Chapter 4: Seniority

400. Seniority between public officers shall be determined in the first instance by the salary gradings of their post, so that between any two officers, the one holding the post with the higher grading shall be the senior irrespective of the dates of appointment.
401. Seniority shall be determined as follows:

1. As between officers of the same grade:
   (a) by reference to the dates on which they respectively entered that grade;
   (b) if any officers entered that same grade on the same day by reference to their seniority on the day immediately preceding that day;
   (c) if any officers who entered the same grade on the same day did so by appointment, and not by promotion (excluding promotion from a non-pensionable to a pensionable grade), their seniority relative to each other shall be determined by reference to their respective ages.
2. As between officers of different grades on the same salary scale or the same flat rate of salary, by reference to the dates on which they respectively entered their grades.
3. As between officers of different grades on different salary scales, by reference to the maximum point on their salary scales, a flat rate of salary being regarded for this purpose as a salary scale with a maximum point equivalent to the flat rate; provided that when assessing the seniority of a pensionable public officer, service by that officer or any other person in a non-pensionable capacity shall not be taken into account.

402. Officers who transfer from one class of The Public Service to another class, the duties of which are not considered to be cognate, take seniority from the date of their transfer regardless of any previous length of service, and the grading of their former post. The posting of an officer between duty posts in the same grade within a Department shall not be regarded for this purpose as a transfer.
Not withstanding the provision of General Order 401, The Commission, acting on it's discretion, may order that any particular officer shall have seniority over another.
403. When an officer promoted on trial fails to have his promotion made substantive with effect from the date of his promotion on trial, his seniority will date from the date on which his promotion becomes substantive.
404. Unless otherwise provided, seniority between officers selected for first appointment from outside The Bahamas is determined by the date of arrival in The Bahamas. Where however, two or more persons selected from outside The Bahamas arrive on the same day, seniority between them will be determined by age.
405. Service in a non-pensionable post shall not be taken into account when assessing the seniority of any pensionable officer.