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Railway Seniority Rules: Determination of seniority of non-gazetted employees of Railways

Railway Seniority Rules: Learn the importance of seniority in the railway sector for non-gazetted employees and how it influences career progression. Discover the key parameters determining seniority, including date of joining, service length, and merit in departmental exams. Understand different scenarios affecting seniority and its impact on promotions, transfers, and career milestones. Grasping these complex rules can significantly enhance your career trajectory within the railway system.

General Principle of Seniority

Seniority among incumbents of a post in a grade, unless specifically stated otherwise, is governed by the date of appointment to the grade.
The grant of pay higher than the initial pay does not, as a rule, confer seniority on a Railway employee above those already appointed to regular posts.
Criteria for determining relative seniority of non-gazetted employees in posts filled partly by promotion and partly by direct recruitment,
- Date of regular promotion after due procedure in the case of promotee and
- In case of direct recruitment, it should be the date of assuming regular charge after due procedure.
- Subject to maintenance of inter-se seniority of promotees and direct recruits.
When promoted Railway servants and direct recruits have the same dates of entry into the grade, they are to be placed on alternate posts, the promoted employees being senior to the direct recruits, thereby maintaining inter-se seniority of each group.
- For example, if in a particular year 10 vacancies are filled by promoted employees and 10 vacancies are filled by direct recruitment employees, then seniority will be determined on alternative posts in this manner.
- P1 ⇒ D1 ⇒ P2 ⇒ D2 ⇒ ….. P9 ⇒ D9 ⇒P10 ⇒ D10
- Here P represents promoted employees and D represents direct recruitment employees and the numbers after them represent their rank according to their respective quota.
- Please follow the latest guidelines of DOPT and Hon’ble Supreme Court.
Under all types of appointments and promotions, when the dates of appointment to a grade are the same, the dates of entry into the grade below it will determine seniority. If those dates also coincide, the dates of entry into each lower grade in the order of the lowest grade in the channel of promotion will determine seniority. If these dates are also the same, the relative date of birth will determine seniority, the older person being senior.
A Railway employee, once promoted against a vacancy which is non-fortuitous, should ordinarily be treated as senior in that grade to all others promoted subsequently, unless otherwise specified (unless detailed).
Employees employed in train passing/train operating duties are to be absorbed in the alternate category, which does not involve train passing and train operating duties, if they fail to pass the Periodic Refresher Course even in the second attempt. They are, however, permitted to undertake further Refresher Courses at intervals of a minimum period of six months, and if they pass the Refresher Course they are reabsorbed in the original category on the occurrence of the first vacancy.
In such a case, the employee should lose seniority by a number of places from his parent post equal to the number of persons promoted during the interval between his adjustment in the alternative category and his last re-adjustment in the parent category.
- For example, if an employee is originally ranked 15th and during his absence in the alternate category, 3 persons have been promoted, then on re-joining the original category, he will be ranked 18th in the seniority list.
When two or more candidates are declared to have equal qualification in the same examination/selection, their relative seniority is determined by date of birth – the older one will be the senior.
However, where a candidate whose seniority is to be determined under para above could not join duty within a reasonable time after receipt of the appointment order, the appointing authority may determine his seniority by placing him below all (candidates selected in the same examination/selection who have joined within the time period given for reporting to duty or candidates selected in the subsequent examination/selection who have joined duty before him).

Seniority of Direct Recruitment Candidates

The quota fixed for direct recruitment will be relevant only at the recruitment stage and will have no relevance for determination of seniority which will be assigned by application of normal rules.
Where the quota fixed for direct recruitment in a particular year is not fulfilled due to non-availability of candidates, the deficiency may be made up in the following year without giving retrospective benefit for purposes of seniority.
If the training period of a direct recruit is reduced due to exigencies of service, the date of joining the working post in the case of such direct recruit for the purpose of seniority shall be the date when he normally joins the regular post after completion of the prescribed period of training.
Candidates who are sent to Training Schools for initial training will be ranked in seniority in the respective grades in the order of merit obtained in the examination held at the end of the training period before being posted to working posts.
In the case of candidates who are not required to undergo any training in a Training School, seniority should be determined on the basis of merit specified by the Railway Recruitment Board or other recruiting authority.
When two or more candidates are declared to have equal qualification in the same examination/selection, their relative seniority is determined by date of birth – the older one will be the senior.
However, where a candidate whose seniority is to be determined under para above could not join duty within a reasonable time after receipt of the appointment order, the appointing authority may determine his seniority by placing him below all (candidates selected in the same examination/selection who have joined within the time period given for reporting to duty or candidates selected in the subsequent examination/selection who have joined duty before him).
Except in the cases falling under para above, the candidates selected for appointment in the first selection will be senior to the candidates selected subsequently, irrespective of the date of posting.

