1. Civil Service: Friend or Foe to State Public Health Departments Patricia M. Sweeney, JD, MPH, RN Center for Public Health Practice Graduate School of Public Health University of Pittsburgh psweeney@pitt.edu

3. Background Phase One: Identified the positions most difficult for state public health departments to recruit Entry level RN Most senior level epidemiologist

4. Background Phase Two: Assessed the degree to which state health departments utilized competencies when determining the suitability of job candidates

5. Competencies AACON –Baccalaureate nursing Quad Council –Public health nursing Council on Linkages –Public health core CSTE and CDC –Epidemiology

6. PUBLIC HEALTH CORE COMPETENCY # of appearances in RN text # of appearances in EPI text Analytic assessment skills 1554 Policy development / planning skills program 810 Communication skills 1813 Cultural competency skills 44 Community dimensions of practice 10 Basic public health sciences skills 46400 Financial planning and management skills 64 Leadership and systems thinking 2913

7. Nursing Core Competencies and Public Health Nursing Competencies # of times in text Critical thinking2 Communication4 Technical skills117 Assessment17 Analytic assessment15 Policy development/program planning skills8 Communication skills23 Cultural competency skills1 Community dimensions of practice skills2 Public health sciences skills7 Financial planning and management skills0 Leadership and systems thinking0

8. Epidemiology Competencies # of times in text Assessment and Analysis4 Basic Public Health Sciences117 Communication16 Community Dimensions of Practice2 Cultural competency1 Financial and Operational Planning and Management1 Leadership and Systems Thinking22 Policy Development1

9. 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

10. Methods Identified market responsive personnel system procedures Developed a survey instrument Validated tool Surveys mailed to each state and territorial health department

11. 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……. State Health Department Department/agency responsible for public health department personnel functions in your state State Administrative / Human Resource Office State Civil Service Commission The State Legislature Collective Bargaining Agreement N/ADo not know:Other

12. 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 Forbids/ constrains Mandates/ permits Other N/A Civil service law impact upon state public health department personnel functions

13. Results Participating states AK AL AZ CA CO GA IA ID IN LA MN MO NE NH NV NY ND OH OK PA RI SC US VI VA VT WA WV WI Received completed surveys from 28 states

14. 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……. State Health Department Department/agency responsible for public health department personnel functions in your state State Administrative / Human Resource Office State Civil Service Commission The State LegislatureCollective Bargaining Agreement N/ADo not know:

15. Creates /revises health department job classifications9134 Changes/revises health department job responsibilities3185 Administers written exams to health department job candidates312 Prioritizes candidates for hiring based upon past work experience1216 Prioritizes candidates for hiring based upon educational preparation1226 Change criteria used to prioritize candidates for hiring4184 Increase salary offered to candidates to recruit appropriate candidates8136 Hire candidate you prefer6168 Circumvent traditional personnel procedures to facilitate hiring11135 Promote staff based upon established career ladder51310 Promote staff based upon performance appraisal6917 Promotes staff based upon additional training51310 Can readily change personnel processes in response to market forces1814 Forbids/ constrains Mandates/ permits N/A Civil service law impact upon state public health department personnel functions

16. Reported impact of civil service laws 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”

17. Methods Analyzed State Civil Service Laws –Distribution of personnel system responsibilities –Recruitment authority –Salary control –Market exceptions

18. Findings Statutory LanguagePractical 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 payMore competitive with market

19. Findings Statutory LanguagePractical application Job classification shared dutyPersonnel 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

20. Implications Legal framework critical –Departments set minimum qualifications –Critical position carve outs –Authorize higher pay Implementation of law equally critical

21. 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

22. Civil Service: Friend or Foe of State Public Health Departments Patricia M. Sweeney, JD, MPH, RN Center for Public Health Practice Graduate School of Public Health University of Pittsburgh psweeney@pitt.edu