The Civil Service  Commission has established the Civil Service Adviser to enhance delivery of information on important employment issues and policies affecting the merit system of the City and County of San Francisco.

SELECTION FROM CIVIL SERVICE ELIGIBLE LISTS                         

What is the City policy on the selection from civil service eligible lists?

The City’s policy as adopted by the Civil Service Commission (“Commission”) requires that the selection of eligibles from civil service eligible lists must be based on merit and fitness without regard to race, religion, sex, national origin, ethnicity, age, disability, gender identity, political affiliation, sexual orientation, ancestry, marital or domestic partnership status, parental status, color, medical condition,  or other non-merit factors or otherwise prohibited nepotism or favoritism.  Appointments are made with due consideration to providing equal employment opportunity.

What is the department head’s responsibility when making a selection  from  an eligible list ?

The Department Head is responsible for selecting the best qualified eligible utilizing uniform non-discriminatory merit based selection procedures.

The Department of Human Resources (“DHR”) refers the list of eligibles to a department upon receipt of an approved requisition, and simultaneously notifies the eligibles that their names have been referred to the department for consideration (this is referred to as a “Notice of Certification”).  With a limited exception (addressed in response to the next question heading), eligibles referred to a department by the Department of Human Resources must be notified of the available vacancy by the department.    When a department requests supplemental information a longer response period should be provided.  The Notice of Certification is informational only and shall not require a response from the eligibles.  Although the Notice of Certification is informational, the date of this notice continues to be the date that establishes seniority and status rights.

Upon receiving the list of eligibles, an appointing officer may (but is not required to) conduct a “Notice of Inquiry” to eligibles.   A “Notice of Inquiry” is essentially a survey by the department for the purpose of assessing eligibles’ interest in a specific position in the department, and/or to obtain additional information or submissions from the eligibles as part of the selection process.  Eligibles are generally required to respond to a Notice of Inquiry within five (5) business days unless otherwise provided.  Eligibles are no longer placed under waiver on the eligible list for failing to respond to a Notice of Inquiry or declining to participate in the selection process or fail to respond to a Notice of Inquiry within the response period time limit.

The department head/designee may determine the appropriate method to screen eligibles who have expressed interest.  This screening process must be  non-discriminatory and merit system compliant and could include, but is not limited to, resumes, updated applications, writing exercises, work samples, skills checklists, and performance reviews.

The Commission and the DHR highly recommend that the department head/designee interview the remaining candidates in order to select the best-qualified individual.  The interview panel should be diverse and must ask job-related questions.  The department is required to maintain documentation of all screening and selection criteria and may be subject to audit by the DHR and/or the Commission.

The department must notify all unsuccessful eligibles to whom a Notice of Certification and/or Notice of Inquiry was sent that the department has chosen to select another candidate for the position within five business days of making an appointment. 

Are Provisional Employees Guaranteed Permanent Civil Service Appointment?

NO.  The Civil Service Commission Rules that regulate the merit system specifically state that  provisional employees shall not acquire the right or preference for permanent civil service appointment (Rule 14).  This means that provisional employees must successfully compete in a civil service examination process and be reachable on an eligible list to be considered for permanent civil service appointment (Rule 14).  A provisional employee who was hired pursuant to a valid recruitment and selection process may be selected for permanent appointment without the department interviewing that individual or any other candidate if the provisional employee:  a) successfully completed the examination process; b) is on the eligible list; c) is reachable on the eligible list; and d) is performing competently and effectively in the department.  The department head/designee may also decide that another reachable eligible is the best qualified for the job, in which case, the provisional employee would be displaced.