Appointment actions and status.

(1) The department shall develop uniform rules regarding original appointment, promotion, demotion, reassignment, lateral action, separation, and status that must be used by state agencies.

(2) An employee appointed on probationary status shall attain permanent status in his or her current position upon successful completion of at least a 1-year probationary period. The length of the probationary period may not exceed 18 months. An employee who has not attained permanent status in his or her current position serves at the pleasure of the agency head and may be dismissed at the discretion of the agency head.

(3) If an employee who has received an internal agency promotion from a position in which the employee held permanent status is to be dismissed from the promotional position for failure to meet the established performance standards of the promotional position while in probationary status, the agency, before dismissal, shall return the employee to his or her former position, or to a position with substantially similar duties and responsibilities as the former position, if such a position is vacant. Such determinations by an agency are not appealable, and this subsection does not apply to dismissals for any other reason.