§ 36-4-26.1 - Supplemental certification in the civil service – Expanded certification for equal opportunity and affirmative action.
SECTION 36-4-26.1
§ 36-4-26.1 Supplemental certification inthe civil service – Expanded certification for equal opportunity andaffirmative action. – (a) To eliminate the overall adverse impact of systemic barriers to theemployment of minorities as a protected class, the office of personneladministration shall provide all appointing authorities the necessaryflexibility to remedy the effects of systemic discriminatory practices.Supplemental certification does not guarantee employment of protected classes.It guarantees the appointing authority increased opportunities, where possible,to appoint qualified employees from an expanded eligibility list whenever adepartment can demonstrate that there is statistical underrepresentation basedon demographic analysis, otherwise called a "manifest imbalance" elsewhere inthis chapter.
(b) Wherever a manifest imbalance exists, as substantiated bythe appointing authority and certified by the equal opportunity administratorin conjunction with the state personnel administrator, a supplementalcertification list of minorities may be called for in addition to theappropriate employment or promotion list, except in the following instances:
(1) The absence of statistical data or reasonable evidence toshow significant past discrimination, patterns of possible discrimination,and/or adverse impact on the protected classes;
(2) The presence of at least one minority ranked among thethree (3) persons standing highest on the list of persons certified by thepersonnel administrator for the position in question;
(3) The absence of any minorities on the appropriateeligibility list; or
(4) Any instance in which the department or agency is subjectto a contradictory or inconsistent court order.
(c) Supplemental certifications based on race or color as aprotected class shall be made by an appointing authority whenever:
(1) The appointing authority shall make requisition to fillone or more positions included in the appointing authority's affirmative actionplan on file with the equal opportunity administrator;
(2) The equal opportunity administrator has made a writtendetermination substantiating that previous practices of the department and/orof the appointing authority with respect to the filling of the position orpositions have discriminated against minorities in contravention of anyprovision of the Constitution of the United States or the Constitution of RhodeIsland and Providence Plantations, title VII of the federal Civil Rights Act of1964 (42 U.S.C. 2000e) or any other federal or state statute; and
(3) Eligible minorities have passed an examination for theclassification being recruited and/or other list deemed appropriate by thepersonnel administrator.
(d) At least seven (7) days prior to certifying names underthis section, the appointing authority shall post a notice of intention to doso in the offices of the personnel administrator and of the equal opportunityadministrator, and shall mail a copy of the notice to the applicable union, ifany, with instructions to post copies of the notice at all locations wherepersons whose names may be certified under the provisions of this section may,if employed, be assigned.
(e) In certifying names for appointment to a classificationfor which supplemental certification is required, the personnel administratorshall include upon the applicable list the names of six (6) persons certifiedpursuant to this section.