Massachusetts General Laws Part I. Administration of the Government (Ch. 1-182) Ch. 18, § 9

The commissioner shall appoint and may remove all employees in the department. All such appointments and removals shall be made in accordance with chapter thirty-one except as provided in section seven of chapter thirty and except for superintendents and assistant superintendents in charitable, medical or other institutions, physicians with full medical responsibility as opposed to administrative responsibility, nurses and nursing attendants in such institutions; provided, however, that whenever, as a condition of receiving federal grants for programs and activities to which the federal standards for a merit system of personnel administration relate, federal requirements make necessary the application of the civil service law and rules to any such position, said position shall be subject to chapter thirty-one. Appointments, promotions or transfers, except transfers to positions with substantially identical authority, duties and responsibility, shall be made only after determination by the personnel administrator that the proposed appointee meets the minimum qualifications required.

The commissioner may delegate all or a portion of his responsibilities as appointing authority under section forty-one of chapter thirty-one to one or more subordinates in the department. The decision of an employee to whom responsibility has been so delegated shall be the decision of the appointing authority.