Civil Service: Friend or Foe to State Public Health

Departments

Patricia M. Sweeney, JD, MPH, RNCenter for Public Health PracticeGraduate School of Public Health

University of Pittsburgh psweeney@pitt.edu

Background

Phase One:

• Identified the positions most difficult for state public health departments to recruit

• Entry level RN• Most senior level

epidemiologist

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

Num

ber

of S

tate

s

Nurse Physician Epidemiologist Nutritionist Veterinarian DivisionAdminstrator

Position

Position Most Difficult to Recruit

Most Difficult Epidemiological Position to Fill

Most Vital Position

Background

Phase Two:

• Assessed the degree to which state health departments utilized competencies when determining the suitability of job candidates

Competencies

• AACON – Baccalaureate nursing

• Quad Council – Public health nursing

• Council on Linkages – Public health core

• CSTE and CDC – Epidemiology

PUBLIC HEALTH CORE COMPETENCY

# of appearances in RN text

# of appearances in EPI text

Analytic assessment skills 15 54

Policy development / planning skills program

8 10

Communication skills 18 13

Cultural competency skills 4 4

Community dimensions of practice

1 0

Basic public health sciences skills

46 400

Financial planning and management skills

6 4

Leadership and systems thinking

29 13

Nursing Core Competencies and

Public Health Nursing Competencies# of times in

text

Critical thinking 2

Communication 4

Technical skills 117

Assessment 17

Analytic assessment 15

Policy development/program planning skills 8

Communication skills 23

Cultural competency skills 1

Community dimensions of practice skills 2

Public health sciences skills 7

Financial planning and management skills 0

Leadership and systems thinking 0

Epidemiology Competencies # of times in text

Assessment and Analysis 4

Basic Public Health Sciences 117

Communication 16

Community Dimensions of Practice 2

Cultural competency 1

Financial and Operational Planning and Management 1

Leadership and Systems Thinking 22

Policy Development 1

Purpose

Phase Three:

• Define distribution of responsibility for state public health hiring and promotion

• Describe the impact of state civil service laws upon the state public health personnel systems

Methods

• Identified market responsive personnel system procedures

• Developed a survey instrument

• Validated tool

• Surveys mailed to each state and territorial health department

• Department/agency• responsible for public

health department• personnel functions

Creates/changes health department job classifications

Changes/revises health department job responsibilities

Is the hiring authority for the state public health dept.

Administers written exams

Interviews candidates for health department positions

Prioritizes candidates for hiring in the health department based upon banding rule

Prioritizes candidates for hiring in the health department based upon past work experience

Prioritizes candidates for hiring in the health department based upon educational preparation

Alters pay scale offered to health department job candidates

Changes health department employee salaries

Expedites the hiring of health department employees

Can change personnel processes in response to market forces

A series of questions about promotion criteria……..

Etc…….

Stat

e H

ealth

Dep

artm

ent

Department/agencyresponsible for public health department personnel functions in your state

Stat

e A

dmin

istr

ativ

e /

H

uman

Res

ourc

e O

ffic

e

Stat

e C

ivil

Serv

ice

Com

mis

sion

The

Sta

te L

egis

latu

re

Col

lect

ive

Bar

gain

ing

Agr

eem

ent

N/A

Do

not k

now

:

Oth

er

Creates /revises health department job classifications

Changes/revises health department job responsibilities

Posts health department job announcements

Administers written exams to health department job candidates

Updates/changes written exams for health department jobs

Interviews candidates for health department positions

Prioritizes candidates for hiring in the health department based upon veterans status

Prioritizes candidates for hiring in the health department based upon past work experience

Prioritizes candidates for hiring in the health department based upon educational preparation

Change criteria used to prioritize candidates for hiring

Increase salary offered to candidates to recruit appropriate candidates

Hire candidate you prefer

Circumvent traditional personnel procedures to facilitate hiring

Promote staff based upon established career ladder

Promote staff based upon performance appraisal

Promotes staff based upon additional training

Can readily change personnel processes in response to market forces recruitment and retention of qualified staff

