Section 53. In the central division of the Boston municipal court department, there shall be one clerk and the same number of assistant clerks of said court as were authorized in statute on January first, two thousand three. The assistant clerks shall be appointed by the clerk, subject to the approval of the court administrator with respect to compliance with the personnel standards promulgated under section eight of chapter two hundred and eleven B, and the clerk shall be responsible for the doings of his assistants, and may remove them at his pleasure. The salary of the clerk shall be 81.57 per cent of the salary of the chief justice of the department, and shall be paid, subject to appropriation, by the commonwealth. The salaries of the assistant clerks shall be seventy-seven per cent of the salary of the clerk, and shall be paid, subject to appropriation, by the commonwealth.

The clerk and assistant clerks shall devote their entire time during ordinary business hours to their respective duties and shall not, directly or indirectly, engage in the practice of law.

Each assistant clerk of said court appointed to such position prior to January first, nineteen hundred and eighty-seven and serving continuously thereafter, shall be entitled to thirty days vacation and thirty days sick leave in each calendar year. Each such assistant clerk may accumulate vacation leave and sick leave not used in any such year; provided, however, that the number of vacation days so accumulated shall not exceed sixty and the total amount of sick leave so accumulated shall not exceed one hundred and eighty days; and provided, further, that no additional such days shall be accumulated on or after said January first except in accordance with the policies and procedures established by the court administrator pursuant to section eight of chapter two hundred and eleven B. All other clerks and assistant clerks of said court shall be entitled to vacation leave and sick leave in accordance with the policies and procedures established by the court administrator pursuant to said section eight.

Assistant clerks appointed under authority of this paragraph who have held said appointment for three consecutive years shall hold office during good behavior, but subject to applicable retirement laws, and may be removed by the clerk for cause shown, subject to the procedures authorized by section eight of chapter two hundred and eleven B.

The clerk may designate such employees in his office as in his judgment may be necessary for the convenience of the public, as deputy assistant clerks of said court who shall have the same authority to administer oaths as the assistant clerks of said court.