Title Reclass: Tread Carefully

The Department of Citywide Administrative Services has proposed a major overhaul of the city's job classification system, one that would shrink the number of titles for which competitive civil service tests are held.

The move comes in response to a court ruling that requires a sharp reduction in the number of provisional employees, which has hovered in the neighborhood of 25,000-35,000 - and sometimes more - since the 1975 fiscal crisis led to massive layoffs of permanent civil servants.

Provisionals under state law are not supposed to serve for more than nine months, but that mandate was so routinely violated that back in the mid-1980s District Council 37 won approval of a law requiring that any one of them with at least two years' service be given a hearing before dismissal.

Last year, the Court of Appeals ruled in a case involving employees in Long Beach, L.I. that provisionals had no right to a hearing, prompting state legislators to pass a law compelling the city to reduce its own provisional rolls. DCAS submitted its plan, which includes an increase in the number of exams given, to the Department of Civil Service in late March and is awaiting approval so it can move forward by mid-summer.

Key components of the plan involve consolidating various levels of a job title and broad-banding several different titles into one.

This would mean that, even as exams are held more frequently for titles that historically have had the largest contingents of provisionals - such as Traffic Enforcement Agent, Eligibility Specialist and Secretary - fewer exams would be given in particular title series, such as Engineer and Child Protective Specialist.

DCAS Commissioner Martha Hirst defended the plan against charges by some union officials that it was reducing promotional opportunities and giving agency managements too much discretion in who advanced to higher titles.

She told this newspaper's Ari Paul that it didn't make sense to test for professional titles that required licenses, such as Attorney, because securing those licenses already established they had the capability to do the job. Ms. Hirst also contended that reducing the number of exams in a title series would actually broaden the opportunities of employees to advance, since they would no longer be dependent upon the holding of several civil service tests - and scoring well on each of them - to climb the rungs of the career ladders for their jobs.

Some union officials are skeptical, however, contending that the more discretion agencies are given, the greater the likelihood that there will be abuses. Personality would become a much-greater factor in advancement, they contend: those who flatter their bosses would flourish even if they hadn't performed their jobs well enough to warrant promotions, while those who were either more aggressive in standing up for themselves or less inclined to go along with questionable requests by supervisors would languish.

As Charles Ensley, a vigorous merit system proponent, put it just before retiring two weeks ago as president of Social Service Employees Union Local 371 of District Council 37, "If your entire career is based on the good will of management, it becomes difficult to organize those people on dignity and justice issues - they're jumping over each other for promotions."

The impact of such a change in mind-set is readily apparent for the Child Protective Specialist series Local 371 represents, where decisions can sometimes fit in the life-and-death category. Is an employee going to step forward to report a problem before a tragedy occurs - or, for that matter, afterwards - if the information he or she is revealing could be damning enough for supervisors to conclude that they aren't "team players" and therefore unworthy of consideration for promotion?

Communications Workers of America Local 1180 Vice President Bill Henning cites the lesser disciplinary protections offered to Non-Competitive Class employees than are held by those in the Competitive Class. Veteran union attorney Stuart Lichten fears the greater discretion on promotions will lead to cronyism and corruption.

The city agency most plagued by that kind of atmosphere over the past decade was the Correction Department, particularly during the tenure as Commissioner of both Bernard Kerik and his successor, William Fraser. Discretionary promotions were reserved for those considered part of "the team," meaning those whose loyalty was established either through their conduct on the job, their political activities or their association with particular fraternal groups. Those who were viewed as outsiders found their advancement stymied and in some cases were given unfavorable assignments or served with specious disciplinary charges because they crossed the wrong person.

The stench from that era, which began under Rudy Giuliani and lingered for part of Mayor Bloomberg's first term, has begun to fade, but it should not be forgotten. There are parts of Ms. Hirst's plan that have merit, and she is a career city official, meaning that she understands the legitimate worries some union officials have about the potential for abuses and may be open to addressing them with some added safeguards.

The reclassification is one situation where the devil will truly be in the details, and those should be ironed out before the state signs off.
 

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