2. Merit system amendments - Laserfiche WebLink

Ms. Laurie Sterioti Hammeren February 15, 2008 Page 3 Until this year, when the State of North Dakota took over administration of the Regional Child Support Enforcement Offices, half of the agencies were associated with State's Attorney Offices and were "at-will" employees and the other half were "for cause" employees because they fell under the umbrella of the Social Services agencies where they were located. In a recent North Dakota case, Forster v. West Dakota Veterinary Clinic & Kim Brummond, D.V.M., 2004 ND 207 (Nov. 4, 2004), the Supreme Court noted the familiar verbiage under NDCC 34-03-01, that "employment without a definite term is presumed to be at-will, and that an at-will employee may be terminated with or without cause." The only Cass County employees with a definite term are those who run for election every four years. THE MERIT SYSTEM ISSUE In the following section from the proposed changes, the regulations seek to define "probationary status" and "regular status". We find this contrary to our current system of operation and contrary to legal advice given to our county. Several other chapters in the state merit system follow, which include grievance procedures, employee appeals, and merit system principles which do not seem to mirror the principles in Federal Law, Section 900.603 Standards for a merit system of Dersonnel administration (See Exhibit B). Subsections 4 and 5 of section 4-07-28-02 are amended as follows: 4-07-28-02. Definitions. The terms used throughout this chapter have the same meaning as in North Dakota Century Code chapter 54-44.3 except: 4. "Probationary status" means a category of employment that applies to an individual employed in a classified position, who was selected for a position on an open, competitive basis and who has not yet completed the initial sIx month probationary period.