Furtive plans by some agency heads to move certain unclassified employees into Civil Service classified positions before Bobby Jindal leaves office could be thwarted by Civil Service rules designed expressly to prevent such maneuvers.
LouisianaVoice received reports on Wednesday (Sept. 23) of plans to move some of Jindal’s appointees from unclassified to classified positions as a means of protecting them from potential termination by the new governor when he takes office on Jan. 11.
“Since the clock is ticking on the Jindal administration,” wrote one state employee, “his department heads are converting…unclassified folks into classified positions. Only trouble is, those positions don’t pay that well. [I] overheard a conversation by some HR (Human Resources) folks that they don’t know how to make the slip switch and include a $30,000 add-on to the classified position.”
But former Civil Service Director Shannon Templet, in one of her last actions before accepting the position of director of human resources for the Louisiana House of Representatives, may have put the kibosh on any such plans—or at least made any such attempt considerably more difficult.
General Circular 2015-033, issued to heads of state agencies and human resource directors on Sept. 1, addresses that very scenario although there still may be a small window of opportunity to circumvent a prohibition against converting appointees to unclassified positions. CIVIL SERVICE CIRCULAR 2015-033
The circular alluded to Civil Service Rule 22.2 which says all appointing authorities shall obtain the Civil Service Director’s approval before making a permanent appointment to any job at specified pay grades.
But the policy governing such appointments is applicable only between the date of any election for a statewide elected office (Oct. 24, 2015) through Inauguration Day (Jan. 11, 2016).
There appear to be no restrictions to such transfers between now and Oct. 24, which is nearly a full month away and some movement may have already occurred.
“Unless the director grants permission, vacancies covered under this rule cannot be filled on a permanent basis through a probationary or permanent appointment into a regular ongoing position,” the circular says. “This also applies to promotions and transfers into an agency while on permanent status.
“The process will be handled as follows:
- Vacancies affected by this rule shall not be announced without obtaining prior approval of the director by means of a letter which includes justification explaining why the vacancy needs to be filled.
- Agencies are to send letters requesting approval to fill to the Staffing Division.
- Agencies will be notified via email of the director’s decision.
- Verification of approval must be attached to the exam plan…for audit purposes.
Even if an appointive (non-classified) position should be converted to a classified one, the additional task of adjusting the position’s salary poses yet another problem—unless the appointee would agree to a major pay cut.
Because Civil Service classifications govern pay scales for every classified position in state government—as opposed to unclassified positions, which have no such restrictions—appointive posts generally pay much higher salaries than civil service jobs. Converting from unclassified to classified necessarily would dictate significant reductions in pay.
But even if that wrinkle could somehow be worked out, there is one more deterrent to such an underhanded tactic. Any transfer, lateral or otherwise, or new appointment generally carries with it a six-month (180 days) probationary period during which the employee may be terminated without cause.
As of today (Sept. 23), there are exactly 110 days until a new governor takes office.
Louisiana Voice 
I hope they are able to put the kibosh on this and shut it down before it even starts.
Question: Has there ever been a rule or law this administration has worried about when it wanted to do something?
The policy seems to be let’s do it and if somebody doesn’t like it they can always file suit.
It’s hard to say how much power Civil Service or its rules carry anymore. There have always been laws and or regulations intended to prevent this kind of thing and loopholes have always developed when it came time for a power play even before this administration. And, let’s face it, if one is willing to ignore or willfully find ways around state statutes and the constitution, wouldn’t doing so with Civil Service Rules be a cinch.
This happens every four years. A former DEQ secretary was a master at this. What often happens is that Directors, Assistant Secretarys and Deputy Secretarys have “fallback positions” that they can slip into if they are uncertain about making the transition to a new administration. There is usually someone keeping that position/seat warm who also has a fallback position below him/her. These are classified positions but are fairly high pay grades so the cuts would not be terribly large,
Right as rain, du chicot.
I guess all of the cronies can’t be fortunate enough to land a 6-figure gig at Ochsner.
Good one. Ochsner must not be interested in creative financing else they would have hired her as a VP for finance rather than lobbyance (is that a word? Probably not).
We the people must rise and vote out the Republican legislators who gave the Governor a blank check to deprive us all. We who vote are greatly responsible for the downfall of this state.
You are so correct Nazir Mohamed! As a classified employee, no one should vote for any Republican…..
This reminds me of how some armies lay land mines before they retreat.