14. SENIORITY

14.1 General Procedures

14.1.1 Seniority for all employees shall accrue county-wide for each year of continuous service (continuous service being defined as the most recent date of employment to the present) in the Hillsborough County School System. Employees hired before July 1, 1985, shall also be credited with seniority as a result of continuous service with agencies under Civil Service.

14.1.2 Seniority shall accrue to all ESP employees with the exception of temporaries and substitutes and shall accrue regardless of length of year.

14.1.3 In the event of a tie in the beginning employment dates, seniority shall accrue from the date recorded on the Personnel Transaction form.

14.1.4 When a specific issue must be resolved involving ESP employees with equal seniority, it will be resolved by an objective lottery in the presence of the affected parties.

14.1.5 The ESP with the most seniority shall have first option to stay in a position or transfer, with such option extended to all ESP employees on a diminishing basis until one elects to transfer or until such time as the ESP with the least amount of seniority is required to transfer. This policy is also extended to include the right of an ESP in a position going from full-time to half-time to choose between staying in the half-time position or going into the pool.