NP-2 Seniority Waiver and Process

The NP-2 seniority waiver process was developed to insure compliance with Article 14, section 5 of the Maintenance Contract.

Section 5 requires that “after consideration of affirmative action goals, vacancies shall be filled on the basis of greater seniority.” This is qualified in the next line to this extent: The most senior candidate shall be selected “unless in the reasonable judgment of the employer, there is a significant difference in the work records of those seeking the position or if the more senior employee is not qualified to perform the job.”  The hiring supervisor should use the seniority waiver form to identify and support his/her “reasonable judgment.”

The waiver form itself lists four possible “reasons for request.” These are interpreted as follows:

  1. DOES NOT MEET MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS, SKILLS, EXPERIENCE AND TRAINING
    The “experience and training” section of the job specification are the only requirements that can be considered under this category.For example, the skilled maintainer specification identifies the E&T requirement to include two years experience in one of the following areas: 1) one of the skilled trades; 2) landscape maintenance or vegetable gardening; 3) operation of motor trucks or large buses.  While the experience must be related to the current opening, it cannot exceed what is written in the specification.
  2. SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCE IN “WORK RECORD”
    The contract specifies that this is “limited to an employee’s performance as reflected by the official personnel file during the 18 month period immediately prior to the posting of the vacancy.”
  3. HAS RECEIVED LESS THAN GOOD SERVICE RATING IN THE MOST RECENT EVALUATION
    If there is no written discipline or service rating on file, the record is considered satisfactory.
  4. DOES NOT HAVE PERMANENT STATUS IN THE NEXT LOWER GRADE
    This could become a factor if several long-term employees apply for a position. One may not utilize this waiver in order to make an outside hire because of the specific wording of Article 14, Section 5(a)(3).

In order to insure that all candidates are reviewed according to the same criteria, written interview questionnaires should be prepared beforehand. Questions should be developed based primarily on the job specification. A Human Resources Recruiter is a primary resource for assistance in this area. They can be reached in the Employment Services Unit of the Department of Human Resources at (860) 486-2073.

A separate seniority waiver should be prepared for each applicant with more seniority than the preferred candidate. These applications, as well as the application of the person the department wishes to hire, should be attached to the waiver forms. The applications and waiver should be sent directly to the Labor Relations Unit of the Department of Human Resources, Unit 5075.

Please contact Labor Relations at (860) 486-5684, if you have questions about the waiver process itself. Questions concerning job spec interpretation should go directly to Employment Services Unit at (860) 486-2073.