Article 16 -SENIORITY
A. Seniority shall be determined to be the period of uninterrupted
employment with the Nashua Fire Department and Nashua Fire Rescue since the
last date of employment. The City shall establish a seniority list, and it shall be
brought up to date each year during the month of November and posted on all fire
station bulletin boards for a period of not less than thirty (30) days, and a copy
mailed to the Secretary of the Union. Any objection to the seniority list as posted
shall be reported within thirty (30) days of the end of the posting period by the
individual employee. Seniority will commence from the first day of employment
on a full-time basis as a probationary employee. Corrections to the seniority list
brought to the City's attention after the thirty (30) day period will be corrected, but
would not negate any benefits already awarded based on seniority.
B. In the event of more than one employee being hired simultaneously,
after July 1, 1989, the order of seniority will be determined by the dates that the
Department received the application from the employee. If date of hire and the date
the application is received are the same, employee seniority will be determined
alphabetically by last name.
C. All newly hired employees shall serve a probationary period of nine
(9) months or complete Career Fire Fighter certification, whichever comes later,
and shall have no rights based on seniority during this period. They shall, however,
insofar as applicable, be subject to all other clauses in this Agreement with the
exception of the use of the grievance procedure for termination or discipline
reasons. All employees who have completed said nine (9) months of service or
Career Fire Fighter certification, whichever comes later, shall be known as
permanent employees and the probationary period shall be credited as part of the
employee's seniority. The City agrees to provide training for certification as Career
Fire Fighter at its expense in accordance with State law. In the event the employee
is absent by reason of illness or injury, the Department may, at its discretion,
extend the probationary period by the amount of time absent over seven (7) duty
shifts during that nine (9) month probationary period, up to three (3) additional
months.
D. In addition to the bargaining unit seniority list, Nashua Fire Rescue
shall establish a time in rank seniority list for each division. Time in rank in any
division shall commence on the first day at work in that division and end when the
employee leaves the division for any reason.
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