  with  the  provisions  of  sections  eighty  and
      eighty-a  of  this  chapter  shall,  upon  such  suspension or demotion,
      furnish the state civil  service  department  or  appropriate  municipal
      commission,  as  the case may be, a statement showing his name, title or
      position, date of appointment, and the date of and reason for suspension
      or demotion. It shall be the duty of such civil  service  department  or
      commission,  as  the  case  may  be, forthwith to place the name of such
      employee upon a preferred list, together with others who may  have  been
      suspended  or  demoted  from  the  same or similar positions in the same
      jurisdictional class, and to certify such list, as hereinafter provided,
      for filling vacancies in the same jurisdictional class;  first,  in  the
      same  or  similar  position; second, in any position in a lower grade in
      line of promotion; and third, in any comparable position. Such preferred
      list shall be certified for filling  a  vacancy  in  any  such  position
      before  certification is made from any other list, including a promotion
      eligible list, notwithstanding the fact that none of the persons on such
      preferred list was suspended  from  or  demoted  in  the  department  or
      suspension and demotion unit in which such vacancy exists. No other name
      shall  be certified from any other list for any such position until such
      preferred list is exhausted. The  eligibility  for  reinstatement  of  a
      person  whose name appears on any such preferred list shall not continue
      for a period longer than four years  from  the  date  of  separation  or
      demotion.
        2.  Order  of  certification  of names from preferred lists. Except as
      hereinafter provided, the names of persons on a preferred list shall  be
      certified  therefrom  for  reinstatement  to a vacancy in an appropriate
      position in the order of their original appointments.
        (a) Upon the occurrence of a vacancy in an appropriate position in the
      service of a civil division, except in a city having a population of one
      million or more, the names of persons on the  preferred  list  shall  be
      certified  to  fill  such  vacancy  in  the following order: (1) persons
      suspended from or demoted in the department or agency within which  such
      vacancy  occurs;  and  (2)  persons  suspended  from or demoted in other
      departments and agencies in such civil division.
        (b) Upon the occurrence of a vacancy in an appropriate position in the
      state service, or in the service of a city having a  population  of  one
      million  or  more,  the  names of persons on the preferred list shall be
      certified to fill such vacancy in the  following  order:    (1)  persons
      suspended  from  or  demoted  in  the  department  in which such vacancy
      exists, except that where such vacancy exists in a  separate  suspension
      and  demotion  unit,  the  names of persons suspended from or demoted in
      such unit, and not  those  suspended  from  or  demoted  in  the  entire
      department,  shall be certified first; and (2) all other persons on such
      preferred list.
        3. Eligibility and order of certification for reinstatement of persons
      suspended from or demoted in the service of a county in  a  city  wholly
      including  within  its limits two or more counties. Any person suspended
      or demoted from a position in the service of a county in a  city  wholly
      including within its limits two or more counties, where the compensation
      of  such position is paid directly from the treasury of such city, shall
      be eligible for certification and reinstatement from the preferred  list
      to  the same or similar position, or a similar position in a lower grade
      in the same occupational field, in the service of any county within such
      city.  Upon the occurrence of a vacancy in an  appropriate  position  in
      the  service  of  any such county, the names of persons on the preferred
    
      list shall be certified to fill such vacancy  in  the  following  order:
      (a) persons suspended from or demoted in the particular county office in
      which  such  vacancy  occurs;  (b)  persons suspended from or demoted in
      other  county  offices  in the same county in which such vacancy occurs;
      (c) persons suspended  from  or  demoted  in  county  offices  in  other
      counties within such city.
        4. Certification of probationers from preferred list.  Notwithstanding
      the  provisions of subdivisions two and three of this section, no person
      suspended or demoted prior to the completion of  his  probationary  term
      shall  be  certified  for  reinstatement  until  the  exhaustion  of the
      preferred list of all other eligibles thereon.  Upon reinstatement, such
      probationer shall be required to complete his probationary term.
        5. Effect of failure or refusal to accept reinstatement. The state and
      municipal civil service commissions shall adopt rules providing for  the
      relinquishment  of eligibility for reinstatement upon failure or refusal
      to accept reinstatement from a preferred list.
        6. Salary upon reinstatement. A person  reinstated  from  a  preferred
      list  to  his  former  position  or a similar position in the same grade
      shall receive at least the same salary such person was receiving at  the
      time of suspension or demotion.
        7.  Notwithstanding  any  other  provisions of this chapter, the civil
      service department or appropriate municipal  commission  may  disqualify
      for  reinstatement  and  remove  from  a  preferred list the name of any
      eligible who is physically or mentally disabled for the  performance  of
      the  duties  of  the position for which such list is established, or who
      has been guilty of such misconduct as would warrant his  dismissal  from
      the  public  service,  except  that  a  partially physically handicapped
      person, who is suspended pursuant to  section  eighty  of  this  chapter
      because  of  lack of work, but who, within six months of the date of his
      suspension, is certified for reinstatement to any job  item  having  the
      same  physical  requirements  as  the job item from which the person was
      suspended shall not be disqualified because  of  his  physical  handicap
      unless  a  medical  examination  discloses that because his handicap has
      become greater he would not be able to satisfactorily  perform  in  such
      job  item.  No person shall be disqualified pursuant to this subdivision
      unless he is first given a written statement of the reasons therefor and
      an opportunity for a hearing at which such reasons shall be  established
      by  appropriate evidence, and at which such person may be represented by
      counsel and present evidence. The civil service department or  municipal
      commission  may  designate  a  person  to  hold  such hearing and report
      thereon.
        8. Notwithstanding any other provisions of this  chapter,  any  person
      may  voluntarily  remove  his  or  her  name  from  a  preferred list by
      application to the civil service  department  or  appropriate  municipal
      commission.
        9. An  employee  who  is  eligible  to  be  placed on a preferred list
      pursuant to this section and  who  elects,  as  a  member  of  a  public
      employee  retirement  system,  to  retire upon a suspension or demotion,
      shall  be  placed  on  a  preferred  list  and  shall  be  eligible  for
      reinstatement from such list.