§ 1200-12. RULE 12: Certification of eligible lists.

A. 

Appropriate eligible list determination/certification.

(1) 

The County Personnel Officer shall determine the eligible list most nearly appropriate for the position to be filled, and shall certify to the appointing authority a sufficient number of eligibles from which selection for appointment may be made. When the name of any eligible is included in a certification for appointment, the names of all other eligibles on the list having the same final rating as that eligible shall be included in the certification.

(2) 

Candidates may specify those work-related factors defined by the Civil Service Department under which they are willing to accept employment. Candidates will be permitted to revise those conditions, provided written notice is received by the Civil Service Department prior to the preparation of a certification.

(3) 

The applicable promotional list shall be certified before any open-competitive list.

B. 

Rule of Three. An appointing authority is required to request a certification of eligibles before filling any vacant position in the competitive class. The Civil Service Department determines the eligible list most appropriate for the position to be filled and certifies a sufficient number of eligibles to the appointing authority from which selection may be made from the three highest willing acceptors. All eligibles receiving the same score will be included on the certification.

C. 

Canvass/Precanvass.

(1) 

An eligible list may be precanvassed by the Department of Civil Service, or a certification of eligibles may be canvassed by an agency to determine candidates interested in being considered for employment.

(2) 

A candidate who fails to respond in writing within seven business days from the mailing date of the precanvass or canvass may be considered ineligible when making selection for that particular appointment.

(3) 

The appointing authority may interview candidates whose names appear on the certification of eligibles. Candidates selected for interview must be notified in writing by mail postmarked at least seven business days prior to the scheduled time and place of such interview. Interviews shall only be conducted during regular business hours and at a regular worksite of the appointing authority unless mutually agreed upon between candidate and employer. If the employer wishes to interview at another location and outside of the normal workplace, all candidates must be interviewed in this manner.

D. 

Duration. A certification of eligibles is valid for a period of 60 days. No appointments shall be made after the sixty-day period has expired except as follows:

(1) 

A thirty-day extension of the certification may be granted by the County Personnel Officer. Provisional appointments may only be extended as provided under § 65 of New York State Civil Service Law.

(2) 

In instances where candidates are pending required qualifying tests, the certification may be extended until such tests are completed and the appointing authority has had a reasonable opportunity to make appointments.

E. 

Removal.

(1) 

Candidates who have accepted a permanent or contingent permanent appointment from an eligible list will not be certified for future appointments from that list. An employee who is removed or who resigns will not be restored to the eligible list from which the appointment was made unless the County Personnel Officer determines that special circumstances warrant such restoration. If a contingent permanent employee is displaced, the employee's name will be restored to the eligible list from which the appointment was made, if still in existence.

(2) 

An individual will be eliminated from further certification from an eligible list for failure to report for work after accepting an appointment.

(3) 

Candidates will be removed from a promotional eligible list upon termination of employment in the title from which eligibility for promotion was based. During the life of an eligible list, an individual may be activated to that list upon reinstatement in the same municipality to the title from which the eligibility for promotion was based.

(4) 

Candidates on a preferred list for a title upon which promotional eligibility was based will not be removed from the promotional list.

F. 

Salary; work hours.

(1) 

The appointing authority must advise the Civil Service Department of the annual starting salary for any vacant position prior to certification. A salary range is not in compliance with this requirement. A candidate may be appointed above the stated salary only if the individual is currently employed by the municipality and is placed in the appropriate grade and/or step to account for prior service.

(2) 

Whenever a candidate declines an appointment due to salary, and an individual who now becomes reachable on the certification is appointed, the salary shall not be raised for a period of six months except by a general pay increase.

(3) 

When a candidate who was not immediately reachable is appointed, the work hours of the position cannot be changed within the first year of employment.

G. 

Residency preference. In filling vacancies from an open-competitive eligible list, an appointing authority may require that eligibles who are residents of the municipality in which the vacancy exists be certified first for appointment. Upon exhaustion of the list of resident eligibles, certifications shall be made from the entire eligible list. Where preference in certification is given to residents of a municipality, an eligible must be a resident of that municipality at the time of appointment and must have been a resident of that municipality for at least 90 consecutive days immediately preceding the date of certification.

H. 

Exclusions.

(1) 

When an open-competitive examination announcement results in three or fewer approved applicants and one of them is to be appointed to a position in the announced title, the County Personnel Officer may certify that person for permanent appointment without further examination if that person has already passed an appropriate examination for the title within four years.

(2) 

Certification of an eligible list shall not be required for certain positions. An eligible list will not be certified for a permanent competitive class appointment due to reclassification of a permanently filled competitive class position where appointment from such list would require the displacement of the permanent employee. This provision shall cease to apply if the incumbent whose position was reclassified has, following such reclassification, twice failed to qualify for permanent appointment to the reclassified position.