Public Act 095-0956
 
SB2070 Enrolled LRB095 18341 HLH 44425 b

    AN ACT concerning local government.
 
    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:
 
    Section 5. The Fire Department Promotion Act is amended by
changing Sections 20 and 50 as follows:
 
    (50 ILCS 742/20)
    Sec. 20. Promotion lists.
    (a) For the purpose of granting a promotion to any rank to
which this Act applies, the appointing authority shall from
time to time, as necessary, prepare a preliminary promotion
list in accordance with this Act. The preliminary promotion
list shall be distributed, posted, or otherwise made
conveniently available by the appointing authority to all
members of the department.
    (b) A person's position on the preliminary promotion list
shall be determined by a combination of factors which may
include any of the following: (i) the person's score on the
written examination for that rank, determined in accordance
with Section 35; (ii) the person's seniority within the
department, determined in accordance with Section 40; (iii) the
person's ascertained merit, determined in accordance with
Section 45; and (iv) the person's score on the subjective
evaluation, determined in accordance with Section 50.
Candidates shall be ranked on the list in rank order based on
the highest to the lowest total points scored on all of the
components of the test. Promotional components, as defined
herein, shall be determined and administered in accordance with
the referenced Section, unless otherwise modified or agreed to
as provided by paragraph (1) or (2) of subsection (d) (e) of
Section 10. The use of physical criteria, including but not
limited to fitness testing, agility testing, and medical
evaluations, is specifically barred from the promotion
process.
    (c) A person on the preliminary promotion list who is
eligible for a veteran's preference under the laws and
agreements applicable to the department may file a written
application for that preference within 10 days after the
initial posting of the preliminary promotion list. The
preference shall be calculated as provided under Section 55 and
added to the total score achieved by the candidate on the test.
The appointing authority shall then make adjustments to the
rank order of the preliminary promotion list based on any
veteran's preferences awarded. The final adjusted promotion
list shall then be distributed, posted, or otherwise made
conveniently available by the appointing authority to all
members of the department.
    (d) Whenever a promotional rank is created or becomes
vacant due to resignation, discharge, promotion, death, or the
granting of a disability or retirement pension, or any other
cause, the appointing authority shall appoint to that position
the person with the highest ranking on the final promotion list
for that rank, except that the appointing authority shall have
the right to pass over that person and appoint the next highest
ranked person on the list if the appointing authority has
reason to conclude that the highest ranking person has
demonstrated substantial shortcomings in work performance or
has engaged in misconduct affecting the person's ability to
perform the duties of the promoted rank since the posting of
the promotion list. If the highest ranking person is passed
over, the appointing authority shall document its reasons for
its decision to select the next highest ranking person on the
list. Unless the reasons for passing over the highest ranking
person are not remediable remedial, no person who is the
highest ranking person on the list at the time of the vacancy
shall be passed over more than once. Any dispute as to the
selection of the first or second highest-ranking person shall
be subject to resolution in accordance with any grievance
procedure in effect covering the employee.
    A vacancy shall be deemed to occur in a position on the
date upon which the position is vacated, and on that same date,
a vacancy shall occur in all ranks inferior to that rank,
provided that the position or positions continue to be funded
and authorized by the corporate authorities. If a vacated
position is not filled due to a lack of funding or
authorization and is subsequently reinstated, the final
promotion list shall be continued in effect until all positions
vacated have been filled or for a period up to 5 years
beginning from the date on which the position was vacated. In
such event, the candidate or candidates who would have
otherwise been promoted when the vacancy originally occurred
shall be promoted.
    Any candidate may refuse a promotion once without losing
his or her position on the final adjusted promotion list. Any
candidate who refuses promotion a second time shall be removed
from the final adjusted promotion list, provided that such
action shall not prejudice a person's opportunities to
participate in future promotion examinations.
    (e) A final adjusted promotion list shall remain valid and
unaltered for a period of not less than 2 nor more than 3 years
after the date of the initial posting. Integrated lists are
prohibited and when a list expires it shall be void, except as
provided in subsection (d) of this Section. If a promotion list
is not in effect, a successor list shall be prepared and
distributed within 180 days after a vacancy, as defined in
subsection (d) of this Section.
    (f) This Section 20 does not apply to the initial hiring
list.
(Source: P.A. 93-411, eff. 8-4-03.)
 
