Cal. Gov. Code § 19776
If a promotional examination was held while an employee was on military leave that he or she would otherwise have been entitled to take, the employee shall be eligible to take the identical promotional examination within five years of the date of the original examination. The department or designated appointing authority shall arrange for him or her to take the examination within a reasonable time, provided application is made not later than six months after his or her reinstatement from military leave. If the employee qualifies in the examination, his or her name shall be placed on the open and promotional list that resulted from the original examination, as the list stands at the time his or her name is placed thereon. If his or her rating is sufficiently high for his or her name to have been included on a certification to a permanent position while he or she was in the military service had his or her name been on the list when originally established, his or her eligibility shall be established, notwithstanding the removal of names from the original list pursuant to Section 18901. He or she shall retain his or her place on the list for three years from the termination of his or her service with the Armed Forces or one year from the date the eligibility is established, whichever is later. A name thus retained on a list, beyond the time other names are removed from the list pursuant to Section 18901, shall be removed if the person refuses to accept appointment to a permanent position after certification thereto subsequent to his or her discharge from the Armed Forces, or if he or she resigns from state service.
Ca. Gov. Code § 19776