To document University requirements and obligations when a civil service employee is subject to a permanent layoff, generally as a result of a position elimination. The policy governs actions to be taken when positions held by an employee are eliminated including placement efforts, displacement (“bumping”) between positions, and associated funding responsibilities, in compliance with applicable civil service rules and institutional standards. This policy is intended to ensure that staff reductions resulting from lack of funds, organizational changes, program elimination, or similar operational needs are conducted in a fair, consistent, and orderly manner.
All status civil service staff employees at the University of Illinois Urbana Champaign, including employees in University System Offices located in Urbana Champaign. Status employees who have not yet completed probation but whose position is eliminated are covered to the extent of their accrued continued employment rights. Contract employees as defined by State Universities Civil Service System (SUCSS) Rules 250.880B are excluded from this policy. This policy is not applicable to civil service employees who are dismissed in probation. The policy governing Dismissal in Probation can be found at CAM HR-63.
Illinois Human Resources
Background
SUCSS Layoff Rule 250.110 requires that an employee who is being laid off receive a written notice at least 30 calendar days in advance of the effective date of the layoff. The least senior person in the classification must be laid off first. University Policy and Rules further state that “an employee who is laid off after completing probation may have retreat rights to another position in the employee’s current class or to a position in another job class in which the employee holds seniority.” (https://nessie.uihr.uillinois.edu/pdf/policy/rules/pr2r07.pdf
A permanent layoff may occur when a unit officially declares a need to eliminate a position due to lack of funds, departmental reorganization or program elimination, or other appropriate reasons and the position elimination will cause an employee in that position to be displaced. This policy governs the impacted employee, initiating unit, placement unit and Illinois Human Resources responsibilities. Units cannot eliminate a position and cause a layoff as a means to displace an employee because of performance problems.
Required Approval of Layoff Requests
Employing units with a need to invoke a permanent layoff must submit the request to their College/MAU HR. The College/MAU HR office will determine if the layoff is approved. If the College/MAU HR approves the layoff, then the College/MAU must make every effort to resolve the layoff by placing the displaced employee into a position of the same classification elsewhere within the College/MAU before undertaking efforts to resolve the placement across campus.
The College/MAU then forwards all layoff requests, along with their approval recommendation to IHR Civil Service Operations for final review and determination.
Prioritization of Placement in Vacancies
Units initiating the layoff are required to provide work and pay to the displaced employee until the placement is resolved.
The University prioritizes resolving layoff placements by moving employees into an eligible vacancy in their classification. A vacant position in the employee’s classification that has a specialty factor the employee does not meet is not considered an eligible vacancy for the resolution of the layoff for that employee. Units do not have the ability to withdraw a vacancy in order to resolve a layoff.
If there is no vacancy to place the employee, the employee will be placed in the position held by the least senior employee in the classification.
Illinois Human Resources will manage the placement process in accordance with the current Placement Procedures in place at the time of layoff. The Placement Procedures may be periodically updated.
Employee Rights & Responsibilities
Employees who have completed probation in the classification from which they are laid off maintain their seniority in the classification and their rate of pay.
Employees who are laid off are obligated to comply with the directives from Illinois Human Resources to facilitate placement when exercising their continued employment rights.
Salary Differential
When a layoff placement results in the employee having a greater rate of pay than the budgeted amount for the vacancy or the rate of pay of a less senior employee who is displaced by the placement, the unit initiating the layoff must pay the placement unit the salary differential as follows:
Declining A Placement
Employees who are offered a placement may instead choose to accept the layoff, separate from the university, and be placed on the re-employment register.
MAU: Major Administrative Unit refers to the large, generally campus level non-academic units that are synonymous with the Colleges.
Permanent Layoff: A permanent layoff occurs when an employee will be displaced due to position elimination and staff reduction caused by lack of funds, departmental reorganization, program elimination or other reasons as identified by the employing unit. Units cannot use layoff as a means to displace an employee because of performance problems.
Specialty Factor: Special and identified qualifications that are job-related requirements for a specific position. These qualifications are approved as part of the classification process and are additional requirements above the Minimum Acceptable Qualifications for the classification.
Resources
SUCSS Procedures Manual, Dismissal
SUCSS Procedures Manual, Discharge
Policy 16: Conduct and Discipline, 16.08 Discharge
Policy 16: Conduct and Discipline, 16.09 Dismissal in Probation
Illinois Human Resources, ihr@Illinois.edu, (217) 333- 2137