Probationary Period

Where confirmation takes place after a specified probationary period, if any, without interruption, the date of appointment to the grade is reckoned from the date of commencement of such probationary period.
Where a probationary period is followed by an extended probationary period and confirmation takes place after such extension without any break, the date of appointment to the grade or post should, unless otherwise stated, be reckoned from the date after the commencement of the probationary period to the extent of the extension of the probationary period.
In cases where the probation period is not extended and the employees are confirmed at the end of such period, the date of appointment to the grade or post shall be the date on which the employee was sent to the Training School for initial training or the joining date, whichever is earlier.

Seniority of candidates selected from departmental examination/trade test

Where passing of a departmental examination or trade test has been prescribed as a pre-condition for promotion to a particular non-selection post, which will be treated as a continuous examination, the relative seniority of Railway servants passing the examination/tests in their due course and either on the same date or on different dates will be determined with reference to their actual or basic seniority.

A Railway employee who, for reasons beyond his control, is unable to appear at the examination/test in his turn along with others, will be required to take the examination/test as soon as it is available and if he passes the same, he will be entitled to promotion and will be deemed to have passed the examination in his turn.

The expression ’causes beyond his control’ appearing above should be interpreted to include the following

Illness of the Railway employee supported by a medical certificate from an authorised medical attendant;
Illness of members of the family of the Railway employee supported by a medical certificate from the authorised attendant, so serious that the Railway employee cannot be expected to appear for the examination
proved that he did not receive the notification for the examination/test due to being on leave or on duty other than Headquarters or for any other reason acceptable to the Administration; and
The Administration is not relieving any Railway employee for such investigation or testing.

Seniority on Own Request Transfer

In cases where a Railway employee is transferred from one Railway to another on his request, the transferred Railway employee should be placed below all existing regular as well as officiating and temporary Railway employees in the corresponding grade in the new promotion group, regardless of his date of confirmation or the period of officiating or temporary service.

The above principle also applies equally to transfer on request from one cadre/division to another cadre/division on the same Railway.
The above principle does not apply to employees transferred from one seniority unit to another within the same Railway on mutual exchange,
The expression “relevant grade” mentioned in the above para applies to grades where there is provision for direct recruitment.
No transfers should be permitted in intermediate grades in which all the posts are filled entirely by promotion from lower grades and there is no element of direct recruitment.

Seniority on Mutual Transfer

In case of mutual exchange, the senior of the two employees will be given the seniority position vacated by the other person.
The junior employee will be allowed to retain his previous seniority and will be placed below the persons of equal seniority.

Seniority on mutual Transfer of qualified and non-qualified Accounts Clerk

The unqualified clerk will retain the seniority he had in the old office or take the seniority of the qualified clerk with whom he has exchanged, whichever is less

The qualified Accounts Clerk will retain the lower of the two seniorities shown below
- His seniority in the old office or the seniority of the unqualified clerk with whom he has exchanged in the new office, whichever is less; or
- He should be placed below all eligible Clerks Grade II in the new unit (both permanent and temporary).
Mutual transfer of employees who are not at par in terms of eligibility for promotion should be avoided as far as possible.

Seniority on Transfer in the Administrative Interest

Where employees are transferred from one seniority unit to another in administrative interest, their seniority position in the new unit is to be preserved.
Such transfers should be made only when absolutely necessary.

Seniority for promotion as Section Officer (Accounts) Inspectors of Station or Stores Accounts

Seniority for promotion to the post of Section Officer (Accounts) or Station or Stores Accounts Inspector should be counted solely as per the date of passing the examination qualifying for promotion to those ranks.
Candidates who pass the examination in a particular year are actually senior to the candidates who pass in subsequent years irrespective of their relative seniority before passing the examination.
In the case of employees of ex-Company Railways who have been exempted from passing the examination, the date on which they are declared fit for promotion to the post of Section Officer (Accounts) or Inspectors should be treated as the date of their passing the examination.
Every Railway Administration on receipt of the results of the above examination should immediately hold a selection test of the candidates declared successful along with any eligible ex-Company or ex-State Railway employee who may be called upon to appear before a Selection Board under such procedure as may be prescribed by the Railway Board from time to time.
While the Selection Board shall, in the case of ex-Company or ex-State Railway employees, determine their suitability for promotion as Section Officer (Accounts)/Inspector before empanelling them, no candidate qualifying the said examination shall be disqualified for promotion as Section Officer (Accounts)/Inspector. The Selection Board only assigns to each such candidate an appropriate place in the order of merit.
The employees empanelled in any year will be senior to the employees empanelled in the subsequent years.
Directly recruited Section Officers (Accounts)/Cost Accountants and Station Accounts Inspectors, if any, should be assigned a post on the proforma panel of these categories as soon as they take over the charge of the working posts after completion of the prescribed training.
They should be placed below the last person working against a non casual vacancy in these categories of Section Officer (Accounts).
If more than one direct recruit is to be assigned a post, their inter-se seniority should be with reference to the post assigned to them by the Railway Recruitment Board.
They will retain their seniority so allotted, conditional on their passing the Appendix-3 (IREM) examination within the prescribed period, except in the case of Cost Accountants who are not required to pass such examination.
In the event of any directly recruited Section Officer (Accounts) not passing the examination within the prescribed period, he is liable to be discharged. However, if given another chance, the question of retention of his original seniority will be considered on the merits of each case.
Such cases should be referred to the Railway Board for decision.

