26A   Eligibility lists

(1)  When a vacant position is advertised in accordance with this Act, the appropriate Department Head may, in connection with a determination of the merit of the persons eligible for appointment to the position, create an eligibility list for the position.

(2)  An eligibility list for a position is a list of eligible applicants (namely the persons who duly applied for appointment to the position and are eligible for appointment) arranged in order of merit (with merit determined by the appropriate Department Head in accordance with section 26 (1)). An eligibility list for a position remains current:

(a)  in the case of a list prepared in relation to a base grade or entry level position, for 12 months after the list was created, or

(b)  in the case of a list prepared in relation to a position that is not a base grade or entry level position, for 6 months after the list was created.

(3)  An eligibility list need not comprise all the eligible applicants so long as the applicants on the list are those of greatest merit. An eligibility list may even comprise only one eligible applicant so long as that applicant is the applicant of greatest merit.

(4)  An eligibility list is applicable not only to the position in relation to which it was created but also to any other position that the appropriate Department Head determines it should be applicable to on the basis that the position is substantially the same as the position in relation to which the list was created.

(5)  In deciding to make a recommendation for the appointment of a person to a vacant position that has not been advertised in accordance with this Act, the appropriate Department Head may (despite section 26 (3)) select from among the persons who are on an eligibility list that is current and applicable to the position (and who are available for appointment) the person with the greatest merit according to the order of merit in the eligibility list.

(6)  In this section:

base grade or entry level position, in relation to a Department, means a position to which no officer in the Department, employed in the same classification of work as that to which the position relates, could be promoted.