.121 The effectiveness of any organization in general, and New York
State Departments and Agencies, in particular, is a direct function
of the quality of the individuals who make up that organization. The
knowledges, skills, abilities, and commitment of the members of the
organization together constitute the most critical factor in the development
and implementation of work plans and the delivery of products and
services. Without the full commitment of its employees, an organization
cannot accomplish its objectives. Consequently, the attraction, organization,
development and motivation of employees -- the personnel function
of management --is a central responsibility of all levels of management,
from the chief executive to the first line supervisor.
The presence of employees when and where needed, in the numbers and
the type needed, who are willing to commit their energy to the goals
of the organization cannot be left to chance.
In order for management to properly and fully discharge their personnel
management responsibilities in the context of the complex environment
within which government operates, there must be a well-developed structure
and system of program, policy and procedure as well as roles and responsibilities
to guide day-to-day behavior and decision making with respect to individual
employees and the workforce. Further, this structure and system must
be responsive to new directions, changing priorities, values and conditions.
Therein lies the constant challenge to the personnel management system
for this State.
.141 For New York State, like most public jurisdictions, the basis
for the personnel management system and much of its operation is defined
by Constitution and statute. The authority for the personnel management
system for the State is contained in Article 5 of Section 6 of the
New York State Constitution which requires that:
"Appointments and promotions in the Civil Service of the
State and all 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."
Section 5 of the Civil Service Law provides for the Civil Service
Commission and the Civil Service Department to implement Section 6
of the Constitution. The Civil Service Law, and interpretive rules
and regulations, developed over the years by the Legislature and Civil
Service Commission, spell out how many of the personnel activities
that have come to make up the State's personnel management system
are to be carried out. Areas covered include the jurisdictional classification
of positions, the recruitment, appointment, promotion, transfer, removal
and other actions affecting State employees.
In this State, therefore, the keystone to personnel management is
the principle of merit and fitness as demonstrated by competitive
examination and the personnel management system, as defined by law,
rule and regulation, is designed to realize that principle in its
day-to-day operation.
.151 The personnel system for New York State is a function of
interrelationships between four sectors of the government. These
sectors are the Legislature, the Governor, certain central staff
agencies and the line or operating agencies.
.152 The Legislature
The Legislature, through the enactment of laws, establishes the
legal structure within which the State personnel system operates.
These laws may permit, prohibit or require certain activities
or impose restraints in the conduct or operation of the State
personnel system. In addition, through its power of appropriation,
the Legislature can directly influence the scope and quality of
personnel management programs.
.153 The Governor
The Governor plays a leading role in the personnel management
of the State. He recommends to the Legislature specific legislation
dealing with the personnel management of the State workforce and
can approve or veto legislation establishing personnel management
program or policy. The Governor may also formulate and promulgate
personnel program and policy through executive order. Through
the appointment and recommendation of key administrative personnel
for positions in the Executive Branch, the Governor influences
the personnel management of the State departments and agencies.
.154 The Central Staff Agencies
The operation of the State's personnel management system is shared
between several central staff agencies consistent with mandated
responsibilities for merit and fitness, fiscal control, expenditure
control, labor management relations, equal employment opportunity
and affirmative action and related areas. The agencies involved
in the personnel management system are the Department of Civil
Service, the Division of the Budget, the Governor's Office of
Employee Relations, the Public Employment Relations Board, the
Department of Audit and Control, the State Division of Human Rights,
the Division of Criminal Justice Services, the Department of State
and the Department of Law.
A brief description of each agency follows:
A. Department of Civil Service
The Department of Civil Service is the central personnel agency
for all departments and agencies of New York State government.
The Department provides a wide range of activities in support
of line agency management including recruitment, testing, certification
of eligible for all competitive class positions, job classification,
salary determination, training and employee benefits. In view
of its central role in the personnel management system, a detailed
description of the organization of the Department is contained
in Section .158.
B. The Governor's Office of Employee Relations
The Governor's Office of Employee Relations negotiates collective
bargaining agreements with certified representatives of 178,000
State Executive Branch employees, provides assistance to State
agencies in their interpretation and administration of negotiated
agreements and represents the State as an employer in matters
before the Public Employment Relations Board and through the ongoing
grievance and arbitration processes. A Division of Management/Confidential
Affairs was created within the Office of Employee Relations to
address the special needs of the approximately 11,000 Management
and Confidential employees specifically excluded from representation
by the Taylor law. The agency and four employee unions have formed
Joint Labor-Management Committees to address a wide range of work
place issues from on-site day care services to employee assistance
programs to job referral services for employees displaced or laid
off because of program changes or budget constraints.
C. The Division of the Budget
The Division of the Budget has responsibility for coordinating
the development and execution of State programs and budgets, including
approval of agency organization and staffing patterns. Budget
Division staff meet with agency and Civil Service Department representatives
on a regular basis to discuss and negotiate organizational and
staffing changes required to implement new or changing programs
or activities; review requests for new positions and reclassifications
of existing positions and make determinations based on approved
organizational structures, staffing patterns, and availability
of funds; and conduct studies of the organization, policies and
operating systems and procedures of State agencies and programs
to help agencies more effectively utilize available resources,
particularly human resources, to accomplish their mission.
D. The Department of Law
As Head of the Department of Law, the Attorney General is responsible
for the legal affairs of the departments and agencies of State
government. The Department prosecutes and defends all actions
and proceedings for and against the State including those concerning
the State's personnel system. It also represents the people of
the State directly in safeguarding their rights as consumers and
investors, in protecting against environmental hazards, in prosecuting
certain illegal business practices, and in many other areas.
