On January 14, the Civil Service Commission approved a request from the Department of Civil Service to move 40 additional titles to the non-competitive jurisdictional class, including 28 within the PS&T bargaining unit, in order to include them in the New York Hiring for Emergency Placement Statewide (NY HELPS) program. Prior to this approval, seven of these titles were updated on the website of the Career Mobility Office to indicate they are NY HELPS titles. This is normally done once the rule is formally adopted pursuant to the State Administrative Procedure Act.
On January 6, the union submitted comments to the Civil Service Commission ahead of the January 14 meeting to approve amendments to the Civil Service Appendices to add the 40 titles, asking the Commission to carefully consider the long-term consequences of continued reliance on what was intended to be a temporary response to an unprecedented workforce shortage.
“With NY HELPS set to expire in June, the focus should be on strengthening the civil service system by ramping up examinations and opening the long-promised computer-based testing centers—not expanding stopgap measures that bypass the merit and fitness system,” said President Spence. “That system is a cornerstone of public service and exists to ensure the most qualified candidates are hired to serve New Yorkers.
“Our members report real and lasting repercussions from hiring through NY HELPS,” he said. “It undermines career mobility and promotional opportunities for dedicated public servants, and when competitive examinations are removed, the risk of hiring bias and cronyism increases.”
PEF specifically called out the proposed inclusion of several parole office titles in this round of NY HELPS additions. Open-competitive exams for these titles were last held in 2017, and there are no available lists to canvas.
“With Less is More and the wildcat strikes at the Department of Corrections and Community Supervision, parole officers are facing exponential increases in workload without any improvements in compensation,” said President Spence. “Making these titles NY HELPS will not improve retention and it will not relieve the burden on already overworked and underpaid officers. The state needs to stop circumventing merit and fitness and effect meaningful change in the Civil Service system to achieve these goals.”