Rhode Island General Laws Title 36. Public Officers and Employees § 36-4-26.1. Supplemental certification in the civil service--Expanded certification for equal opportunity and affirmative action

(a) To eliminate the overall adverse impact of systemic barriers to the employment of minorities as a protected class, the office of personnel administration shall provide all appointing authorities the necessary flexibility to remedy the effects of systemic discriminatory practices.  Supplemental certification does not guarantee employment of protected classes.  It guarantees the appointing authority increased opportunities, where possible, to appoint qualified employees from an expanded eligibility list whenever a department can demonstrate that there is statistical underrepresentation based on demographic analysis, otherwise called a “manifest imbalance” elsewhere in this chapter.

(b) Wherever a manifest imbalance exists, as substantiated by the appointing authority and certified by the equal opportunity administrator in conjunction with the state personnel administrator, a supplemental certification list of minorities may be called for in addition to the appropriate employment or promotion list, except in the following instances:

(c) Supplemental certifications based on race or color as a protected class shall be made by an appointing authority whenever:

(d) At least seven (7) days prior to certifying names under this section, the appointing authority shall post a notice of intention to do so in the offices of the personnel administrator and of the equal opportunity administrator, and shall mail a copy of the notice to the applicable union, if any, with instructions to post copies of the notice at all locations where persons whose names may be certified under the provisions of this section may, if employed, be assigned.

(e) In certifying names for appointment to a classification for which supplemental certification is required, the personnel administrator shall include upon the applicable list the names of six (6) persons certified pursuant to this section.