Pennsylvania Code (Last Updated: April 5, 2016) |
Title 4. ADMINISTRATION |
PART IV. Civil Service Commission |
Subpart A. Rules of the Civil Service Commission |
Chapter 95. Selection of Employees for Entrance To, or Promotion In, the Classified Service |
Section 95.7. Promotion procedure
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(a) Methods of promotion. Vacancies may be filled by promotion in the following ways:
(1) By appointment of probationary or regular employees of a given appointing authority or between appointing authorities from an appropriate employment list.
(2) By appointment of probationary or regular employees from an appropriate promotion list resulting from a promotional examination.
(3) By appointment of Commonwealth employees of a given appointing authority or between appointing authorities, who appear on an appropriate employment list and who meet eligibility criteria as established by the Director.
(4) By appointment of probationary or regular employees from the next most appropriate promotion list or employment list, if the official promotion or employment lists have been exhausted.
(5) By appointment of regular employees without formal examination, based upon meritorious service and seniority.
(b) Promotion examinations. Examinations shall be as follows:
(1) Except as indicated in this subsection, promotion examinations shall be open to regular or probationary status employees who meet the qualifications and who occupy positions within a lower maximum salary. As determined by the Director, promotion examinations may be limited to employees occupying positions in specified classes.
(2) The Director may, after consultation with the appropriate appointing authorities, establish the length of service required of candidates in the qualifying class or classes for eligibility to participate in promotion examinations.
(3) The Director will have the power to decide whether the promotion examination is to be interdepartmental or intradepartmental.
(c) Promotion without examination. Promotion without examination may be accomplished under the following circumstances:
(1) When a trainee in a lower level training title has successfully completed the prescribed period of training, the trainee will be promoted, without further examination, to the higher level title.
(2) When an appointing authority desires to fill a vacant position by promotion without examination, based on meritorious service and seniority, it may follow one of the following alternatives:
(i) Competitive promotion without examination. The appointing authority shall post the vacancy, consider the eligible employees who express an interest and make the promotion decision based upon an objective review of each employees meritorious service and seniority. Seniority for this purpose shall be the length of continuous service of an employee in the designated next lower classes if there has been no break-in-service. Eligibility for consideration for the promotion may be limited by the appointing authority to a particular geographic or program area. The posting shall, whenever possible, specify the classes determined to be next lower. Otherwise, the posting shall state that applications will be reviewed to determine if employees previously held regular status or currently hold regular status in a class for which there is a logical occupational, functional or career development relationship to the posted position or if there is a clear linkage between the required knowledges, skills and abilities of the previously or currently held class with those needed for the posted position.
(ii) Noncompetitive promotion without examination. The agency head will insure that the employee meets the experience and training requirements of the higher level position, has regular status, and meets the meritorious service and seniority requirements.
(3) When a classification audit reveals that a position should properly be classified to a higher level, the incumbent of the position will be promoted without examination to the higher level, if the incumbent possesses the established requirements for the higher classification.
(4) When an unskilled position in the unclassified service exists immediately below a vacancy in a position in the classified service, the incumbent of the unskilled position shall be promoted into the classified service position, if the following occur:
(i) The promotion is into a classified service position immediately above the employees position.
(ii) The promotion is based on seniority and meritorious service.
(iii) The employee meets all of the established requirements for the higher position.
(iv) The employee satisfactorily completes a 6-month probationary period in the classified service position.
(v) A promotion shall be possible only within agencies provided full classified service coverage and listed in section 3(d) of the act (71 P. S. § 741.3(d)).
(5) When there is a labor agreement covering the positions to which employees are to be promoted, the terms of the agreement as to promotion procedures shall be controlling.
(d) Eligibility for promotion. An employee whose last regular or probationary performance evaluation is unsatisfactory or otherwise fails to meet standards, will be disregarded for appointment or promotion from any list and will not be eligible for promotion without examination.
The provisions of this § 95.7 adopted October 18, 1961; amended October 15, 1964 and April 16, 1970; amended March 5, 1971, effective March 6, 1971, 1 Pa.B. 999; amended March 29, 1985, effective March 30, 1985, 15 Pa.B. 1151; amended April 28, 1989, effective April 29, 1989, 19 Pa.B. 1835; amended November 15, 1991, effective November 16, 1991, 21 Pa.B. 5334; amended March 29, 2002, effective March 30, 2002, 32 Pa.B. 1643; amended March 12, 2004, effective March 13, 2004, 34 Pa.B. 1442. Immediately preceding text appears at serial pages (287672) to (287675).
Notation
The provisions of this § 95.7 amended under sections 203(1) and 208 of the Civil Service Act (71 P. S. § § 741.203(1) and 741.208).
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Generally
Agency employers position that its personnel action did not constitute an involuntary demotion under the Civil Service Act, but was a proper retraction of an invalid promotion, rested solely upon three mistakes and such position was found not to have a reasonable basis in fact so that the agency was liable for attorneys fees and costs incurred by employe who was successful in obtaining reinstatement of the promotion. West v. Western Center, Department of Public Welfare, 641 A.2d 41 (Pa. Cmwlth. 1994).
Although the State employes promotion was due to employers error, absent a showing that the employes performance was unsatisfactory, the employer could not demote the employe to correct the error. West v. Department of Public Welfare, 614 A.2d 357 (Pa. Cmwlth. 1992).
The Commission has acted within the authority of the Civil Service Act (71 P. S. § § 741.1741.1005) in promulgating subsection (b)(3). The rule, making only regular or probationary employes within the classified service eligible for promotion, is both reasonable and consistent with legislative intent. Humphreys v. Civil Service Commission, 301 A.2d 400 (Pa. Cmwlth. 1973).
Interview Appropriate
Nothing in the Civil Service Act (71 P. S. § 741.1 et seq.) or this regulation precludes an agency from determining that two candidates, whose scores for meritorious service and seniority were within two points of each other, were relatively equally qualified for promotion. Therefore, the supervisor took the legitimate next step in the promotion process by interviewing the two promotion candidates. Price v. Luzerne/Wyoming Counties Area Agency on Aging, 672 A.2d 409 (Pa. Cmwlth. 1996); appeal denied 688 A.2d 174 (Pa. 1997).
Relatively Equally Qualified for Promotion
Because the two candidates scores in meritorious service and seniority were only two points apart, the agency concluded that the candidates were relatively equally qualified to be promoted. Nothing in the Civil Service Act (71 P. S. § 741.1 et seq.) or related rules precluded the agency from determining that the two candidates were relatively equally qualified for promotion. Accordingly, the agency official took the legitimate next step in the promotion process by interviewing the two candidates. Price v. Luzerne, 672 A.2d 409 (Pa. Cmwlth. 1996); appeal denied 688 A.2d 174 (Pa. 1997).