(a) An appointing authority has the authority to layoff or furlough employees or reduce hours of employment for any of the following reasons:

(1) Lack of funds;

(2) A reduction in spending authorization;

(3) Lack of work;

(4) Efficiency; or

(5) Other material change in duties or organization.

(b) The appointing authority has the authority to determine the extent, effective dates, and length of a layoff, furlough, or reduction in hours taken under subsection (a).

(c) The appointing authority shall determine the classifications affected and the number of employees laid off in each classification and each county to which a layoff applies.

(d) The commissioner shall approve all reductions in force and no such layoff, furlough, or reduction in hours may begin until such approval has been granted.

(e) In determining a layoff, the appointing authority must consider all employees under the same appointing authority, within the classification affected, and within the county affected and must also consider job performance evaluations as the primary factor. Thereafter, consideration shall be given to the following relevant factors:

(1) Seniority;

(2) Abilities; and

(3) Disciplinary record.

(f)

(1)

(A) Beginning October 1, 2012, to December 31, 2013, any preferred service employee whose position is abolished because of a reduction-in-force shall be provided written notice containing the reason for the layoff at least sixty (60) days in advance of the effective date for abolishing the position. This sixty-day period shall be used for career counseling, job testing, and placement efforts.

(B) Beginning January 1, 2014, any preferred service employee whose position is abolished because of a reduction-in-force shall be provided written notice containing the reason for the layoff at least thirty (30) days in advance of the effective date for abolishing the position. This thirty-day period shall be used for career counseling, job testing, and placement efforts.

(2) Subject to certification by the commissioner of finance and administration that the rainy day fund, also known as the revenue fluctuation reserve fund, is likely to fall below two hundred million dollars ($200,000,000), any notice required by this section may be reduced to a different period of time, but not less than fourteen (14) days.

(3) Nothing in this section shall place the state in a position of liability for the portion of any employee's salary attributed to a governmental grant in cases when the state had less than one hundred twenty (120) days' notice of the funding reduction. Nor shall the requirement for notice prohibit any agency from closing the fiscal year with a balanced budget. In such cases, employees shall be provided the maximum notice possible.

(4) For purposes of seniority as a consideration for a reduction in force, a person with veteran's status, as defined in § 8-30-307, shall have an additional sixty (60) months of service credit added to their total months of state service.

(5) Any preferred service employee whose position is abolished because of a reduction-in-force shall receive the employee's final paycheck, including accumulated leave, no later than thirty (30) days after the date of layoff.

(g) A position in the preferred service shall not be considered to have been abolished as provided in subsection (a) if the same or essentially similar duties, as determined by the commissioner, are incorporated in a new position in the same agency within one (1) year after the effective date of the layoff that resulted in the position abolishment. Any preferred service employee so affected by abolishing the position shall be offered the newly established position upon application. The newly established position to which the employee returns shall not be placed in the executive service, but shall remain in the preferred service.

(h) Notwithstanding any other law to the contrary, including, but not limited to, § 4-4-105, the reduction of scheduled hours of work authorized by this section shall include the closing of any or all state departments on any day or partial day of the week, when determined to be necessary by the governor as a result of reductions in funding levels.

(i) If at any time prior to or during any reduction-in-force the governor determines that the reduction-in-force will materially impair and/or disrupt governmental services to the public, the governor shall notify the speaker of the senate and the speaker of the house of representatives of the anticipated impairment and/or disruption of such governmental services. The governor shall advise the speakers of the actions that the governor and the affected department or departments will undertake to minimize the impairment and/or disruption of such governmental services.

(j) The names of all preferred service employees affected by a reduction-in-force shall be placed on a layoff list maintained by the department. For a period of one (1) year following the date of the layoff, an employee, who is laid off as a result of a reduction-in-force, shall be notified of any job openings in the same job classification that the employee served immediately prior to layoff, shall be extended an invitation to apply for the job, and shall be granted an interview.

(k) An appointing authority that terminates or furloughs an employee or reduces an employee's hours of employment for any reason shall provide written notice to the commissioner. Upon receiving notice, the commissioner shall provide input throughout the reduction-in-force process.

(l) If a reduction-in-force authorized under this section occurs, the commissioner shall notify, at the same time the preferred service employee whose position is abolished because of a reduction-in-force is notified, but not less than thirty (30) days after the reduction, the chair of the state and local government committee in the senate and the chair of the state government committee in the house of representatives of the reason for the reduction-in-force and the number of positions affected by the reduction-in-force.