§ 126-14.2. Political hirings limited.
§126‑14.2. Political hirings limited.
(a) It is the policy ofthis State that State departments, agencies, and institutions select from thepool of the most qualified persons for State government employment based uponjob‑related qualifications of applicants for employment using fair andvalid selection criteria.
(b) All Statedepartments, agencies, and institutions shall select from the pool of the mostqualified persons for State government employment without regard to politicalaffiliation or political influence. For the purposes of this section, the"most qualified persons" shall mean each of the State employees orapplicants for initial State employment who:
(1) Have timely appliedfor a position in State government;
(2) Have the essentialqualifications for that position; and
(3) Are determined to besubstantially more qualified as compared to other applicants for the position,after applying fair and valid job selection criteria, in accordance with G.S.126‑5(e), G.S. 126‑7.1, Articles 6 and 13 of this Chapter, andState personnel policies approved by the State Personnel Commission.
(c) It is a violationof this section giving rise to the remedies set forth in G.S. 126‑14.4if:
(1) The complainingState employee or applicant for initial State employment timely applied for theState government position in question;
(2) The complainingState employee or applicant for initial State employment was not hired into theposition;
(3) The complainingState employee or applicant for initial State employment was among the mostqualified persons applying for the position as defined in this Chapter;
(4) The successfulapplicant for the position was not among the most qualified persons applyingfor the position; and
(5) The hiring decisionwas based upon political affiliation or political influence.
(d) The provisions ofthis section shall not apply to positions exempt from this Chapter, except thatthis section does apply to exempt managerial positions as defined by G.S. 126‑5(b)(2).(1997‑520, s. 1.)