January 12, 1981

November 9, 2004

June 22, 2005

 103 of 1972

113 of 2005

1. In accordance with the powers conferred upon the Commissioner of Personnel by Article 2, Section 22 of the New York State Civil Service law, before any new position shall be created or any existing position shall be reclassified, the proposal therefore, including a statement of the duties of the position, shall be referred to the Commissioner of Personnel. The Commissioner of Personnel shall furnish a certificate stating the appropriate civil service title for the proposed position or the position to be reclassified. Any new or reclassified position shall be created only with the title approved and certified by the Commissioner.

2. The procedure for extending temporary positions and for increasing or decreasing the number of paid hours (or percentage of full time equivalent) of existing positions is the same as for creating new positions. For Civil Service Law governing the duration of temporary positions, see Article 4, Section 64, as amended L.1979, c. 185, s 1.

B. Creation of New Positions

1. Each request for a new position must be reviewed by the Commissioner of Personnel prior to following the remainder of this procedure. It is the responsibility of each department head requesting a new position to furnish documentation explaining the proposed job action, cost of the position, funding source and a copy of the completed New Position Duties Statement to the Commissioner of Personnel, with a copy to the County Administrator's Office. (The New Position Duties Statement, MSD222, is available from the Personnel Department section of the County's Web site)

2. The Commissioner of Personnel's review will be sent to the department head and to the County Administrator. If the County Administrator recommends creation of the position, the Commissioner of Personnel will proceed (see D below). If the County Administrator recommends against the creation of the position, the department head must notify the Commissioner of Personnel whether to proceed with D below.

3. In every instance where a new position is created or the authorized hours for a position are increased or decreased on a permanent basis, a resolution shall be prepared for consideration by the appropriate committee(s) of the Legislature. The resolution shall state the reason for classification, change in hours, the Civil Service classification designation (competitive, noncompetitive, labor or exempt), the labor grade, and job code. The department's program committee and the legislative committee responsible for the budget must review this resolution and make recommendation to the full Legislature for action (for filling the position, see Policy 02-02, Recruiting Employees, and Affirmative Action Plan).

C. Reclassification of Existing Positions

Article 4, Section 61-2 of New York State Civil Service law prohibits the performance of out-of-title work, "No person shall be appointed, promoted or employed under any title not appropriate to the duties to be performed and, except upon assignment by proper authority during the continuance of a temporary emergency situation, no person shall be assigned to perform the duties of any position unless he has been duly appointed, promoted, transferred, or reinstated to such position in accordance with the provisions of this chapter and the rules prescribed there under. No credit shall be granted in a promotion examination for out-of-title work."

1. The existence of the procedure for requesting a reclassification must be publicized by the Commissioner to all County employees.

2. If an employee feels that the job duties have changed, or that the job description, title, Civil Service classification, or labor grade of the position are inappropriate and should be changed, the employee should submit a reclassification request to the department head, the Commissioner of Personnel and to the County Administrator. The remainder of the process is described in D below.

3. Within thirty days, the department head must review the request and submit written comments to the Commissioner of Personnel and to the employee. If the department head cannot meet the above timeline, the employee, the Commissioner of Personnel and the County Administrator must be notified before the end of thirty days of the reason for delay and shall be given a projected schedule for completion of the review.

4. Alternatively, the department head may initiate the reclassification process for any position in the department.

5. Following a reclassification, any affected employee shall be paid at the same point on the salary schedule for the new position level and salary retroactively paid as of the date of reclassification submittal.

D. Job Description, Civil Service Classification and Labor Grade

1. Job Description and Civil Service Classification Upon completion of the processes in B or C above, the Commissioner of Personnel will, within thirty days, develop and return to the department head and the County Administrator a draft job description containing the job title and civil service classification.

2. Labor Grade Upon conclusion of D-1 above, the Commissioner of Personnel will then apply the Point-Factor Rating System, recommend a County labor grade and return the entire specification to the department head within thirty days. If the Commissioner of Personnel cannot meet the above timeline, the employee, the department head, and the County Administrator shall be given a projected schedule for completion of the review. The Commissioner of Personnel must include the recommended points allocated for each factor under the Point-Factor Rating System. In the event that the Commissioner of Personnel does not agree with the request the Commissioner of Personnel must submit the reason for that determination in writing to the employee, department head, and the County Administrator.

E. Appeal of Classification, Reclassifications or Point-Factor Ratings

Employees and department heads are encouraged to submit appeals freely, without fear of any form of retaliation. Establishment of labor grades and positions is a complex process. Appeals are an important part of this process, not a challenge to it.

The existence of the procedure for requesting reclassification and appealing the Commissioner of Personnel's findings must be publicized by the Commissioner to all County employees.

Each year the Legislative Committee responsible for the Personnel program shall receive training in the application of the Point-Factor Rating System in order to be better prepared to hear appeals.

1. In the event the Commissioner of Personnel and the department head and/or the employee do not agree on the classification, or job description, the department head and/or employee may appeal this disagreement to the County Administrator, or in the event the employee reports directly to the Legislature, County Administration, or Personnel, directly to the committee responsible for personnel function.

The County Administrator reviews the appeal unless the involved employee is an employee of the Legislature, County Administration, or Personnel in which case the appeal will go directly to the Committee responsible for personnel function for review and submit to the Commissioner of Personnel, in writing, an advisory opinion with copies to the affected employee (if any) and to the Department Head.

2. If the labor grade recommended by the Commissioner of Personnel is not acceptable to the department head or to the employee, either or both should submit a written appeal to the Commissioner of Personnel in an attempt to resolve the disagreement(s). If this appeal process does not resolve the issue, the department head or employee may submit a written appeal to the County Administrator, or in event the employee reports directly to the Legislature, County Administration, or Personnel, directly to the committee responsible for personnel function. The County Administrator or committee must respond within thirty days; if this timeline cannot be met, the County Administrator or committee must provide the employee and the department head a projected schedule for completion of the review.

The County Administrator reviews the appeal unless the involved employee is an employee of the Legislature, County Administration, or Personnel in which case the appeal will go directly to the Committee responsible for personnel function for review and submit to the Commissioner of Personnel, in writing, an advisory opinion with copies to the affected employee (if any) and to the Department Head.

3. The Commissioner of Personnel shall consider the advisory opinion, make a final decision and notify all affected parties in writing of this final decision within thirty days.