    (50 ILCS 742/50)
    Sec. 50. Subjective evaluation.
    (a) A promotion test may include subjective evaluation
components. Subjective evaluations may include an oral
interview, tactical evaluation, performance evaluation, or
other component based on subjective evaluation of the examinee.
The methods used for subjective evaluations may include using
any employee assessment centers, evaluation systems, chief's
points, or other methods.
    (b) Any subjective component shall be identified to all
candidates prior to its application, be job-related, and be
applied uniformly to all candidates. Every examinee shall have
the right to documentation of his or her score on the
subjective component upon the completion of the subjective
examination component or its application. A designated
representative of the contracting union party shall be notified
and be entitled to be present to monitor any preliminary
meeting between certified assessors or representatives of a
testing agency and representatives of the appointing authority
held prior to the administration of the test to candidates for
promotion.
    (c) Where chief's points or other subjective methods are
employed that are not amenable to monitoring, monitors shall
not be required, but any disputes as to the results of such
methods shall be subject to resolution in accordance with any
collectively bargained grievance procedure in effect at the
time of the test.
    (d) Where performance evaluations are used as a basis for
promotions, they shall be given annually and made readily
available to each candidate for review and they shall include
any disagreement or documentation the employee provides to
refute or contest the evaluation. These annual evaluations are
not subject to grievance procedures, unless used for points in
the promotion process.
    (e) Total points awarded for subjective components shall be
posted before the written examination is administered and
before the promotion list is compiled.
    (f) Persons selected to grade candidates for promotion
during an assessment center process shall be impartial
professionals who have undergone training to be certified
assessors. The training and certification requirements shall,
at a minimum, provide that, to obtain and maintain
certification, assessors shall complete a course of basic
training, subscribe to a code of ethical conduct, complete
continuing education, and satisfy minimum activity levels.
    (g) The standards for certification shall be established by
a Joint Labor and Management Committee (JLMC) composed of 4
members: 2 designated by a statewide association whose
membership is predominantly fire chiefs representing
management interests of the Illinois fire service, and 2
designated by a statewide labor organization that is a
representative of sworn or commissioned firefighters in
Illinois. Members may serve terms of one year subject to
reappointment.
    For the purposes of this Section, the term "statewide labor
organization" has the meaning ascribed to it in Section 10-3-12
of the Illinois Municipal Code.
    In developing certification standards the JLMC may seek the
advice and counsel of professionals and experts and may appoint
an advisory committee.
    The JLMC's initial certification standards shall be
submitted to the Office of the State Fire Marshal by January 1,
2009. The JLMC may provisionally certify persons who have prior
experience as assessors on promotional examinations in the fire
service. Effective January 1, 2010 only those persons who meet
the certification standards developed by the JLMC and submitted
to the Office of the State Fire Marshal may be selected to
grade candidates on a subjective component of a promotional
examination conducted under the authority of this Act; provided
this requirement shall be waived for persons employed or
appointed by the jurisdiction administering the examination.
    The JLMC shall annually:
        (1) issue public notice offering persons who are
    interested in qualifying as certified assessors the
    opportunity to enroll in training; and
        (2) submit to the Office of the State Fire Marshal an
    amended list of persons who remain certified, are newly
    certified, or who are no longer certified.
    (h) The Office of the State Fire Marshal shall support the
program by adopting certification standards based on those
submitted by the JLMC and by establishing a roster of certified
assessors composed of persons certified by the JLMC.
    If the parties have not agreed to contract with a
particular testing company to provide certified assessors,
either party may request the Office to provide the names of
certified assessors. Within 7 days after receiving a request
from either party for a list of certified assessors, the Office
shall select at random from the roster of certified assessors a
panel numbering not less than 2 times the number of assessors
required. The parties shall augment the number by a factor of
50% by designating assessors who may serve as alternates to the
primary assessors.
    The parties shall select assessors from the list or lists
provided by the Office or from the panel obtained by the
testing company as provided above. Within 7 days following the
receipt of the list, the parties shall notify the Office of the
assessors they have selected. Unless the parties agree on an
alternate selection procedure, they shall alternatively strike
names from the list provided by the Office until only the
number of required assessors remain. A coin toss shall
determine which party strikes the first name. If the parties
fail to notify the Office in a timely manner of their selection
of assessors, the Office shall appoint the assessors required
from the roster of certified assessors. In the event an
assessor is not able to participate in the assessment center
process for which he was selected, either of the parties
involved in the promotion process may request that additional
names of certified assessors be provided by the Office.
(Source: P.A. 93-411, eff. 8-4-03.)
 
    Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
becoming law.