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July 23, 2019

The New York Department of Civil Service has posted a General Information Bulletin No. 19-05 concerning identifying certain positions in the non-competitive class with the Greek letter "phi" [Φ].



GENERAL INFORMATION BULLETIN No. 19-05

TO: Department and Agency Directors of Human Resource, Personnel and Affirmative Action Officers
FROM: Allen Jordan, Manager (Commission Operations)
SUBJECT: Phi tag Designation Criteria
DATE: May 30, 2019

Please be advised that pursuant to Civil Service Law section 42(2-a), the Civil Service Commission is the entity empowered to designate, among positions in the non-competitive class, those positions which are confidential or require the performance of functions that formulate or influence policy in an agency. Positions so designated are recorded in Appendix 2 of the Rules for the Classified Service (the non-competitive class) with the Greek letter "phi."

When seeking approval for non-competitive classification of a position, agencies must provide a detailed explanation of the position, duties and responsibilities for which Commission determination will be sought. The explanation should include a description of why a phi designation is requested.

Alternatively, the Commission may choose to apply a phi designation to a given position, even if the phi designation has not been requested by an agency.

To provide clarity, the phi designation criteria for the Commission's consideration includes the following:

Non-competitive positions where the duties include acting in a confidential capacity to an appointing authority or having a close relationship with an appointing authority may be designated as confidential positions. Merely dealing with sensitive and/or confidential information will not necessarily justify a phi designation.

Non-competitive positions where the duties include formulating or influencing policy may be phi-designated.

Incumbents of phi-designated positions cannot acquire tenure protection in such positions unless they are honorably discharged wartime veterans or exempt volunteer firefighters*, as noted in Civil Service Law section 75(1)(b).

* Exempt volunteer firefighters should not be confused with positions in the exempt jurisdictional class.

CAUTION

Subsequent court and administrative rulings, or changes to laws, rules and regulations may have modified or clarified or vacated or reversed the decisions summarized here. Accordingly, these summaries should be Shepardized® or otherwise checked to make certain that the most recent information is being considered by the reader.
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NYPPL Blogger Harvey Randall served as Principal Attorney, New York State Department of Civil Service; Director of Personnel, SUNY Central Administration; Director of Research, Governor’s Office of Employee Relations; and Staff Judge Advocate General, New York Guard. Consistent with the Declaration of Principles jointly adopted by a Committee of the American Bar Association and a Committee of Publishers and Associations, the material posted to this blog is presented with the understanding that neither the publisher nor NYPPL and, or, its staff and contributors are providing legal advice to the reader and in the event legal or other expert assistance is needed, the reader is urged to seek such advice from a knowledgeable professional.
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