Salary on filling a lower graded position. Employees who are transferred to a lower graded classification/title within the bargaining unit as a result of and in lieu of a reduction in force, or who are rehired to a lower graded classification title within two years after being laid off in connection with a reduction in force in accordance with paragraph 4 above, shall receive the maximum salary of the grade to which they are transferred or rehired or their pre-transfer/hire salary, whichever is less. In the event that that salary is greater than the salary for the employee’s longevity step, the employee’s longevity step increases will thereafter be frozen until the longevity scale reaches or exceeds the employee’s salary.
