N.J. Stat. tit. 11A, ch. 3

in effect

N.J. Stat. § 11A:3-1 Classification.

11A:3-1. Classification. The Civil Service Commission shall assign and reassign titles among the career service, senior executive service and unclassified service. The commission shall: a. Establish, administer, amend and continuously review a State classification plan governing all positions in State service and similar plans for political subdivisions; b. Establish, consolidate and abolish titles; c. Ensure the grouping in a single title of positions with similar qualifications, authority and responsibility; d. Assign and reassign titles to appropriate positions; and e. Provide a specification for each title. Amended 2008, c.29, s.20.

N.J. Stat. § 11A:3-2 Career service.

11A:3-2. Career service. The career service shall have two divisions, the competitive division and the noncompetitive division. The commission shall assign and reassign such titles to each division and may provide for movement, including promotion, of employees from one division to the other. Amended 2008, c.29, s.21.

N.J. Stat. § 11A:3-2.1 Findings, declarations

1. The Legislature finds and declares that: a. the importance of fairness and impartiality in State employment is recognized in Article VII, Section I, paragraph 2 of the New Jersey Constitution which provides that, "Appointments and promotions in the civil service of the State ... 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..."; b. nevertheless, the framers recognized that appointments to certain types of employment are not readily made through a competitive examination process; c. accordingly, in implementing the constitutional provision, the Legislature has provided in N.J.S.11A:3-2 that the career service shall have a competitive division and a noncompetitive division; d. it was the purpose of the Legislature, in making this distinction, to provide for positions which cannot properly be tested for, such as lower-level jobs which do not require significant education or experience, to be filled without the need of competitive examination but with civil service protection for the employee; e. however, recent published reports suggest that the purpose of the noncompetitive division has been subverted by the transfer into that division of titles which properly belong in the unclassified service or in the competitive division of the career service, and the making of appointments thereto; f. the apparent reason for this misuse of the noncompetitive division is to protect political appointees prior to the beginning of a new administration; and g. in order to prevent this abuse of the civil service system, there is need for a statutory prohibition on the movement of job titles and political appointees to the noncompetitive division of the career service during the final six months of the Governor's term in office. L.1993,c.371,s.1.

N.J. Stat. § 11A:3-2.2 Certain transfers, appointments prohibited

2. No title shall be transferred from the State unclassified service or the senior executive service to the noncompetitive division of the career service and no individual serving in a title in the State unclassified service or the senior executive service shall be transferred to or appointed to the noncompetitive division of the career service during the six-month period immediately preceding the termination of the Governor's four-year term. A transfer or appointment which violates the provisions of this section is void. L.1993,c.371,s.2.

N.J. Stat. § 11A:3-3 Senior executive service.

11A:3-3. Senior executive service. A senior executive service shall be established in State government and include those positions having substantial managerial, policy influencing or policy executing responsibilities as determined by the Civil Service Commission. Titles included in a collective negotiations unit shall not be included in the senior executive service. The total number of senior executive service employees shall not exceed 1,200. The Civil Service Commission shall adopt rules providing for the selection, placement, transfer, development, compensation, separation and performance appraisal of senior executive service employees, and for the reinstatement of career service employees to the career service. The senior executive service shall not be subject to the provisions of this title unless otherwise specified. The senior executive service shall include noncareer and career service employees. The number of noncareer employees shall not exceed 15% of the entire senior executive service work force. Where an employee holds permanent career service status in a position in a title that is assigned to the senior executive service, the employee, with appointing authority approval, shall be provided the option of joining the senior executive service. Permanent career service employees who opt not to join the senior executive service or who do not receive approval to join the senior executive service shall have the right to reinstatement to the career service to a level directly under the senior executive service. Permanent career service employees who join the senior executive service and who are later separated from the senior executive service shall have a right of reinstatement to the career service to a level held prior to entry in the senior executive service, unless the employee has been separated, after opportunity for hearing, from the senior executive service for reasons which constitute cause for removal from the career service. Amended 2008, c.29, s.22.

N.J. Stat. § 11A:3-4 State unclassified service.

11A:3-4. State unclassified service. The State unclassified service shall not be subject to the provisions of this title unless otherwise specified and shall include the following: a. Appointments of the Governor; b. Department heads and members of boards and commissions authorized by law; c. Employees in the legislative branch of State government; d. Heads of institutions; e. Superintendents, teachers and instructors in the public schools, the agricultural experiment station and State institutions, where certified teachers are employed under the supervision of and qualified by the State Department of Education, and other institutions maintained wholly or in part by the State; f. Physicians, surgeons and dentists; g. Assistant and Deputy Attorneys General and legal assistants appointed by the Attorney General; h. One secretary and one confidential assistant to each department head, board, principal executive officer and commission. Each certification and appointment hereunder shall be recorded in the minutes of the Civil Service Commission; i. Employees in the military or naval service of the State; j. Student assistants; k. Domestic employees in the Governor's household; and l. All other titles as provided by law or as the Civil Service Commission may determine. Amended 2008, c.29, s.23.

N.J. Stat. § 11A:3-4.1 Rules, regulations concerning recordkeeping, record retention.

