Section 500.220  Trainees

a)         Programs:  The Director may establish trainee or apprenticeship programs for new and/or incumbent employees in accordance with the Position Classification Plan or at the request of a department.  No trainee position under this Section shall be established in any class other than a trainee class.  A trainee or apprenticeship program shall prescribe the purpose, duration, and method of selection and shall include curriculum information and employee benefits in a form and manner required by the Director.  A trainee or apprenticeship program may be established for one or more of the following purposes and shall be for a duration not to exceed the limits stated in the class specifications therefor.

1)         To develop, through an established program of supervised training and experience, qualified employees for positions which are, in the judgment of the Director, difficult to fill with qualified employees;

2)         To cooperate with recognized educational institutions and organizations by making available opportunities for supervised training and work experience required for satisfactory completion of such cooperative or affiliated training programs;

3)         To provide specialized orientation and training necessary for satisfactory performance of jobs in technical or professional fields;

4)         To attract and interest better qualified employees to State service by selecting outstanding persons and giving them supervised work experience during their period of academic training.

5)         To provide training or developmental work experience for the socially, culturally, economically, or physically disadvantaged which would assist them in acquiring or augmenting employment skills and/or provide employment opportunities of limited duration.

b)         Appointments:  Appointment to a trainee position shall be made pursuant to a trainee or apprenticeship program established and approved in accordance with Section 500.220(a).

c)         Limitations on Trainee Appointments:

1)         Trainees appointed to a position in a trainee class in accordance with the Rules of the Department concerning Examinations and Eligible Lists may be promoted after passing an appropriate examination for the title for which they are training.

2)         Trainees not selected by open competitive examination shall obtain probationary appointments in the titles for which they are training only after they have passed appropriate open competitive examinations and their names have been reached on the resulting eligible lists.

3)         Trainees appointed in such status as the result of an open competitive examination and whose positions are allocated may be placed in probationary status in the class to which said position is allocated.

4)         Trainees appointed without open competitive examination and whose positions are allocated may be placed in probationary status in the class to which said position is allocated upon successful completion of an appropriate open competitive examination, and their names shall have been reached on the resulting eligible lists.