Authorizes term appointments without examination for certain information technology positions

Summary of provisions

Section 1 of the bill would create a new Civil Service Law (CSL) § 66 to allow the Department of Civil Service (DCS) to authorize up to 500 term IT appointments, for up to sixty months each, that could be made without examination, where an agency certifies that holding such an examination is impractical because of the temporary nature of the work, or because special expertise and qualifications are required. Individuals hired pursuant to this process would be eligible to take one promotional examination at a level commensurate with their skills and responsibilities after two years of service. When IT positions created by this section are abolished for reasons of economy, consolidation or other delineated reasons, an agency must abolish term appointments prior to permanent competitive class IT positions of comparable skills and responsibilities.

Section 2 of the bill would allow DCS to limit certification of eligibles from certain specified existing eligible lists to those individuals who have knowledge, skills or certifications identified by the appointing authority as necessary to perform the duties of the position. Such limitations may be imposed only after a skill-set inventory for persons on the relevant list is conducted.

Section 3 of the bill would require the Director of the Budget to report on in-sourcing of IT positions, every six months, to the Speaker of the Assembly, the Temporary President of the Senate and to any employee organization certified to represent State IT employees. The report would address (1) efforts to reduce the number of IT consultants; (2) the number of IT employees hired by the State to replace consultants; (3) an estimate of the savings achieved by in-sourcing; and (4) suggestions on further improvements to the process for hiring and promoting IT staff.

Section 4 of the bill would provide that it would be effective immediately. Sections 1 and 3 would expire and be deemed repealed on

December 31, 2011. Section 2 would expire and be deemed repealed on December 31, 2011 or upon the establishment of new eligible lists, whichever is earlier.

Existing law

Civil Service Law § 64(3) allows the State to make temporary appointments, without examination, when the person appointed will render professional, scientific, technical or other expert services for a period not exceeding eighteen months, where the services to be rendered and the temporary or occasional character of such services make it impractical to hold an examination.

Legislative history

This is a new bill.

Statement in support

The State has long relied on contractors to perform certain IT services, although hiring outside consultants is often more costly than using public employees. A number of explanations have been proffered for this state of events: training of public employees is insufficient; the civil service system does not provide adequate flexibility to meet employer's rapidly changing IT needs; and long term hires are not sufficiently targeted for short-term IT projects. This bill, and administrative actions that will accompany it, will address these issues, and thereby allow the State to in-source technology consultants effectively and achieve significant savings.

This bill would facilitate appropriate in-sourcing in several ways. First, it would allow for the creation of up to five hundred term appointments in information technology, each lasting for up to sixty months, in instances (such as when special qualifications or expertise are required or when the services are temporary) where it is not practicable to fill the position by competitive examination. To secure such an appointment, the appointing authority would need to make a public certification that special expertise or qualifications are required and why they cannot be obtained via an eligible list. This provision would allow State agencies to hire IT professionals with specific skills for a limited period, at higher levels and pay grades than would otherwise be possible, so such employees could perform tasks for which an outside contractor is presently used.

Second, the bill would allow DCS to limit certifications from certain existing IT eligible lists to individuals with specific knowledge, skills or certifications, after a skill-set inventory is conducted from all persons on such list. This would allow an agency to hire individuals on an existing list who possess the precise skills it needs, rather than contracting for such skills because the top candidates identified by an examination did not possess them. This provision would not add any individual to, or remove any individual from, any eligible list. Rather, it would allow an agency to winnow down that list in accordance with a skills inventory to select employee with the skill most fitting its needs.

Third, the bill would add transparency to the in-sourcing process, by requiring bi-annual reports by the Director of the Budget, detailing steps taken to replace contractors with public employees; calculating savings achieved; and making suggestions for further improving IT hiring and promotions and limiting contracting of IT services.

All of these provisions would sunset on December 31, 2011, allowing the Executive, Legislature and stakeholders to assess their effectiveness, and determine to what extent they should be modified or continued.

In the State's current fiscal predicament, it must seek out every avenue to achieve cost-savings by limiting use of consultants, provided it can do so without negatively impacting the ability of State agencies to operate efficiently. This bill would take an important step towards this goal, by providing the State with flexibility to hire personnel with the skills and experience it needs. When coupled with greater transparency, and administrative measures for improved training, these steps will help the State make the best use of its IT workforce, and bring into that workforce individuals with skills in demand by State agencies.

Budget implications

This bill would reduce State expenditures by allowing State agencies to replace consultants with public employees who can be hired at lower cost.

Effective date

This bill would be effective immediately, and that sections 1 and 3 would expire and be deemed repealed on December 31, 2011. Section 2 would expire or be deemed repealed on December 31, 2011 or upon the establishment of new eligible lists, whichever is earlier.