Seniority of Accounts Clerks on promotion as Junior Accounts Assistant in Accounts Department

The seniority of Junior Accounts Assistant is determined with reference to the date of promotion of a promotee and with reference to the date of appointment of direct recruits, directly recruited Junior Accounts Assistants who have passed Appendix-2 (IREM) examination within the extended probation period. Other persons of his batch get seniority below him but not the promotee.

Seniority of employees appointed under compassionate grounds, sports, cultural quota etc.

The seniority of such employees will be calculated from the date of their regular appointment in the service.
Substitutes and Casual Labour, when scrutinized and absorbed in regular posts, will count their seniority from the date of regular absorption.
However, for the purpose of screening, their seniority will be calculated on the basis of the total number of days worked by them as casual labour.

Seniority of employees working in survey/construction projects and open line

To ensure that there is no disparity in the prospects of promotion between open line staff and construction staff, there should be a joint cadre comprising staff in open line as well as survey and construction projects. However, there is no objection to allowing staff in survey and construction projects promotion one grade above the open line in the exigencies of work. This benefit will not be considered for any purpose including eligibility for selection to Group ‘B’ posts.

In the merger of the cadre, the employees in Survey and Construction will be given seniority which they would have got in the open line for working in Survey and Construction project.
The above benefits are not applicable to local recruits appointed on survey and construction projects without the agency of Railway Recruitment Board (earlier Railway Service Commission).
Inter-se seniority of locally recruited employees in Survey and Construction Projects may be maintained in the absorbed department irrespective of the date of their physical absorption.
- have been found fit for absorption after undergoing the prescribed tests; and
- There has been no special selection which would have disturbed his previous seniority.
However, in cases where employees continue to work in survey and construction projects on their own request, this benefit will not be admissible.

Seniority of Medically De-Categorised Staff

Medically declassified employees absorbed in alternative posts, whether in the same or other cadre, should be allowed seniority in the grade of absorption with reference to the length of service rendered in the equivalent or corresponding grade, irrespective of the rate of pay fixed in the grade of absorption.
For employees who are in grades higher than the grade of absorption at the time of medical declassification, their total service in the equivalent and higher grade will be taken into account.
This is subject to the proviso that if a medically declassified employee is absorbed in the cadre other than the one from which he was originally promoted, he will not be placed above his former superiors in the grade of absorption.
While absorbing medically declassified running staff against alternative posts, a percentage of basic pay representing the pay element in running allowance, as fixed by the Government through administrative instructions from time to time, should be added to the minimum as well as maximum pay scales for the purposes of identification of ‘equivalent’ posts and their seniority should be fixed in the equivalent absorbed posts.
In the case of employees who are not required to undergo periodical medical examination but who request for change of their category on grounds of health and a change of occupation is recommended by the medical authority, their change shall be treated as Transfer on Own Request and will be settled as per Seniority on Own Request Transfer.
Those employees who are transferred to another unit accepting lower seniority and are subsequently medically declassified will get benefit of service only in the new unit for determination of seniority after declassification.
Sometimes, because of non-availability of vacancies in equivalent grade, a medically declassified employee has to be offered absorption in a lower grade.
In some cases such employees reject the lower grade in the hope that vacancies are available in the higher grade.
It is open for such employees to accept appointment in lower grade with the request that if a vacancy occurs in the grade equivalent to the one held by them before declassification in the same cadre, they should be considered eligible for the same in preference to the medically declassified junior employee.
Though the employee may be expected to make an application in such an extenuating situation, it is also necessary for the administration, when a degraded employee is considered for subsequent absorption in a cadre, to look into cases
where senior graded employees have been absorbed in lower grades in the same cadre during the last three years and initiate a review.
As a result of the review mentioned in para above, the junior employee already absorbed and working in higher grade should not be displaced to make room for the senior. The senior may be promoted against the next vacancy arising in the grade and the relative seniority in the grade may be re-fixed keeping in view the position prior to medical declassification.
When a junior has already been absorbed in the equivalent grade but a senior is medically declassified during the next three year period and he is necessarily to be absorbed in the same cadre as the junior employee but no vacancy is available in the same grade, he may be temporarily absorbed in the lower grade with the understanding that the next vacancy that occurs in the higher grade will be given to him. On such a vacancy occurring and his posting thereto, seniority should be re-determined as mentioned in para above.
There may be cases where a senior employee was absorbed in a grade taking into account his position prior to declassification and a junior was subsequently promoted to a higher grade but ultimately got medically declassified and became eligible for alternative employment in the higher grade. It is not intended to review such cases which occur due to lapse of time.
Medically unfit direct recruits who are offered alternative employment should be placed at the bottom of the existing panel of the new category but should be given priority over candidates offered appointment in that category from subsequent panels.

