Matters relating to starting compensation, prior public sector work experience credit for vacation accrual purposes and other benefits for lateral entry hires shall be at the sole discretion of the City.

Section 4.8 - Promotional Examinations for Classified Positions. Whenever, in the judgment of the City Manager and the Personnel Officer, vacancies in classified positions above the original entry level should be filled by promotion, a promotional examination shall be given. A deadline for filing an application shall be announced. Such examination may be either written, oral, or a combination of all of these. If no one applies for such tests or if less than two are qualified, promotions may be filled through outside eligibles or through opening the next lower classification at the discretion of the City Manager.

Eligibility for promotional examinations in all departments shall be determined by the City Manager and the Personnel Officer after consideration of qualifications and merit rating. For the Department of Safety, eligibility shall include a minimum of eighteen months service in the next lower rank, unless waived by the City Manager.

Section 4.9 - Eligibility Lists. There shall be three types of eligibility lists within the personnel service of the City. These lists are defined in Article 2, Section 2.5.

Eligibility lists shall be maintained as deemed necessary by the Personnel Officer for the classified service. Such lists, in order to be valid, shall be certified by the Personnel Officer to the City Manager. No eligibility lists are required for General Service Workers.

All eligibility lists shall have a duration of six (6) months with an option on the part of the Personnel Officer to extend such an eligibility list for one additional six (6) month period provided that the list shall not be extended more than once without the written approval of the City Manager, and in no event shall said list be extended more than three times.

Eligibility lists shall rank in order the relative merit of each applicant for any classification. Such ranking shall be made on the basis of merit as determined by competitive examinations where applicable in the case of original appointment lists and promotional eligibility lists. Eligibility lists for the purpose of re-employment shall also be based on merit as determined by prior service, including seniority.

Whenever a vacancy is to be filled in the classified service, the Appointing Authority shall make a requisition upon a form prescribed by the Personnel Officer for the certification to him or her of the name of an eligible applicant. A separate requisition shall be filed for each vacancy.

Any individual whose name appears on an eligibility list and who declines appointment when offered shall be removed from that eligibility list. When such list contains only two names, the Personnel Officer may recommend appointment of one of those two individuals or may recommend to the City Manager that the examination process for the classification in question be begun again.