GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA
1991 SESSION

CHAPTER 474
HOUSE BILL 942

AN ACT TO PROVIDE PRIORITY CONSIDERATION TO STATE EMPLOYEES WHO RECEIVE REDUCTION IN FORCE NOTIFICATION.

The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:

Section 1.  G.S. 126-7.1 reads as rewritten:
"§ 126-7.1. Posting requirement; State employees receive priority consideration.
(a)	All vacancies for which any State agency, department, or institution openly recruit shall be posted within at least the following:
(1)	The personnel office of the agency, department, or institution having the vacancy; and
(2)	The particular work unit of the agency, department, or institution having the vacancy
in a location readily accessible to employees.  If the decision is made, initially or at any time while the vacancy remains open, to receive applicants from outside the recruiting agency, department, or institution, the vacancy shall be listed with the Office of State Personnel for the purpose of informing current State employees of such vacancy. The State agency, department, or institution may not receive approval from the Office of State Personnel to fill a job vacancy if the agency, department, or institution cannot prove to the satisfaction of the Office of State Personnel that it complied with these posting requirements.   The agency, department, or institution which hires any person in violation of these posting requirements shall pay such person when employment is discontinued as a result of such violation for the work performed during the period of time between his initial employment and separation.
(b)	Subsection (a) of this section does not apply to vacancies which must be filled immediately to prevent work stoppage or the protection of the public health, safety, or security.
(c)	If a State employee:
(1)	Applies for another position of State employment; and
(2)	Has substantially equal qualifications as an applicant who is not a State employee then the State employee shall receive priority consideration over the applicant who is not a State employee.
(c1)	If a State employee who has been separated due to reduction in force or who has been given notice of imminent separation due to reduction in force:
(1)	Applies for another position of State employment equal to or lower in salary grade than the position held by the employee at the time of notification or separation; and
(2)	Is determined qualified for that position
then within the separating agency, the State employee shall receive priority consideration over other applicants including those who are current State employees not affected by the reduction in force.  Within all other agencies, the State employee shall receive priority consideration over other applicants from outside State government, but shall receive equal consideration with other applicants who are current State employees not affected by the reduction in force. This priority shall remain in effect for a period of 12 months from the date the employee receives notification of separation by reduction in force.  State employees separated due to reduction in force shall receive higher priority than other applicants with employment or reemployment priorities, except that the reemployment priority created by G.S. 126-5(e)(1) shall be considered as equal. The reduction in force priority created by this act shall be administered in accordance with rules promulgated by the State Personnel Commission.
(d)	'Qualifications' within the meaning of subsection (c) of this section shall consist of:
(1)	Training or education; 
(2)	Years of experience; and
(3)	Other skills, knowledge, and abilities that bear a reasonable functional relationship to the abilities and skills required in the job vacancy applied for."
Sec. 2.  This act is effective upon ratification.
In the General Assembly read three times and ratified this the 1st day of July, 1991.

─────────────────── 
James C. Gardner
President of the Senate

─────────────────── 
Daniel Blue, Jr.
Speaker of the House of Representatives