1. a. The Civil Service Commission, in consultation with the Bureau of Records Management in the Department of the Treasury and in accordance with federal and State law and regulation, shall promulgate rules and regulations concerning recordkeeping and record retention requirements related to the recruitment, selection, hiring, and employment records of persons in the State's unclassified service. The recordkeeping and record retention requirements shall include, at minimum, written and electronic records concerning job advertisements, job applications, resumes, background checks, screening tools and tests, interview notes and other records related to the decisions to hire or not hire a person, and records related to job title and compensation, training, reasonable accommodation requests, promotions, demotions, transfers, performance evaluations, disciplinary actions, and terminations. b. A personnel form shall be completed and maintained for each unclassified State employee. At minimum, the personnel form shall include the following information: (1) the name of the unclassified employee; (2) the job title of unclassified employee; (3) direct supervisor or manager; (4) salary history; (5) date of employment offer; (6) date of hire; (7) the individual authorizing the hire or change of employment status; and (8) any notes on promotions, demotions, transfers, performance evaluations, disciplinary actions, and terminations. Personnel forms shall be revised as needed to reflect any subsequent change or modification in the unclassified employee's employment status, salary, direct supervisor or manager, or legal name. c. The recruitment, selection, hiring, and employment records of unclassified employees in any State agency shall be compiled by the human resources office, or an equivalent entity, of that State agency. Information from such records shall be provided to the Civil Service Commission upon request for recordkeeping and data collection purposes. L.2019, c.346, s.1.

N.J. Stat. § 11A:3-5 Political subdivision unclassified service.

11A:3-5. Political subdivision unclassified service. The political subdivision unclassified service shall not be subject to the provisions of this title unless otherwise specified and shall include the following: a. Elected officials; b. One secretary and one confidential assistant to each mayor; c. Members of boards and commissions authorized by law; d. Heads of institutions; e. Physicians, surgeons and dentists; f. Attorneys of a county, municipality or school district operating under this title; g. Teaching staff, as defined in N.J.S.18A:1-1, in the public schools and county superintendents and members and business managers of boards of education; h. Principal executive officers; i. One secretary, clerk or executive director to each department, board and commission authorized by law to make the appointment; j. One secretary or clerk to each county constitutional officer, principal executive officer, and judge; k. One deputy or first assistant to a principal executive officer who is authorized by statute to act for and in place of the principal executive officer; l. No more than 12 county department heads and the heads of divisions within such departments; provided that the total number of unclassified positions created by the county administrative code pursuant to this subsection shall not exceed 20; m. One secretary or confidential assistant to each unclassified department or division head established in subsection l.; n. Employees of county park commissions, appointed pursuant to R.S.40:37-96 through R.S.40:37-174, in counties of the second class; o. Directors of free public libraries in cities of the first class having a population of more than 270,000 according to the 2010 federal decennial census; p. One secretary to the municipal council in cities of the first class having a population of less than 300,000; q. One secretary and one confidential aide for each member of the board of freeholders other than the director, and one secretary and two confidential aides for the freeholder director, of any county of the second class with a population of at least 470,000 which has not adopted the provisions of the "Optional County Charter Law," P.L.1972, c.154 (C.40:41A-1 et seq.) and one secretary or confidential aide for each member of the board of freeholders of any other county which has not adopted the provisions of the "Optional County Charter Law"; r. In school districts organized pursuant to N.J.S.18A:17-1 et seq., the executive controller, public information officer and the executive directors of board affairs, personnel, budget, purchasing, physical facilities, data processing, financial affairs, and internal audit; s. The executive director, assistant executive director, director of staff operations, director of administration, director of redevelopment and the urban initiatives coordinator of a local housing authority; t. The sheriff's investigators of any county appointed pursuant to section 2 of P.L.1987, c.113 (C.40A:9-117a); u. Any title as provided by statute or as the Civil Service Commission may determine in accordance with criteria established by rule; v. One confidential aide for each county clerk, in addition to the titles included under subsection j. of this section; and w. Two deputy municipal clerks in cities of the first class having a population of not less than 240,000 persons or more than 250,000 persons according to the 2000 federal decennial census. amended 1987, c.113, s.1; 1991, c.494, s.1; 2002, c.59, s.1; 2008, c.29, s.24;. 2017, c.65.

N.J. Stat. § 11A:3-6 Public hearing required when moving title from career to unclassified service.

11A:3-6. Public hearing required when moving title from career to unclassified service. Whenever the Civil Service Commission considers moving a title from the career service to the unclassified service, the Civil Service Commission shall first hold a public hearing before reaching a determination. Amended 2008, c.29, s.25.

N.J. Stat. § 11A:3-7 Employee compensation.

11A:3-7. a. The commission shall administer an equitable State employee compensation plan which shall include pay schedules and standards and procedures for salary adjustments other than as provided for in the State compensation plan for the career, senior executive and unclassified services. b. Prior to adoption or implementation of an amendment, change or modification to the compensation plan for State employees which amendment, change or modification affects public employees represented by a majority representative selected or designated pursuant to section 7 of P.L.1968, c.303 (C.34:13A-5.3), the State shall negotiate with the majority representative for an agreement on the amendment, change or modification to the compensation plan. The State shall negotiate in good faith with the majority representative. A State employee compensation plan shall not be amended, changed or modified except pursuant to a written agreement entered into between the State and the majority representative following negotiations. c. When an employee has erroneously received a salary overpayment, the commission may waive repayment based on a review of the case. d. Employees of political subdivisions are to be paid in reasonable relationship to titles and shall not be paid a base salary below the minimum or above the maximum established salary for an employee's title. Amended 2001, c.240; 2008, c.29, s.26.

N.J. Stat. § 11A:3-8 Payroll audits.

11A:3-8. Payroll audits. The commission may audit State payrolls and the payrolls of political subdivisions to determine compliance with this title. The commission may order and enforce immediate compliance as necessary. Amended 2008, c.29, s.27.

Source: Open US Law by Vaquill AI (CC BY 4.0)URL: https://www.njleg.state.nj.us/legislative-activity/statutesFetched: 10/17/2026