New York (State). Dept. of Civil Service.

The Joint Legislative Committee on the Administration and Operation of the Civil Service System was established in 1942 by a concurrent resolution of the Legislature to investigate the administration of state and local civil service laws and rules. It was authorized to propose measures to correct defects and to increase the efficiency of New York's civil service system.

New York's first Civil Service Law, enacted in 1883 (Ch. 354), provided for a merit system of competitive examinations for the appointment and promotion of state government employees and established a Civil Service Commission, consisting of three persons appointed by the Governor, to administer the law.

A year later civil service provisions were extended to oversee the establishment and operation of municipal civil service commissions. In 1894 the principle of the merit system was embodied in the new state constitution.

Following the 1925 constitutional amendments that reorganized state government, the Department of Civil Service was created with the Civil Service Commission designated as the head of the department (Ch. 354, L. 1926). A 1953 law authorized the Governor to designate one commissioner as President of the Commission and chief administrator of the Department.

The Department administers the state civil service law and is the central personnel agency for departments and agencies of state government. It determines job titles, salary levels, and qualifications for positions in the classified service of the state; recruits and tests applicants for entry and promotion within the state service; administers insurance programs; and provides various services relating to the health, training, and performance of state employees.

The Civil Service Commission supervises the operations and approves the rules and regulations of local government civil service commissions and personnel officers. In addition, the Commission hears and makes determinations on appeals on a wide variety of civil service matters, including classification, discipline, examination, disqualification, salary, and title.

The Temporary State Commission on Coordination of State Activities (Mahoney Commission) was created by a 1946 law (Chapter 1002) to investigate State agencies' operations, to determine if they were economical and efficient, to determine if unnecessary activities and duplication of functions could be eliminated by reorganizing an agency or consolidating it with another, and to propose legislation to this end. During 1952 and 1953 the Mahoney Commission staff studied the operations of the Department of Civil Service and made recommendations for improvement.

New York State's first civil service law, enacted in 1883 (Chapter 354), provided for a merit system of competitive examinations for the appointment and promotion of State government employees. It established a Civil Service Commission, consisting of three persons appointed by the governor with advice and consent of the senate, to administer the law. In 1884 civil service provisions were extended to some local governments; municipal civil service commissions were established and supervised by the state commission. In 1894 the principle of the merit system was embodied in the new State constitution.

Following the 1925-26 reorganization of State government, the Department of Civil Service was created, and the Civil Service Commission was designated as the head of the department (Laws of 1926, Chapter 354). In 1953 (Chapter 19) the governor was authorized to designate one commissioner as president of the commission and chief administrator of the department.

In 1994, the Division of Affirmative Careers, within the Department of Civil Service, was renamed the Division of Diversity Planning Management. This division administers the Reasonable Accommodation Program and the program to hire persons and veterans with disabilities (55-b and 55-c). It also approves and monitors affirmative action plans for state agencies and provides technical assistance and training toward the achievement of diversity in the work force.

The Department introduced additional procedural changes in 1996 as a part of the Governor?s Civil Service Reform legislation (Laws of 1995, Chapters 314-317) aimed at cutting costs and improving efficiency in the testing process. These changes included: reducing and consolidating job titles; testing long-term provisional appointees; and improving promotional testing through scoring procedures and increased use of information technology.

Chapter 55 of the Laws of 1992 (Section 307) directed the Dept. of Civil Service to coordinate the preparation by each state agency of an annual workforce management plan. Each agency's plan was to identify workforce trends caused by programmatic and technological changes in the agency's administrative and operational functions.

The department was to receive these plans and prepare an annual executive overview of the state workforce and of the identified trends likely to affect the workforce. The executive overview and copies of each agency's plan were to be transmitted to the senate and assembly fiscal committees.

In 1969 the Governor created the Alfred E. Smith Fellows Program to give professionals and businessmen from outside State government an opportunity to serve for one year in key State posts.

A committee, on which the Civil Service Commission's President served, selected the fellows but the Governor officially appointed them. The Director of the Budget directly administered the program. The first fellows were appointed in July 1970 and served for a year. The program's administration was transferred to the Department of Civil Service in 1971. The program was discontinued in that year, however, possibly because of massive cuts in the State's workforce.

In 1937 the Court of Appeals decided in Palmer vs. Geddes (276 N.Y. 222, 1938) that the State Constitution's civil service article applied to county, town and village positions.

As a result of the decision, a twelve-member legislative Commission on Extension of the Civil Service was created in 1939 to study the problems of extending civil service to local governments (L. 1939, Ch. 862 and 961). Assemblyman Emerson D. Fite was the Commission's chairperson and Civil Service Commissioner Howard P. Jones was its secretary. The "Fite Commission's" investigation resulted in the "Fite Law" (L. 1941, Ch. 855) which provided for the administration of civil service law and rules in all of New York's civil divisions. The law gave counties (under whose civil service jurisdiction towns and villages fall), after a public hearing on or before July 1, 1942, one of the three following optional forms of civil service administration: an appointed county civil service commission; a county personnel officer; or administration of civil service by the State Civil Service Commission (C.S.C.).

The C.S.C. was given the administration of the civil services of school districts outside of a city and counties included in a city (New York City's counties). The Department of Civil Service was also mandated to provide advisory and other services to all local governments.

CURRENT FUNCTIONS. The Department of Civil Service is the central personnel agency for New York State government. It provides a wide range of services to State agencies to ensure that they be able to meet their human resources needs in a timely manner. The department determines salaries for State positions, classifies job titles, recruits and tests prospective employees, and certifies eligibility lists. It also develops and analyzes the State's work force plan, administers State employee insurance, provides technical assistance and information service to support the affirmative action efforts of State agencies, administers training, and provides examination and consultant services to local government.

The Civil Service Commission is a bipartisan body comprised of three members who are appointed by the governor and confirmed by the state senate. The president of the commission is the executive head of the Department of Civil Service. The commission is responsible for overseeing the merit system of employment mandated by the State constitution. The commission approves rules and regulations of local government civil service commissions and personnel officers. In addition, the commission hears and makes determinations on appeals on a variety of civil service matters, including classification, examination, disqualification, salary, and title.

ORGANIZATIONAL HISTORY. New York State's first civil service law, enacted in 1883 (Chapter 354), provided for a merit system of competitive examinations for the appointment and promotion of State government employees. It established a Civil Service Commission, consisting of three persons appointed by the governor with advice and consent of the senate, to administer the law. In 1884 civil service provisions were extended to some local governments; municipal civil service commissions were established and supervised by the state commission. In 1894 the principle of the merit system was embodied in the new State constitution.

Following the 1925-26 reorganization of State government, the Department of Civil Service was created, and the Civil Service Commission was designated as the head of the department (Laws of 1926, Chapter 354). In 1953 (Chapter 19) the governor was authorized to designate one commissioner as president of the commission and chief administrator of the department.