For

bids

/co

nst

rain

s

Man

date

s/pe

rmit

s

Oth

er

N/A

Civil service law impact upon state public health department personnel functions

ResultsParticipating states

AK ALAZCACOGAIAIDINLAMNMONENH

NVNYNDOHOKPARISC

US VIVAVTWAWVWI

Received completed surveys from 28 states

• Department/agency• responsible for public

health department• personnel functions

Creates/changes health department job classifications 42% 87% 13%

Changes/revises health department job responsibilities 84% 26% 3%

Administers written exams 23% 36% 10% 36%

Interviews candidates for health department positions 100%

Prioritizes candidates for hiring based upon banding rule 26% 23% 10% 29% 16%

Prioritizes candidates for hiring based upon past work experience

77% 32%

Prioritizes candidates for hiring based upon educational preparation

81% 32%

Alters pay scale offered to health department job candidates

36% 58% 16%

Changes health department employee salaries 42% 66% 10% 26% 23%

Expedites the hiring of health department employees 77% 29%

Can change personnel processes in response to market forces

32% 73% 16% 13% 7%

A series of questions about promotion criteria…….. 39% 52%

Etc…….

Stat

e H

ealth

Dep

artm

ent

Department/agencyresponsible for public health department personnel functions in your state

Stat

e A

dmin

istr

ativ

e /

H

uman

Res

ourc

e O

ffic

e

Stat

e C

ivil

Serv

ice

Com

mis

sion

The

Sta

te L

egis

latu

re

Col

lect

ive

Bar

gain

ing

Agr

eem

ent

N/A

Do

not k

now

:

Creates /revises health department job classifications 9 13 4

Changes/revises health department job responsibilities 3 18 5

Administers written exams to health department job candidates 3 12 12

Prioritizes candidates for hiring based upon past work experience 1 21 6

Prioritizes candidates for hiring based upon educational preparation 1 22 6

Change criteria used to prioritize candidates for hiring 4 18 4

Increase salary offered to candidates to recruit appropriate candidates 8 13 6

Hire candidate you prefer 6 16 8

Circumvent traditional personnel procedures to facilitate hiring 11 13 5

Promote staff based upon established career ladder 5 13 10

Promote staff based upon performance appraisal 6 9 17

Promotes staff based upon additional training 5 13 10

Can readily change personnel processes in response to market forces 18 1 4

For

bids

/co

nst

rain

s

Man

date

s/pe

rmit

s

N/A

Civil service law impact upon state public health department personnel functions

Reported impact of civil service lawsno

impact27%

help15%

hinder58%

Civil Service Hindrance

Narrow banding restrictions

Rigid salary guidelines per classification

Unrealistic minimum qualifications per classification

Delays imposed by certification process

Narrow policies implement reasonable laws

Civil Service Benefit

Statutory revisions

Classification input or control by agencies

Candidate qualification determined by agencies

Salary flexibility within grade

Critical position “carve out”

Methods

Analyzed State Civil Service Laws

– Distribution of personnel system responsibilities

– Recruitment authority – Salary control– Market exceptions

Findings

Statutory Language Practical application

Departments set minimum qualifications

Flexibility eliminated need for job reclassifications

Critical positions may be taken out of merit system

unclassified or direct hire authority

Authorize higher pay More competitive with market

Findings

Statutory Language Practical application

Job classification shared duty Personnel Admin acting in isolation

No express statement requiring certification of a set # of eligibles

Banding persists in practice

Express statutory permission to “waive rules” for mission critical positions

Reported stringent rules

Implications

• Legal framework critical

– Departments set minimum qualifications

– Critical position carve outs

– Authorize higher pay

• Implementation of law equally critical

Needed research

• Regulations and policies which implement civil service laws

• Mechanisms used for promotion of the public health workforce .

• Mechanism to minimize the impact of collective bargaining

Civil Service: Friend or Foe of State Public Health

Departments

Patricia M. Sweeney, JD, MPH, RNCenter for Public Health PracticeGraduate School of Public Health

University of Pittsburgh psweeney@pitt.edu