Seniority of employees originally medically declassified but subsequently declared fit.

Employees who appeal properly within the time limit prescribed for appeal or whose appeal is considered within a reasonable period within the time limit and are declared fit should not lose their claims for seniority or consideration for promotion in their parent grade.

In respect of other employees, whether they are those who appealed belatedly and have been declared fit or those who underwent treatment and are consequently declared fit, while they should be permitted to be re-appointed in their original category, their seniority, if they had previously been confirmed or deemed to have been confirmed in the grade in which they were, shall be affected to the extent of any employee who had been confirmed or deemed to have been confirmed before their re-absorption in the original category. However, if they are only working in officiating posts, their seniority on reinstatement should be lower than that of the confirmed employees till then but need not be affected as against their original juniors who are still officiating.

Seniority of staff on promotion – Selection & Non-Selection posts

In the case of Selection Posts, the employees selected for panel should be arranged in the order of their seniority, but those classified as outstanding will be placed higher in the panel than would be admissible by placing them above their seniors in the field of eligibility by a maximum of 50% of the number of their seniors.

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Effect of reduction in pay or grade as measure of Penalty on Seniority

Reduction in pay, apart from reduction from a higher grade or class to a lower grade or class, does not affect the position of Railway employees in the seniority list.
The authority ordering the deduction must necessarily mention the period for which it will be effective and whether, on reinstatement, the period of deduction will be effective to defer his future increments and if so, to what extent

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Seniority of Staff rendered Surplus

While redeploying surplus staff to other units/departments which constitute a different seniority unit, the following methods may be adopted.

If only a small number of employees are being rendered surplus and they are to be transferred to different units of other departments against vacancies of duly sanctioned posts, they may be suitably accommodated with their full seniority in these units and their seniority may be merged in the respective units.
When large numbers of personnel are being transferred to new units being set up, they should be given their full seniority.
No minimum educational qualification should be prescribed.
It should be sufficient if they pass the retraining/conversion training test at the end of their training, subject of course to their medical fitness.
Whenever a large number of employees are to be transferred to an existing unit against vacancies or additional sanctioned posts, the views of the unions may be sought as to whether the seniority of the employees to be transferred should be set aside against the “special supernumerary” posts, so that their promotional prospects are kept separate and at par with what they had secured in the old unit and this does not endanger the prospects of the employees in the units in which they are being absorbed. In such cases, the application of percentage distribution of posts will be different for existing cadre posts and surplus staff brought into the cadre, the latter being governed by the percentage applicable in their previous cadre.
However, whenever the seniority of employees transferred against “special surplus” posts in the direct recruitment grade is wasted through retirement, promotions etc. in the unit, the direct recruitment quota should be merged with the existing cadre seniority of that unit i.e. the unit in which they were redeployed when surplus arose.
In cases where seniority of surplus employees is maintained separately, there may be cases where some employees, who are left behind in the old seniority unit, continue to get promotions as per their seniority, while other employees are transferred to the new unit. To the extent that this may happen, in some cases where the number of posts in the higher grade exceeds the prescribed percentage, operations may have to be done to avoid transfer of the left over employees.
It should, however, be ensured that the total number of posts in each grade of the old unit, taking into account both those left behind and those transferred to the new units, should not exceed the original sanction.

Ref :- [E(NG)II/84/RE 1/10 dated 21.4.1989 (RBE 106/1989)]

Permission to railway servants to pursue seniority list

Railway employees may be permitted to see the seniority list in which their names are placed, or if this cannot be conveniently arranged, they may, on request, be informed of their place in the seniority list.
The employees concerned may be allowed to make representations regarding the assignment of their seniority status within a period of one year after the publication of the seniority list. No case of revision of the seniority list should be considered after this period.