(A) The state personnel board of review shall exercise the following powers and perform the following duties:

(1) Hear appeals, as provided by law, of employees in the classified state service from final decisions of appointing authorities or the director of administrative services relative to reduction in pay or position, job abolishments, layoff, suspension, discharge, assignment or reassignment to a new or different position classification, or refusal of the director, or anybody authorized to perform the director's functions, to reassign an employee to another classification or to reclassify the employee's position with or without a job audit under division (D) of section 124.14 of the Revised Code. As used in this division, "discharge" includes disability separations.

The state personnel board of review may affirm, disaffirm, or modify the decisions of the appointing authorities or the director, as the case may be, and its decision is final. The decisions of the state personnel board of review shall be consistent with the applicable classification specifications.

The state personnel board of review shall not be deprived of jurisdiction to hear any appeal due to the failure of an appointing authority to file its decision with the board. Any final decision of an appointing authority or of the director not filed in the manner provided in this chapter shall be disaffirmed.

The state personnel board of review may place an exempt employee, as defined in section 124.152 of the Revised Code, into a bargaining unit classification, if the state personnel board of review determines that the bargaining unit classification is the proper classification for that employee. Notwithstanding Chapter 4117. of the Revised Code or instruments and contracts negotiated under it, such placements are at the discretion of the state personnel board of review.

The mere failure of an employee's appointing authority to file a statement with the department of administrative services indicating that the employee is in the unclassified civil service, or the mere late filing of such a statement, does not prevent the state personnel board of review from determining that the employee is in the unclassified civil service. In determining whether an employee is in the unclassified civil service, the state personnel board of review shall consider the inherent nature of the duties of the employee's classification during the two-year period immediately preceding the appointing authority's appealable action relating to the employee.

In any hearing before the state personnel board of review, including any hearing at which a record is taken that may be the basis of an appeal to a court, an employee may be represented by a person permitted to practice before the state personnel board of review who is not an attorney at law as long as the person does not receive any compensation from the employee for the representation.

(2) Hear appeals, as provided by law, of appointing authorities from final decisions of the director relative to the classification or reclassification of any position in the classified state service under the jurisdiction of that appointing authority. The state personnel board of review may affirm, disaffirm, or modify the decisions of the director, and its decision is final. The decisions of the state personnel board of review shall be consistent with the applicable classification specifications.

(3) Exercise the authority provided by section 124.40 of the Revised Code, for appointment, removal, and supervision of municipal and civil service township civil service commissions;

(4) Utilize employees provided by the state employment relations board in the exercise of the powers and performance of the duties and functions of the state personnel board of review under this chapter;

(5) Maintain a journal that shall be open to public inspection, in which it shall keep a record of all of its proceedings and of the vote of each of its members upon every action taken by it;

(6) Adopt rules in accordance with Chapter 119. of the Revised Code relating to the procedure of the state personnel board of review in administering the laws it has the authority or duty to administer and for the purpose of invoking the jurisdiction of the state personnel board of review in hearing appeals of appointing authorities and employees in matters set forth in divisions (A)(1) and (2) of this section;

(7) Subpoena and require the attendance and testimony of witnesses and the production of books, papers, public records, and other documentary evidence pertinent to any matter it has authority to investigate, inquire into, or hear in the same manner and to the same extent as provided by division (G) of section 124.09 of the Revised Code. All witness fees shall be paid in the manner set forth in that division.

(B) The state personnel board of review shall exist as a separate entity within the administrative structure of the state employment relations board.

(C) The state personnel board of review shall be funded by general revenue fund appropriations. All moneys received by the state personnel board of review for copies of documents, rule books, and transcriptions shall be paid into the state treasury to the credit of the training, publications, and grants fund created in section 4117.24 of the Revised Code.

Amended by 128th General AssemblyFile No.9, HB 1, §101.01, eff. 7/17/2009.

Effective Date: 06-26-2003; 07-01-2007