Permissive Reinstatement

Allows a former employee the opportunity to be re-employed without having to re-compete in an examination.

It is the policy of the Department of General Services (DGS) to comply with rules and regulations governing permissive reinstatement by ensuring that any person seeking to permissively reinstate, must be eligible to do so.

Permissive reinstatement is a privilege and not a mandatory right, which allows a former employee the opportunity to be re-employed without having to re-compete in an examination. An eligible person may reinstate with any department to his/her former classification, a lower class in the same series, or to other class to which the employee could transfer or demote in accordance with State Personnel Board (SPB) rule.

Because a permissive reinstatement is discretionary, a department may opt to fill a vacancy by other methods including, transfer, appointment from an employment list, a training and development assignment, or by temporary authorization.

An appointing power may at his/her discretion, reinstate any person having probationary or permanent status who was separated from his/her position by:

  • Voluntary resignation;
  • Service retirement;
  • Termination from limited-term, temporary, career executive assignment, or exempt appointment; (See Personnel Management Policy and Procedures Manual [PMPPM] sections 312, 313 and 314 for situations that would establish mandatory reinstatement rights.);
  • Automatic resignation (absent without leave) pursuant to Government Code (GC) section 19996.2;
  • Accepting another civil service or exempt appointment without a break in service. (See PMPPM sections 312, 313, 314, and 420 for situations that would establish mandatory reinstatement.);
  • Voluntary demotion;
  • Layoff;
  • Demoted in lieu of layoff;
  • Non-punitive termination pursuant to GC section 19585. An employee separated under 19585 shall have permissive reinstatement eligibility to that position when he/she again meets the requirements for continuing employment in that position, and shall have permissive reinstatement eligibility for any other position as provide by this section.

See California Department of Human Resources (CalHR) Rule 548.90 for CEA permissive return rights. Also, TAU and limited-term appointments provide no reinstatement eligibility to the classes to which those appointments were made.

RESTRICTIONS
See section 311 of the PMPPM for complete information regarding the restrictions below.

  • Reinstatement based on transfer eligibility
  • Licenses, certificates or registrations
  • Time base
  • Reinstatement within 30-days of separation
  • Former CHP officers
  • Service retirement
  • Punitive dismissal
  • Punitive demotion
  • Non-punitive dismissal
  • Rejection during probation
  • After disability retirement
  • Individuals on reemployment lists
  • CEA
  • Probationary period

PROCEDURE
The following table depicts the roles and responsibilities when exercising a permissive reinstatement.

ROLE  RESPONSIBILITY
Employee Because a permissive reinstatement is a privilege and not a mandatory right, it is necessary for an individual seeking reinstatement to locate a vacancy and apply for the position. The SPB does not provide a listing of vacant positions and it is not possible to place the person’s name on any eligible list. However, a person may access SPB’s website for a complete listing of vacancies.
Department Departments have total discretion on whether to fill a position with a permissive reinstatement subject to the restrictions listed above; this includes CEA reinstatements.
Hiring Office

If the potential candidate is seeking reinstatement, the Employee Resource Liaison (ERL) must contact and provide the Classification & Pay Analyst with the following in order for eligibility to be determined:

  • Former employee’s full name;
  • Social security number;
  • Previous classification;
  • Previous state agency (if applicable); and
  • Classification of the position considered for reinstatement.
Classification & Pay Analyst

Verify that the former employee has eligibility to reinstate. If the person was employed by another State agency, contact the agency and request confirmation of the highest list appointment, current salary, current class, time base, tenure, and whether the employee had a permanent appointment.

If the former employee is requesting to be reinstated to a different classification than the classification to which he/she was previously appointed, verify that the classifications are transferable.

Resources

Responsible Control Agencies

  • California Department of Human Resources
  • State Personnel Board

Laws and Regulations

  • Government Code section 19140, 19143, 19144, 19585, 19889.3, 19889.4, 19991.1, 19991.2, 19991.8, 19991.9, 19996.2, 19997.5, 19997.14
  • SPB Rule 425
  • SPB Law 548.152, 548.154(c), 548.155
  • CalHR Rule 599.677, 599.678, 599.784

Other Resource Materials

Contact

Classification and Pay Unit

Department of General Services
Office of Human Resources

707 3rd Street, 7th Floor
West Sacramento, CA 95605
Contact your assigned Classification and Pay Analyst.