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90_HB2788
New Act
Creates the Fire Department Promotion Act. Provides that
promotions in municipal fire departments and fire protection
district fire departments shall be based upon examination,
seniority within the department, ascertained merit, and
veteran's preference. Requires promotion of the person at
the top of the promotion list. Provides for a one-year
period of probation, during which the person may be demoted
for just cause, including failure to demonstrate the ability
required for the job. Pre-empts home rule, but exempts
Chicago. Contains other provisions. Effective immediately.
LRB9010346EGfg
LRB9010346EGfg
1 AN ACT in relation to fire department promotions.
2 Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
3 represented in the General Assembly:
4 Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the
5 Fire Department Promotion Act.
6 Section 5. Definitions. For the purposes of this Act:
7 "Affected department" or "department" means a municipal
8 fire department or the fire department operated by a fire
9 protection district. The terms do not include fire
10 departments operated by the State, a university, a county, a
11 municipality with a population over 1,000,000, or any unit of
12 local government other than a municipality or fire protection
13 district.
14 "Departmental authority" means the board of police and
15 fire commissioners, civil service commissioners,
16 superintendent or department head, fire protection district
17 board of trustees, or other entity having the authority to
18 administer and grant promotions in an affected department.
19 "Promotion" means any permanent advancement in rank
20 within an affected department for which an examination is
21 ordinarily required. "Promotion" does not include (i) a
22 temporary appointment to an administrative or executive
23 position for which an examination is not ordinarily required,
24 (ii) an appointment to a position held only at the pleasure
25 of the appointing authority, or (iii) appointment as the
26 Superintendent, Chief, or other chief executive officer of an
27 affected department.
28 Section 10. Application of Act.
29 (a) In the case of an affected department in which
30 promotions are not subject to a collective bargaining
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1 agreement in effect on January 1, 1999, this Act applies to
2 all promotions made on or after that date. In the case of an
3 affected department in which promotions are subject to a
4 collective bargaining agreement on January 1, 1999, this Act
5 applies to all promotions made after the expiration or
6 renewal of that collective bargaining agreement.
7 (b) In accordance with subsection (i) of Section 6 of
8 Article VII of the Illinois Constitution, this Act is a
9 limitation on the concurrent exercise by home rule units of
10 powers and functions exercised by the State. A home rule
11 municipality may not administer promotions in its fire
12 department in a manner inconsistent with this Act.
13 (c) This Act does not apply to any municipality with a
14 population over 1,000,000.
15 Section 15. Promotion procedure.
16 (a) Notwithstanding any statute, ordinance, rule, or
17 other law to the contrary, all promotions in an affected
18 department to which this Act applies shall be administered in
19 the manner provided in this Act. Provisions of the Municipal
20 Code, the Fire Protection District Act, municipal ordinances,
21 and other laws relating to promotions in affected departments
22 shall continue to be effective to the extent that they are
23 compatible with this Act, but in the event of conflict
24 between this Act and any other law, this Act controls.
25 (b) For the purpose of granting promotion to any rank or
26 position to which this Act applies, the departmental
27 authority shall from time to time administer a promotion
28 examination in accordance with Section 20 and prepare a
29 preliminary promotion list. A person's position on the
30 preliminary promotion list shall be determined by a
31 combination of 3 factors: (i) the person's score on the
32 promotion examination for that rank or position; (ii) the
33 person's seniority with the department, calculated as
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1 provided in Section 25; and (iii) the person's ascertained
2 merit, determined in accordance with Section 30. The
3 preliminary promotion list shall be distributed, posted, or
4 otherwise made conveniently available by the departmental
5 authority to all members of the department.
6 (c) A person on the preliminary promotion list who is
7 eligible for a veteran's preference under the laws and
8 agreements applicable to the department may file a written
9 application for that preference within 10 days after the
10 initial posting of the preliminary promotion list. The
11 preference shall be calculated as provided under Section 35
12 and applied as an adjustment to the person's position on the
13 promotion list. The departmental authority shall make
14 adjustments to the preliminary promotion list based on any
15 veteran's preferences claimed, and the adjusted promotion
16 list shall then be distributed, posted, or otherwise made
17 conveniently available by the departmental authority to all
18 members of the department.
19 (d) Whenever a position to be filled by promotion is
20 created or becomes vacant, the departmental authority shall
21 appoint to that position the person with the highest total
22 score on the current adjusted promotion list for that rank.
23 "Current adjusted promotion list" means the adjusted
24 promotion list for that rank that is in effect on the date
25 the position is created or the vacancy occurs. If there is
26 no promotion list in effect for that rank on that date, or if
27 all persons on the current promotion list for that rank
28 refuse the promotion, the affected department shall not make
29 a permanent promotion until a new adjusted promotion list has
30 been prepared in accordance with this Act, but may make a
31 temporary appointment to fill the vacancy or newly created
32 position until a permanent promotion can be made, unless
33 otherwise provided in an applicable collective bargaining
34 agreement.
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1 A vacancy shall be deemed to occur in a position on the
2 date upon which the position is vacated; on that same date, a
3 vacancy shall also be deemed to exist in every rank inferior
4 to that rank. Promotions shall be made in rank order,
5 beginning with the vacant position of the highest rank.
