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City personnel office outlines complex seniority and displacement rules for any large‑scale layoffs
Summary
City Human Resources staff described the multi‑stage, labor‑rule governed process for calculating seniority, displacement and recall rights; officials warned the process is time‑consuming and will require substantial staff resources if the committee adopts broad reductions.
Los Angeles personnel managers told the Budget Precommittee that implementing large‑scale position eliminations will be technically complex and resource intensive under the city’s civil‑service rules.
In a detailed presentation the city’s personnel manager and classification analyst described the stages of the process: (1) collecting and reconciling historical employment records (including pre‑2022 records not fully migrated to the current HR system), (2) calculating seniority adjustments for time not paid and for prior service in lower classifications, (3) identifying eligible transfer or displacement opportunities in departments with funded vacancies, and (4) administering displacement placements, appeals and the maintenance of recall lists.
The personnel office said many records from before its Workday implementation remain in the legacy system and must be reconciled manually, lengthening the timetable for accurate seniority calculations. Staff estimated the operational timeline could run from July through October if the committee proceeds with the proposed eliminations, and they warned the workload would demand significant temporary staff and training.
Officials emphasized that the city’s civil service and charter rules determine who may be displaced, recalled or eligible for transfer — and those rules can create cascading displacement chains across departments. The personnel manager said prior experience (notably the 2009–2010 reduction cycle) required dozens of personnel staff months of manual work to process hundreds of displacements and hundreds of appeals.
Committee members requested follow‑up materials showing department‑by‑department scenarios, an estimate of staff time and costs needed to administer the process, and an analysis of how quickly transfers to funded special‑fund positions could be completed to reduce layoffs.
Ending Personnel office staff said they are working to produce manuals and an online resource page for employees and will supply the committee with step‑by‑step timelines and staffing needs for the processing effort should the council adopt the mayor’s reductions.
