Seattle (Wash.). Personnel Dept.

The Personnel Department was created in 1979. It administers the employee selection system, labor relations and negotiations, benefit programs, and the classification/compensation plan. The Department also manages employee records, implements affirmative action, and coordinates other personnel related programs. The City Charter of 1896 created the Civil Service system and established the Civil Service Commission and Civil Service Department to administer the system. The reorganization in 1979 abolished the Civil Service Department, replacing it with the Personnel Department, and established the Civil Service Commission as a separate City agency. In 1997, the Personnel Department was incorporated as a division within the Executive Services Department. In 2001, a departmental reorganization reestablished Personnel as a separate and independent department. The bulk of records described below are from the old Civil Service Department.

From the guide to the Seattle Affirmative Action Task Force Records, 1995-1997, (City of Seattle Seattle Municipal Archives)

The Civil Service Commission was established in 1896 to oversee the Civil Service Department, which administered the City's personnel system, including the fire and police forces, laborers, inspectors, and clerical, electrical, and library workers. The commissioners classified city services and employees, coordinated and administered physical, medical, and competence examinations, dealt with appointments, promotions, and removals, and conducted investigations in the event of an employee appeal. The years brought new employment issues, including those of wartime employment conditions and women in the workforce.

During the Commission's early years, it faced some opposition; in 1912, charged with wastefulness and inefficiency, the Commission underwent an investigation by the City Council. Subsequently, a 1917 report reclassified city services and employees. Other difficult times in the Commission's history included the first and second World Wars, as well as the Great Depression; budgets were often tight, and many city employees joined the armed services or found business opportunities in other industries. In 1937, the City's services were again reclassified.

In 1979, the City's personnel system was reorganized with the creation of a Personnel Department independent of the Commission. The Commission was reorganized with jurisdiction to hear employee appeals relating to demotions, terminations, suspensions, certain lay-offs, and violations of personnel rules. Three members, serving staggered three-year terms, comprise the Commission. One member is appointed by the mayor, one by the City Council, and one is elected by City employees.

From the guide to the Civil Service Commission Scrapbooks, 1934-1947, (Seattle Municipal Archives)