The changes, which are tucked into the 4,500-page budget bill now pending in the Ohio Senate, will downplay DAS’ role in civil service testing and give agency managers a larger hand in test design and administration, he said.
Ohio adopted a civil service system in 1914 so that qualified professionals would get government jobs, not political cronies, according to OhioHistoryCentral.org. The state constitution requires that hiring be competitive.
The changes could impact 47,950 classified state employees, including about 2,300 in the Dayton area, and untold numbers of workers at cities, counties and townships that follow the state civil service rules.
The changes would:
• Allow the director of DAS, who is appointed by the governor, to write rules on when an agency could hire workers without using competitive exams.
• Allow agencies to hire anyone who scores in the top 25 percentile on an exam, rather than be required to hire off an eligibility list of 10 applicants.
• Remove exams and seniority as criteria for internal promotions in state government; instead base promotions on merit and conduct in office.
Wycoff describes the changes as minor while the Ohio Civil Service Employees Association, a union representing more than 30,000 state workers, called them radical.
“We think they open the door for nepotism and favoritism in hiring,” said OCSEA spokeswoman Sally Meckling.
She noted that during debates over Senate Bill 5, the collective bargaining reform package, lawmakers assured government workers that they would still have civil service protections in place.
“We think it’s hypocritical to say you’ve got plenty of protection when they’re attacking both our collective bargaining rights and our civil service rights,” Meckling said.
The Fraternal Order of Police of Ohio Inc. is also concerned about the proposed changes. FOP officials said the changes could open government agencies up to more legal actions that challenge hiring and promotion decisions.
Merit selection
Brenda Gerhardstein, DAS deputy director for human resources, said the state’s basic civil service tests are for broad job classifications and don’t necessarily screen for the best applicants for particular positions. Agencies will be encouraged to give proficiency exams to test skills and knowledge and “structured interviews” where all the applicants are asked the same questions, she said.
“It is still going to be merit selection. It doesn’t even have the possibility of opening it up to favoritism and politics,” Gerhardstein said.
Former Montgomery County treasurer Hugh Quill, who served as DAS director during the Strickland administration, said he started the work on civil service reforms so that testing was more aligned to getting the right people into jobs. But he questioned why managers should be able to pick off the top quartile of applicants.
“If your tests are relevant, I don’t know why you don’t pick the best,” he said.
Ohio Municipal League Director Susan Cave said counties, some cities and some townships follow state civil service rules while others, particularly charter cities such as Dayton, have their own systems.
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