PART I. GENERAL PROVISIONS
Effective July 1, 2002, part heading changed to "General Civil Service Provisions". L 2000, c 253, §4.
§76-1 Purpose of this chapter; statement of policy. [Section effective until June 30, 2002. For section effective July 1, 2002, see below.] It is the purpose of this chapter to establish in the State and each of the counties a system of personnel administration based on merit principles and scientific methods governing the classification of positions and the employment, conduct, movement, and separation of public officers and employees. It is also the purpose of this chapter to build a career service in government which will attract, select, and retain the best of our citizens on merit, free from coercive political influences, with incentives in the form of genuine opportunities for promotions in the service, which will eliminate unnecessary and inefficient employees, and which will provide technically competent and loyal personnel to render impartial service to the public at all times, and to render that service according to the dictates of ethics and morality. In order to achieve these purposes it is the declared policy of the State that the personnel system hereby established be applied and administered in accordance with the following merit principles:
(1) Equal opportunity for all regardless of race, sex, age, religion, color, ancestry, or politics. No person shall be discriminated against in any case because of any disability, in examination, appointment, reinstatement, reemployment, promotion, transfer, demotion, or removal, with respect to any position the duties of which, in the opinion of the director of human resources development may be efficiently performed by a person with such a disability; provided that the employment will not be hazardous to the appointee or endanger the health or safety of the appointee's co-workers or others;
(2) Impartial selection of the ablest person for government service by means of competitive tests which are fair, objective, and practical;
(3) Just opportunity for competent employees to be promoted within the service;
(4) Reasonable job security for the competent employee, including the right of appeal from personnel actions;
(5) Systematic classification of all positions through adequate job evaluation; and
(6) Proper balance in employer-employee relations between the people as the employer and employees as the individual citizens, to achieve a well trained, productive, and happy working force. [L 1955, c 274, pt of §1; RL 1955, §3-1; am L 1963, c 14, §1; HRS §76-1; am L 1973, c 177, §1(1); am L 1984, c 101, §1; am L 1992, c 33, §5; am L 1994, c 56, §4]
§76-1 Purposes; merit principle.
[Section effective July 1, 2002. For section effective until June 30, 2002, see above.] It is the purpose of this chapter to require each jurisdiction to establish and maintain a separately administered civil service system based on the merit principle. The merit principle is the selection of persons based on their fitness and ability for public employment and the retention of employees based on their demonstrated appropriate conduct and productive performance. It is also the purpose of this chapter to build a career service in government, free from coercive political influences, to render impartial service to the public at all times, according to the dictates of ethics and morality and in compliance with all laws.In order to achieve these purposes, it is the declared policy of the State that the human resource program within each jurisdiction be administered in accordance with the following:
(1) Equal opportunity for all in compliance with all laws prohibiting discrimination. No person shall be discriminated against in examination, appointment, reinstatement, reemployment, promotion, transfer, demotion, or removal, with respect to any position when the work may be efficiently performed by the person without hazard or danger to the health and safety of the person or others;
(2) Impartial selection of individuals for public service by means of competitive tests which are fair, objective, and practical;
(3) Incentives for competent employees within the service, whether financial or promotional opportunities and other performance based group and individual awards that encourage continuous improvement to achieve superior performance;
(4) Reasonable job security for competent employees and discharge of unnecessary or inefficient employees with the right to grieve and appeal personnel actions through the:
(A) Contractual grievance procedure for employees covered by chapter 89; or
(B) Internal complaint procedures and the merit appeals board for employees excluded from coverage under chapter 89;
(5) Equal pay for equal work shall apply between classes in the same bargaining unit among jurisdictions for those classes determined to be equal through systematic classification of positions based on objective criteria and adequate job evaluation, unless it has been agreed in accordance with chapter 89 to negotiate the repricing of classes; and
(6) Harmonious and cooperative relations between government and its employees, including employee organizations representing them, to develop and maintain a well-trained, efficient, and productive work force that utilizes advanced technology to ensure effective government operations and delivery of public services.