January 6, 2006

Honorable Daniel E. Wall

Commissioner

NYS Department of Civil Service

Building 1, State Campus

Albany, New York 12239

Dear Commissioner Wall,

            On December 30, 2005, the Department of Civil Service announced significant changes in the administration of the Promotion Test Battery.  Our members are particularly disturbed with two of these changes.

            The first change would reduce the time a PTB score can be banked and used for other civil service examinations from ten years to four years. This change will be effective immediately and will be applied retroactively so that any state employee who took the PTB in 2002 or earlier will have to take the PTB again in 2006.

Our members contend that it is unfair to retroactively change Civil Service policy since candidates who took the PTB from 1997 to 2005 reasonably had the expectation that their test scores would be good for the entire ten years.  While I realize that the PTB test announcements state that the scores would be banked for “up to ten years,” the clear practice of your department has been to allow candidates to use these scores for ten years.  Retaking the PTB will be a hardship for many of our members, particularly those members who took the test in good faith believing that their PTB scores would be valid for ten years.  These members believe you have a moral, if not legal, obligation to retain the ten-year policy that is currently in place.  Accordingly, I ask that you reconsider the retroactive application of the new four-year time limit for PTB scores.

            The second change that concerns our members is the policy decision to hold each level of the PTB every other year after 2006 rather than annually.  It is my understanding that one reason for this change is the lack of resources at your department to continue to hold both levels of the PTB annually along with needed promotion and open competitive examinations. While I understand that the department will make every effort to schedule future promotion examinations at a time which ensures that most candidates have valid PTB scores, it is likely that many candidates may be disadvantaged as a result of the new every other year testing policy.  PEF would be happy to support you in advocating for the additional resources so that both levels of the PTB can be held annually.

            Therefore, I am requesting that you schedule a meeting at your earliest convenience with representatives of both parties to discuss our concerns. Please contact Thomas Cetrino, Director of Civil Service Enforcement, at 785-1900 ext. 280, who will arrange for the participation of PEF representatives.  Thank you for your prompt attention to this matter.

                                                            Sincerely,

Roger E. Benson

                                                            President

cc:  Thomas E. Cetrino

       Jeff Satz Statewide Civil Service Committee