Public Employee Press

City moves to cut provisional headcount

New York City plans to cut the number of provisional employees in its workforce by 7,000 as it schedules at least 37 civil service exams over the next two years.

The city expects to reduce the provisional workforce by another 1,600 as it reclassifies titles under an extension of a five-year plan to shed thousands of provisionals from the payroll.

Since implementing the provisional reduction plan, the city has cut the number of provisionals by 39 percent, from 39,000 in 2008 to 23,000 as of August.

Under the revised plan, the city expects the number of provisional employees in competitive class civil service titles to fall to about 14,000.

After the city released the new plan in September, the local media erroneously reported that deep layoffs were likely.

"The inaccurate reporting seemed to be driven by a desire to stir the pot. It was obviously based on assumptions that were not checked out," said DC 37 Research and Negotiations Director Evelyn Seinfeld.

The city developed its plan after a court ruling that ordered the city of Long Beach on Long Island to follow a civil service law provision that bars local governments from keeping provisionals more than nine months.

The city is supposed to employ provisionals only to fill temporary openings. But over the years, the city allowed its provisional workforce to mushroom in order to meet its long-term employment needs while keeping down its headcount of permanent employees.

District Council 37 successfully fought off former Mayor Michael Bloomberg's attempt to carry out a sweeping reclassification and consolidation (broad-banding) of titles that would lead to reductions. The administration of Mayor Bill de Blasio appears to be committed to using exams and working with municipal unions on alternative ways to pare the provisional workforce, Seinfeld noted.

The DC 37 titles that have civil service exams scheduled during the rest of 2014 and in 2015 are included in the list below.

In recent years, mayors have drastically cut the funding of the Dept. of Citywide Administrative Services for administering civil service exams. As it works with DCAS on reducing the number of provisionals, the union will push for improved funding, Seinfeld said.

Besides holding the civil service exams, DCAS will take other steps to reduce provisionals. It will rely on online education and experience exams, computer-based testing centers, extending lines of promotion, selective certification for titles with specialized skills, targeted reclassification of titles and perhaps additional exams.

DC 37 eyes the reduction plan favorably, because it will lead to greater job security and civil service status for members who are currently employed as provisionals.