Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 6A § 7
Subject to appropriation, the secretary may, without regard to chapter thirty-one but subject to the approval of the governor, appoint such experts, technical consultants and other assistants in his executive office as he shall deem necessary to perform the functions of said office; provided, that the provisions of section nine A of chapter thirty shall not apply to any person holding any such appointment.
Every person so appointed to any supervisory position in said office shall have experience and skill in the field of the functions of such position. So far as practicable in the judgment of the secretary, appointments to such positions shall be made by promoting employees of the commonwealth serving in positions which are classified under chapter thirty-one; and in every such instance, and in every instance of an employee so promoted from a position in which at the time of promotion he shall have tenure by reason of section nine A of chapter thirty, upon termination of his service in such unclassified supervisory position, the employee shall, if he shall so request, be restored to the classified position from which he shall have been promoted, or to a position equivalent thereto in salary grade in the same state agency, without impairment of his civil service status or his tenure by reason of said section nine A or loss of the seniority, retirement and other rights to which uninterrupted service in the classified position would have entitled him; provided, however, that if his service in such unclassified supervisory position shall have been terminated for cause, his right to be so restored shall be determined by the civil service commission in accordance with the standards applied by said commission in administering chapter thirty-one.
Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 6A, § 7