1800 Appointments

1830(A) Reinstatements Pursuant to Rule 5.4

.1 BACKGROUND

.110 Legal Basis

.111 Section 5.4 of the Rules for the Classified Service (4 NYCRR) provides that permanent employees of New York State who have resigned their positions may be reinstated to their former positions, or to positions to which they were eligible for transfer or reassignment, without further examination.

.2 POLICY

.210 General

.211 Employees separated from their positions may be reinstated within one year of the date of their separation.

.212 Employees separated from their positions who have also been separated from state service for more than one year may be reinstated upon approval by the state civil service commission.

.220 Limitations and Requirements

.221 The policy of the state is to permit reinstatement following any separation other than dismissal resulting from a disciplinary proceeding under Section 75 of the Civil Service Law or under one of the collective bargaining agreements. Former permanent probationers may be reinstated.

.222 Reinstatement may not be made to a position for which there is a reemployment list containing the names of eligibles willing to accept appointment.

*.223 In calculating the one year period within which a person may be reinstated, any time spent in active service in the military and/or any time served in another position in the state service (regardless of classification or status) will not be counted. If an employee resigns from state service while on leave of absence the resignation is deemed effective as of the date of commencement of such leave. (The effective date of separation for employees terminated for an ordinary disability under §73 CSL is the actual date of termination.) The effective date of separation for employees suspended pursuant to §80 or §80-a is the date on which their four years of preferred list eligibility expired.

.224 A reinstatement requiring Civil Service Commission approval will become effective on the date of such approval.

.225 An employee may be reinstated when it is in the interest of the government and for good cause; the recapture of an employee's benefits or accruals lost upon separation is not generally sufficient justification for reinstatement. The Civil Service Commission generally will not approve reinstatement in situations where the sole intent is the restoration of employee benefits lost upon separation.

.226 Reinstatement pursuant to Rule 5.4 may be used to effect a voluntary demotion (see SPMM 1845 [This should be SPMM 1850 (F)]).

.227 Employees reinstated under Rule 5.4 must serve a probationary term which may not be waived regardless of the transaction accompanying the reinstatement. (see SPMM 1830 .4, below, and SPMM 2010).

.3 INTERPRETATIONS

.310 The following examples illustrate correct applications of the rule.

1. A permanent employee in title A resigns and leaves State service. Ten months later the former employee is appointed to title B from an open competitive list. Three months later, the agency wishes to reinstate the employee to title A.
   Commission approval is not required. Although the employee had been -- separated from Title A for more than one year, the separation from state service was for only ten months.
2. A permanent employee in title C resigns and leaves State service. Six months later the former employee accepts a temporary appointment in title D in the same governmental jurisdiction. Seven months later the agency wishes to reinstate the employee to title C.
   Commission approval is not required for the same reasons as in example 1. Note that temporary service is not considered as "time separated" when calculating the one-year break in service.
3. A permanent employee in title E resigns and leaves State service. More than a year later, the former employee is appointed to title E from the open competitive list. The agency subsequently wishes to reinstate the employee to title E.
   Commission approval would be required if reinstatement is sought. However, since the reinstatement would be for "benefits only, " (the employee has already regained permanent status in title E through a list appointment) the Commission is not likely to approve the reinstatement.
4. A permanent employee in title F resigns and leaves State service. More than one year later the former employee is appointed to title G from the open competitive list. The agency subsequently wishes to reinstate the employee to title F.
   Commission approval is required. The employee has been separated from both the title F position and state service for more than one year. Although the reinstatement will result in the restoration of the employee's benefits, the reinstatement is to a position not currently held by the employee, in contrast to the situation outlined in example 3 above.
5. A permanent employee in title H resigns and leaves State service. More than one year later the former employee is reinstated with the Commission's approval to title I, a lower level title the employee formerly held. Subsequently the agency wishes to reinstate the employee to title H.
   Commission approval is required. Similar to example 4, above, the employee has been out of both the title H position and state service for more than one year. A subsequent appointment to a position in a different title, whether permanent or temporary, does not negate the one year break in service.
6. A permanent employee in title J receives a leave of absence for six months and subsequently resigns. Seven months later the employee is appointed from an open competitive list to title K. The agency later wishes to reinstate the employee to title J.
   Commission approval is required. The effective date of resignation is the date the employee went on leave, and therefore the employee has been out of service for more than one year.

.4 PROCEDURES

.410 Reinstatement not requiring Civil Service Commission action.

.411 These appointments may be effected through the normal payroll process, following appropriate budgetary, classification, and appointment procedures. The conditions listed in .220 must be met before submitting payroll transaction forms. Other issues that must be considered:

• is transfer appropriate between the former title and the title to which reinstatement is planned?
• does the employee qualify for that transfer'?
• does the reinstatement involve recalculation of salary/ seniority/ leave accruals/ etc? (Military and/or leave status may affect this item.)
• Agency personnel staff should consult with appropriate staff in the Department of Civil Service and the Office of the State Comptroller to ensure that payroll forms are accurate and complete: the employee must gain all entitled benefits.

.420 Reinstatements requiring Civil Service Commission approval.

.421 Requests for these actions should be submitted to the appropriate staffing services section for analysis and preparation for Commission review. Requests must demonstrate good cause and that the reinstatement will be in the interests of the government. Requests also must provide relevant employment history for the employee and a description of the mechanism to be employed for the appointment (i.e. if a transfer, under which of the provisions for transfer, and how the employee qualifies). Issues raised in .411 (above) should be addressed.

.430 Payroll forms to effect reinstatements.

.431 Use transaction code REIN RES to transact reinstatements under Rule 5.4 which do NOT require Civil Service Commission approval. Include appropriate notations in the "Remarks" section (transfer type, etc.)

.432 Use transaction code REIN COMM to transact Civil Service Commission-approved reinstatements pursuant to Rule 5.4. The effective date of this transaction will be the date of Commission approval unless otherwise specified by the Civil Service Commission. In all cases, notice of Civil Service Commission approval must accompany the transaction form. Include appropriate notations in the "Remarks" section.

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