State workers passed over for promotions would get 1 year to file challenges under new rule

California state employees who believe they were improperly passed over for a promotion would have a year to challenge their departments’ decisions under a proposed new rule.

As it stands, there’s no statewide deadline by which employees must file merit issue complaints with their departments, according to background information posted with the new proposal on the State Personnel Board website.

The complaints may be used to challenge hiring decisions, eligibility lists, managerial designations and other personnel decisions in addition to missed promotions.

More than 2,000 state employees every year file complaints and pursue appeals after their departments deny or disregard the complaints, said State Personnel Board Executive Director Suzanne Ambrose.

The proposal would limit to a year the time in which employees may file initial complaints with their department’s HR office.

The complaints start a review process. Once an employee files an initial complaint, the department is supposed to respond within 30 days, Ambrose said.

If a department denies an employee’s challenge, the employee has 30 days from the denial to ask for a review from the State Personnel Board. If the department ignores the employee’s appeal, the employee may file for a review with the personnel board after 90 days.

In 2017, the board received 2,281 merit appeals, Ambrose said. The board received 2,770 appeals in 2018 and 2,768 in 2019, she said.

The board accepts around 500 of the appeal requests each year, she said.

The board is accepting public comments on the proposal through May 3. After the comment period closes, the board could make revisions, which would start another 15-day comment period. Once the language is finalized, it would take several more months to be formalized as a rule under state processes.