Except as otherwise provided by law, this subtitle only applies to skilled service and professional service employees in the State Personnel Management System. The procedures in this subtitle do not apply to: a disciplinary action under Subtitle 1 of this title; a termination or separation from employment under Subtitle 3 of this title; or special appointees. This subtitle does not prevent the layoff of an employee who submits to the head of the employee's principal unit a written request to be laid off.

The Secretary shall adopt regulations to provide procedures that are uniform among the principal units for: the layoff of employees in the skilled service or the professional service; and the reinstatement of laid-off and separated skilled service or professional service employees to comparable positions in State employment.

An employee shall be laid off if the employee is in a position that will be abolished, discontinued, or vacated because of a change in organization or because of a stoppage or lack of work.

At least 60 days before a layoff is effective, an appointing authority shall give a notice of a layoff to each employee to be affected by the layoff.

For purposes of a layoff, an appointing authority shall compute the total number of seniority points for each employee subject to the layoff as follows: one point for each month of State employment; one point for each month of employment in the principal unit in which the layoff will occur; one point for each month of employment in the job series in which the layoff will occur; ten points for an eligible veteran; and two points for an eligible veteran who has a service–connected disability or is a former prisoner of war. An employee’s seniority points are the total of the points determined under subsection (a) of this section. In this section, “eligible veteran” has the meaning stated in § 7–207(c) of this article. An eligible veteran who is convicted of a crime after being discharged from or completing military service is ineligible for a credit under this section.

Except as provided in subsections (b) and (c) of this section: employees in a class are to be laid off based on seniority points; and the employee in the class with less seniority points shall be laid off before others in the class with higher seniority points. If two or more employees in the same class have an equal number of seniority points, the employee with less points for total State employment shall be laid off first. If two or more employees in the same class have an equal number of seniority points and the same number of points for total State employment, the appointing authority shall: determine which employee to retain by making a written evaluation of the skills, knowledge, or abilities of each employee; and submit the evaluation to the Secretary.

An employee being laid off may displace another employee who has the least seniority points: in the same class or job series as the employee being laid off; or in any other class in which the laid-off employee previously held satisfactory nonprobationary status within the 36 months immediately prior to the effective date of the layoff. Subsection (a) of this section shall apply: first to the employee’s current appointing authority regardless of geographical area; if the provisions in paragraph (1) of this subsection are not available, to the employee’s current principal unit; or a secretary or head of a State principal unit may limit the displacement within the principal unit to one or more of the established geographical areas as prescribed by the Secretary.

The employee with the most seniority points shall be the first employee to be reinstated in the class from which the employee was laid off or from which the employee was separated under § 11–302 of this title or to any lower class in the same job series within the principal department or other independent unit in which the layoff or separation under § 11–302 of this title occurred. Reinstatement to a comparable class to which the Secretary has certified employees who were laid off or who were separated under § 11–302 of this title shall be made from among the five laid–off or separated employees with the most seniority points who are certified to the class.