E. The Public Employment Relations Board
The Board, an independent agency of government, seeks settlement
of disputes arising out of contract negotiations, and administers
arbitration services including one designed for police and firefighter
bargaining units that go to impasse with their employers. The
Board also handles an array of responsibilities similar to the
National Labor Relations Board. They include remedying improper
practices, handling union representation issues, and designating
management/ confidential positions. Finally, the Board serves
as a clearinghouse for information on public sector wages, benefits
and employment practices.
F. The Division of Criminal Justice Services
The State Division of Criminal Justice Services is responsible
for performing fingerprint and name searches for individuals prior
to their hiring by State agencies to identify those individuals
with a prior criminal history.
G. The Department of State
The Department of State has among its responsibilities the filing
of all State records and reports. Included is the filing of all
resolutions signed by the Governor which relate to the jurisdictional
classification of positions in the State service. Such determinations
are not effective until filed with the Secretary of State.
H. The Department of Audit and Control
The Department of Audit and Control is responsible for the timely
payment of all State employees, including elected and appointed
officials. To carry out this payroll process for over 190,000
individuals, Audit and Control has designed an automated system
intended to insure compliance with existing laws, rules, regulations
and union contracts.
They also direct the accounting and control of all employee payroll
deductions and prepare distributions to appropriate organizations
of funds deducted from salary checks; provide cost estimates and
statistical data concerned with projected payments and receipts
in Social Security rates; coordinate implementation of new deductions;
assist the Department of Civil Service and Budget by determining
salaries relating to pay increases and major reallocations and
reclassifications; direct the overall implementation of all salary
legislation and negotiated settlements; coordinate salary and
deduction changes with the various negotiating units and unions
to assure that changes are workable; keep abreast of various payroll
bills in the Legislature; direct the publication of payroll bulletins
to all serviced agencies, issuing specific instructions for agency
compliance with such changes; and resolve any payroll problems
which may arise.
I. Division of Human Rights
The State Division of Human Rights protects the rights of individuals
against unlawful discriminatory practices in a number of areas
including employment. Any New York State employee with a discrimination
complaint may process it through any of the Division's thirteen
Regional Offices. In addition, Executive Order 40.1 has given
the Division of Human Rights responsibility for advising and cooperating
with the Department of Civil Service in the development of guidelines
for the broadening of affirmative action plans with respect to
Vietnam Era veterans and disabled persons and in the review of
amendments proposed to be made to previously approved affirmative
action plans.
.155 The Operating or Line Agencies
This is where personnel management is practiced. The success of
personnel management as a management tool for the achievement
of agency goals and objectives and for the fulfillment of employee
goals is determined by the relevancy and responsiveness of the
personnel programs, policies and procedures available and the
management philosophy with which they are used. Further, the success
of the personnel management system within the principle of merit
and fitness has its ultimate test in the day-to-day management
of the workforce at the agency level, since agency management
make most of the final decisions on hiring, promotion, separations,
transfers, and other day-to-day personnel decisions.
Effective personnel management within the context of merit and
fitness, therefore, depends first and foremost on the chief executive
of each agency. The agency head establishes the tone for the agency
personnel management program and furnishes the leadership for
the program and for practices that meet the letter of merit and
fitness. The agency head delegates authority to carry on the personnel
management program of the agency to the personnel office and to
lower level management and first line supervisors.
.156 Line Managers and Supervisors
The line managers and supervisors are the critical links in the
State's personnel management system since it is their responsibility
to apply State and agency personnel policies and procedures.
The personnel management job of the line manager and supervisor
has become increasingly more difficult. Of particular note is
the complex interrelationships between such major variables as
the Civil Service Law, state and federal laws governing human
rights and equal employment opportunity and collective bargaining
agreements governing the terms and conditions of employment of
state employees. Line managers and supervisors must increasingly
rely on the personnel office for advice, counsel and guidance
in the discharge of their day-to-day personnel responsibilities
in this complex environment.
.157 Personnel Office
The agency personnel office staff is responsible, on behalf of
the chief executive of the agency, for assisting line managers
and supervisors in the development and operation of a viable and
innovative program that will result in the continued presence
of a competent and capable workforce. Of particular importance
is the personnel officer's responsibility for advising and assisting
management and supervisors in the attainment of organization goals
within the context of Civil Service requirements for merit and
fitness, state and federal laws regarding human rights and equal
employment opportunity and collective bargaining agreements.
While the many responsibilities of the agency personnel, office
staff are described in official classification standards, a few
of the more critical responsibilities are outlined here:
- continuous collaboration with line managers in the development
of program initiatives and directions so that the business of
the agency is well understood by personnel office staff, and
the early participation of Department of Civil Service staff
in the process so that the personnel system can play an effective
and responsive role in support of the agency.
- insuring that the flexibility as well as the limits of merit
and fitness requirements as expressed in Civil Service Law,
rule, and regulation are understood, communicated to managers
and supervisors, and realized in the discharge of their personnel
management responsibilities.
- facilitating the participation of line managers and employees
including, where appropriate, employee organizations, in the
development and implementation of personnel management goals,
objectives, policies and procedures.
- proposing appropriate changes in Civil Service Law, rule,
regulation, policy and procedure to enable the statewide personnel
management system to be more responsive and supportive of agency
needs within the context of the principle of merit and fitness.
.158 The Role and Organization of the Department of Civil Service
(To be issued.)
TM-1; 4/26/82
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