The Mayor and the District of Columbia Board of Education shall issue rules and regulations establishing a procedure for the orderly furloughing of employees or termination of employees, taking full account of nondiscrimination provisions and appointments objectives of this chapter. Each agency shall be considered a competitive area for reduction-in-force purposes. A personnel authority may establish lesser competitive areas within an agency on the basis of all or a clearly identifiable segment of an agency’s mission or a division or major subdivision of an agency. When as a result of a reorganization order a function is transferred from 1 District agency to another District agency, the procedures for transferring the employees identified with the continuing function shall be negotiated with the recognized labor organization.
§ 1–624.02. Procedures.
(a) Reduction-in-force procedures shall apply to the Career and Educational Services, except those persons separated pursuant to § 1-608.01a(b)(2), and to persons appointed to the Excepted and Legal Services as attorneys and shall include:
(1) A prescribed order of separation based on tenure of appointment, length of service including creditable federal and military service, District residency, veterans preference, and relative work performance;
(2) One round of lateral competition limited to positions within the employee’s competitive level;
(3) Priority reemployment consideration for employees separated;
(4) Consideration of job sharing and reduced hours; and
(5) Employee appeal rights.
(b)(1) For purposes of this subchapter, a veterans preference eligibility will be defined in accordance with federal law and regulations issued by the U.S. Office of Personnel Management;
(2) Creditable service in determining length of service shall include all federal, District government, and military service otherwise creditable for Civil Service retirement purposes;
(3) Performance ratings documented and approved which recognize outstanding performance shall serve to increase the employee’s service for reduction-in-force purposes by 4 years during the period the outstanding rating is in effect. Performance ratings may not be changed subsequent to the establishment of retention registers and issuance of reduction-in-force notices; and
(4) Employees serving on temporary limited appointments or having unacceptable performance ratings are not entitled to compete for retention.
(c) For purposes of this subchapter, each employee who is a bona fide resident of the District of Columbia shall have 3 years added to his or her creditable service for reduction-in-force purposes. For purposes of this subsection only, a nonresident District employee who was hired by the District government prior to January 1, 1980, and has not had a break in service since that date, or a former employee of the United States Department of Health and Human Services at Saint Elizabeths Hospital who accepted employment with the District government effective October 1, 1987, and has not had a break in service since that date, shall be considered a District resident.
(d) A reduction-in-force action may not be taken until the employee has been afforded at least 15 days advance notice of such an action. The notification required by this subsection must be in writing and must include information pertaining to the employee’s retention standing and appeal rights.
(e) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the Board of Education shall not require or permit non-school-based personnel or school administrators to be assigned or reassigned to the same competitive level as classroom teachers.
§ 1–624.03. Responsibility.
The appropriate personnel authority shall be responsible for making a final determination that a reduction in force is necessary and for ensuring that the provisions of this subchapter and rules and regulations issued pursuant to this subchapter are applied when effecting a reduction-in-force within their respective agency.
§ 1–624.04. Appeals.
An employee who has received a specific notice that he or she has been identified for separation from his or her position through a reduction-in-force action may file an appeal with the Office of Employee Appeals if he or she believes that his or her agency has incorrectly applied the provisions of this subchapter or the rules and regulations issued pursuant to this subchapter. An appeal must be filed no later than 30 calendar days after the effective date of the action. The filing of an appeal shall not serve to delay the effective date of the action.
§ 1–624.05. [Reserved].
§ 1–624.06. Abolishment of positions for Fiscal Year 1996. [Repealed]
Repealed.
§ 1–624.07. Abolishment of positions for Fiscal Year 1997. [Repealed]
Repealed.
§ 1–624.08. Abolishment of positions for fiscal year 2000 and subsequent fiscal years.
(a) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, regulation, or collective bargaining agreement either in effect or to be negotiated while this legislation is in effect for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2000, and each subsequent fiscal year, each agency head is authorized, within the agency head’s discretion, to identify positions for abolishment.
(b) Prior to February 1 of each fiscal year, each personnel authority (other than a personnel authority of an agency which is subject to a management reform plan under subtitle B of title XI of the Balanced Budget Act of 1997) shall make a final determination that a position within the personnel authority is to be abolished.
(c) Notwithstanding any rights or procedures established by any other provision of this subchapter, any District government employee, regardless of date of hire, who encumbers a position identified for abolishment shall be separated without competition or assignment rights, except as provided in this section.
(d) An employee affected by the abolishment of a position pursuant to this section who, but for this section would be entitled to compete for retention, shall be entitled to one round of lateral competition pursuant to Chapter 24 of the District of Columbia Personnel Manual, which shall be limited to positions in the employee’s competitive level.
(e) Each employee selected for separation pursuant to this section shall be given written notice of at least 30 days before the effective date of his or her separation.
(f) Neither the establishment of a competitive area smaller than an agency, nor the determination that a specific position is to be abolished, nor separation pursuant to this section shall be subject to review except that:
(2) An employee may file with the Office of Employee Appeals an appeal contesting that the separation procedures of subsections (d) and (e) were not properly applied.
(g) An employee separated pursuant to this section shall be entitled to severance pay in accordance with subchapter XI of this chapter, except that the following shall be included in computing creditable service for severance pay for employees separated pursuant to this section:
(1) Four years for an employee who qualified for veterans preference under this chapter, and
(2) Three years for an employee who qualified for residency preference under this chapter.
(h) Separation pursuant to this section shall not affect an employee’s rights under either the Agency Reemployment Priority Program or the Displaced Employee Program established pursuant to Chapter 24 of the District Personnel Manual.
(i) With respect to agencies which are not subject to a management reform plan under subtitle B of title XI of the Balanced Budget Act of 1997, the Mayor shall submit to the Council a listing of all positions to be abolished by agency and responsibility center by March 1 of each fiscal year or upon the delivery of termination notices to individual employees.
(j) Notwithstanding the provisions of § 1-617.08 or § 1-624.02(d), the provisions of this chapter shall not be deemed negotiable.
(k) A personnel authority shall cause a 30-day termination notice to be served, no later than September 1 of each fiscal year, on any incumbent employee remaining in any position identified to be abolished pursuant to subsection (b) of this section.
(l) In the case of an agency which is subject to a management reform plan under subtitle B of title XI of the Balanced Budget Act of 1997, the authority provided by this section shall be exercised to carry out the agency’s management reform plan, and this section shall otherwise be implemented solely in a manner consistent with such plan.
§ 1–624.09. Severance pay.
(a) An employee separated pursuant to this subchapter shall be entitled to severance pay in accordance with subchapter XI of this chapter, except as provided in this section.
(b) Additional service credit shall be applied as follows:
(1) Four years for an employee who qualifies for veterans preference; and
(2) Three years for an employee who qualifies for District residency preference.
(c) The total severance pay received over an employee’s career in the District government shall not exceed 26 weeks of pay at the rate received immediately before separation.
