[quote=jennyo]The layoff process is arcane. There are rules about bumping and seniority which is why it takes so long. For instance, if a department determines that one of its functions is no longer needed (or a law is passed eliminating the function), they would have to go through their entire staff to determine seniority (based on years of state employment). If an employee in the eliminated unit had more seniority than one in an area that was going to continue operating, the higher seniority person would “bump” the other one of of their position, and then the bumping would continue through the staff until someone actually got laid off. By that time, the person getting laid off probably has another job lined up.
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This is exactly what I am talking about. Supervisors should be able to let go those whom they see fit, and not be forced to take someone from a different department with no training in that dept at the expense of a good, trained, employee. Firing people based solely on when they joined is the stupidest reason I could think of to fire someone. Plus it shoots the state in the foot, protecting baby boomers that are on their way out at the expense of the next generation of state workers. If there is a real problem, like someone got fired for their race, gender, etc etc then I am sure the state is more than equiped with lawyers willing and able to mediate it.