1612 LAWS OF MARYLAND [CH. 539

amendments thereto which are approved by the personnel
board or on which the personnel board takes no action
within sixty days after they are recommended by the per-
sonnel officer, shall be transmitted to the board of alder-
men. Rules and amendments thereto shall become effective
when approved by the board of aldermen or on the thirty-
second day after submission if prior thereto the board of
aldermen shall not have rejected them by resolution. There-
after the personnel board shall have power to amend, re-
peal, or add to the rules on the recommendation of the
personnel officer or on its own initiative, subject to the
requirement of a public hearing and all other subsequent
steps of procedure required herein for the adoption of the
original set of rules.

(b) Rules adopted hereunder shall have the force and
effect of law. They shall provide for the method of holding
competitive examinations, the establishment, maintenance,
consolidation, and cancellation of eligible lists, administra-
tion of the classification plan and the compensation plan,
the hours of work, vacations, attendance regulations, and
leaves of absence for employees in the classified service,
the order and manner in which lay-offs shall be effected,
and other matters of personnel administration.

(c) The powers conferred herein upon the personnel
officer shall be subject only to the provisions of this ar-
ticle and of the rules adopted hereunder, and may be ex-
ercised by regulation or by order as the personnel officer
sees fit.

COMMISSIONER OF STATE EMPLOYMENT AND
REGISTRATION

132. In order that the city's merit system may be ad-
ministered without unnecessary expense, the city may re-
quest and avail itself of the facilities of the Commissioner
of State Employment and registration.

APPOINTMENTS

133. (a) The personnel officer shall provide for such
examinations and tests as may be necessary to determine
the qualifications of applicants for positions in the classi-
fied service.

(b) The personnel officer shall reject all applicants who
fail to comply with reasonable requirements as to age,
sex, physical condition, and moral character.

(c) The personnel officer shall prepare lists of candi-
dates eligible for employment, which lists shall be ar-