New York State Civil Service Engagement;

              The Capitol Building in Albany—Original Design
c?New cYork °State
Civil service ^ngagemeqt
by Gordon H. Armbruster and Sarason D. Liebler
April, 1966. In connection with an upcoming consti­tutional
convention, the New York State Civil Service
Commission decided to review certain aspects of its
activities. For this purpose, it asked a number of firms
to submit proposals. The studies involved State Civil
Service functions relating to the "classification and
grading of positions, compensation, recruitment, ex­aminations,
placement, and the methodology of in-serv­ice
promotions in relation to Constitutional provisions
covering the Civil Service." The contract was awarded
to Touche, Ross late in May and we started to work im­mediately.
The State Department of Civil Service is the central
personnel agency for the New York State government.
It is charged with the administration of the state civil
service law which implements Section 6 of Article V of
the State Constitution. This section requires that:
"appointments and promotions in the civil service of
the state and all the civil divisions thereof. . . shall
be made according to merit and fitness to be ascer­tained,
as far as practicable, by examination, which,
as far as practicable, shall be competitive."
Some 90,000 competitive class employees work for
State departments, agencies, and authorities under Civil
Service Department jurisdiction. Another 2,000 work
in municipalities. Add to this more than 30,000 em­ployees
in non-competitive, exempt, and labor classifi­cations
in which competitive exams are deemed im­practicable.
Finally, there are an additional 200,000
employees in State municipalities. For these people,
the Civil Service Department will, upon request, render
examination, classification, and other technical services
to local civil service groups having direct jurisdiction.
State employment is characterized by extreme diver­sity
of occupation. Positions are grouped into more
than 3,300 different classes of work in several hundred
separate locations. At the state level, the Department
of Civil Service deals with nearly 175 appointing groups
in 20 major departments and 10 agencies and authori­ties.
On the local level, the Department of Civil Service
is responsible for the supervision of 107 Civil Service
agencies.
The Department of Civil Service, in a statement
outlining its purpose and objectives, indicates that it
has a threefold responsibility:
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