6 (e) A person may refuse a promotion, in which case his
7 or her name shall be removed from the current adjusted
8 promotion list. Refusal of a promotion does not make a
9 person ineligible for future examinations or promotion lists.
10 (f) An adjusted promotion list shall be prepared and
11 maintained in accordance with this Act for each rank to be
12 filled by promotion. An adjusted promotion list shall remain
13 valid for a period of 3 years from the date of its initial
14 distribution or posting, and until a successor list has been
15 prepared and distributed, so long as at least one eligible
16 person remains on the list. The departmental authority shall
17 endeavor to begin preparations for creating a new list for
18 each rank in a timely manner.
19 Section 20. Examinations.
20 (a) The promotion examination for a particular rank
21 shall consist of a written test of the examinee's knowledge
22 of matters relating to the duties regularly performed by
23 persons holding that rank within the department. The
24 examination shall be based only on the contents of written
25 materials that the departmental authority has identified and
26 made readily available to potential examinees at least 6
27 months before the examination is administered. The promotion
28 examination shall not include any written essay, oral
29 examination, character or performance evaluation, or other
30 component based on subjective evaluation of the examinee, and
31 the department may not condition eligibility to take a
32 promotion examination upon these techniques or any other
33 process based on subjective evaluation.
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1 (b) Promotion examinations shall be graded at the
2 examination site on the day of the examination, and every
3 examinee shall have the right (i) to be present while the
4 examinations are being graded, (ii) to learn his or her score
5 on the examination on the day of the examination, and (iii)
6 to learn the answers to the examination that the examiners
7 consider correct. The maximum score on the examination shall
8 be 75 points if ascertained merit points are available to
9 examinees in accordance with Section 30; in other cases the
10 maximum score on the examination shall be 85 points.
11 (c) For each rank to be filled by promotion, the
12 departmental authority shall provide a separate examination.
13 The departmental authority may employ consultants to design
14 and administer promotion examinations and may adopt any
15 nationally recognized examinations or study materials that
16 may become available, so long as they comply with the
17 requirements of this Act. Sample examinations may be
18 examined by the department authority and members of the
19 department, but no person in the department or the
20 departmental authority (including the chief, members of the
21 civil service commission, board of police and fire
22 commissioners, or fire protection district board, and other
23 appointed or elected officials) may see or examine the
24 specific questions on the actual promotion examination before
25 the examination is administered.
26 (d) Each department shall maintain reading and study
27 materials for its current and last 3 previous promotion
28 examinations for each rank and shall make these materials
29 readily and conveniently available to all members of the
30 department.
31 Section 25. Seniority points. Up to 15 points shall be
32 granted for seniority. Seniority points shall be based only
33 upon service with the affected department and shall be
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1 calculated as of the date of the promotion examination. A
2 person who has less than 5 years of service with the affected
3 department shall receive no seniority points. A person with
4 at least 5 years of service shall be entitled to 1/12th of
5 one point for each completed month of service with the
6 affected department, up to a maximum of 15 points for 15 or
7 more years of service with the affected department.
8 Section 30. Ascertained merit. Up to 10 points may be
9 granted for ascertained merit, but only if and as authorized
10 by collective bargaining agreement. In accordance with the
11 agreement, ascertained merit points may be awarded for
12 education, training, and certification in subjects and skills
13 related to firefighting, so long as all persons eligible to
14 compete for promotion are given an equal opportunity to
15 establish ascertained merit points. The agreement may
16 explicitly limit the subjects or skills for which ascertained
17 merit points will be granted, or authorize the granting of
18 ascertained merit points for all education, training, and
19 certification related to firefighting without regard to
20 whether the subjects or skills are specifically related to
21 the rank or position that is the subject of the promotion.
22 Section 35. Veteran's preference. A person on a
23 preliminary promotion list who is eligible for a veteran's
24 preference under Section 10-1-16 or 10-2.1-11 of the
25 Municipal Code, Section 16.08a of the Fire Protection
26 District Act, or any other law or agreement applicable to an
27 affected department may file a written application for that
28 preference within 10 days after the initial posting of the
29 preliminary promotion list. The veteran's preference shall
30 be calculated as provided in the applicable law or agreement
31 and applied as an increase in the applicant's total score on
32 the preliminary promotion list. Once a person has received a
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1 promotion from a promotion list on which his or her position
2 was adjusted for veteran's preference, regardless of whether
3 that promotion list was prepared under this Act, the person
4 shall not be eligible for any subsequent veteran's preference
5 under this Act.
6 Section 40. Right to review. Any person who believes
7 that an error has been made with respect to his or her
8 eligibility to take an examination, examination result,
9 placement or position on a promotion list, or veteran's
10 preference shall be entitled to a review of the matter by the
11 departmental authority or as otherwise provided by law or in
12 an applicable collective bargaining agreement. This Section
13 is not exclusive and does not limit any right to seek review
14 or redress under any other law or agreement.
15 Section 45. Probation. Every person granted a promotion
16 under the procedures set forth in this Act shall be on
17 probation for a period of 12 months from the date of
18 promotion. At any time during the period of probation, the
19 person may be demoted to his or her previous rank for just
20 cause. For the purpose of this Section, "just cause"
21 includes a failure to demonstrate the ability or
22 qualifications necessary to provide satisfactory service in
23 the rank and position to which the person has been promoted.
24 Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
25 becoming law.