Chapter 3 – Personnel, Training, and Employee Relations

31060.6.4 Limited‑Term Appointments

• The Department has authority to make and extend LTLimited Term appointments. Initial appointments shall be limited to up to one year. The extension shall be limited to up to one additional year and may be considered when a permanent appointment is likely to cause a layoff, demotion, or mandatory transfer requiring a change of residence upon the conclusion of the temporary staffing need.

• Requirements

  • Eligible lists shall not be circumvented by a LTLimited Term appointment to a permanent position. Positions which are of limited duration shall not be filled on a permanent basis since this removes the appointee from consideration for true permanent positions and bestows unwarranted permanent status.

  • Permanent rather than LTLimited Term appointments may be more appropriate when:

    • The temporary vacancy is in a classification subject to high turnover.

    • New positions are established on a temporary basis pending approval of the State budget, since the positions shall be converted to permanent when the budget is adopted.

• Local Approval

  • In the following situations, the hiring authority may authorize one or more LTLimited Term appointments, provided the total time of an employee’s appointment(s) does not exceed one year.

    • Seasonally recurrent positions. Appointments to non-testing or TAUTemporary Authorization only classes may be made for a period of up to nine months in one transaction.

    • Positions established for a specific study or survey. Research projects may require the creation of specific classes for the duration of the project.

    • Temporary vacancies. A person being on a leave of absence for one year or less.

    • The appointment of a permanent employee to a different position on a LTLimited Term basis.

• Headquarters Approval

  • The following appointments require advance approval from the Personnel Operations Section:

    • Temporary filling of vacancies during or pending a reorganization or possible layoff situation.

    • Vacancies filled in anticipation of reorganization or layoff expected to span a period of more than one year may be filled by permanent appointment.

  • This approval process shall ensure consistency with the Department’s restriction of appointment process.

• Two-Year Appointments

  • One-year, limited-term appointments may be extended for up to a total period of two years upon prior approval by the Chief, Personnel Management. All such requests shall be forwarded to the Personnel Operations Section at least 30 days prior to the effective date, and include the following information:

    • Name, social security number, and civil service classification of employee.

    • Period of time involved.

    • Justification for the need to authorize a LTLimited Term appointment to exceed one year.

  • The anticipated number of limited-term appointments, the number and location of permanent positions in the classification, turnover rate for the classification, budgetary trends, and issues which impact the Department’s ability to absorb permanent employees either locally or department wide shall be considered when the justification is prepared.

• Justification File

  • For audit purposes, the Personnel Operations Section shall file and retain for three years the hiring authority’s requests and justifications for appointments to exceed one year.