Civil Service Commission Appeal Guidelines

The following explains how the Civil Service Commission ("Commission") processes appeals, and should be used to gain a general understanding of these appeals. Always remember to check the specific section of law which governs the subject of the appeal, as the statute may provide more detailed and relevant information. Where these guidelines may be inconsistent with a specific Civil Service Law ("CSL") provision, the specific CSL provision governs. For any questions not addressed by these guidelines, please call the Office of Commission Operations at 518-473-6598 for further information.

A. Subjects of Commission Appeals

Any individual or entity reasonably believing himself, herself or itself aggrieved ("appellant") by an action or determination of the President of the Commission ("President") acting as the head of the Department of Civil Service ("Department") may file an appeal to the Commission [CSL section 6(5)]1. The following CSL provisions and/or regulations also provide a basis for appeals to the Commission:

  1. CSL section 120(2) and 130(5)
  2. CSL section 72
  3. CSL section 76
  4. CSL section 71 and 4 NYCRR section 5.9(e)
  5. CSL section 159-a and 4 NYCRR section 78.8
  6. 4 NYCRR section 55.4(b)
  7. 4 NYCRR section 66.4

B. Submitting the Appeal

An appellant shall submit the appeal, with all supporting documents, in writing, in accordance with the deadlines set forth in the particular statute or regulation governing the subject of the appeal. The appellant should include in the appeal to the Commission all information and arguments in support of the appeal, as well as a copy of the letter advising of the final determination when appealing under CSL section 6(5).

If the particular statute or regulation is silent as to the time period within which an appeal shall be filed, appellants should file with the Commission within thirty days of receiving the written determination which is the subject of the appeal.

Appeals should be addressed to the Office of Commission Operations at the Alfred E. Smith State Office Building, on 80 South Swan Street, Albany, New York 12239.

C. Processing of the Appeal

After receiving an appeal, the Commission staff will acknowledge receipt and process the appeal internally by sending it to the appropriate division or its office within the Department for review and recommendation. After receiving relevant information from the appropriate division or office, the Commission staff will notify appellant that the appeal will be presented to the Commission and provide the appellant with a copy of non-privileged materials prepared by Department staff.

Generally, the Commission will consider an appeal based upon the papers submitted. An appellant may request to personally appear before the Commission to present the appeal. If the request is granted, the Commission staff will notify the appellant, in writing, of the date, time and place of an appeal. The Commission may reschedule an appeal as it deems appropriate, with notice to the affected parties.

An appellant may appear before the Commission with representation, and/or with other advocates, where appropriate, but will be requested to provide the Commission with prior notice of the names of any individuals with whom they will be appearing.

D. Hearing the Appeal

In those cases where an appellant and/or a representative appear before the Commission, they will have the opportunity to present arguments in support of their positions. An appellant may also, as deemed appropriate by the Commission, present the statements of other advocates in support of their position. Individuals who appear at the Commission hearing are not administered oaths and are not subject to cross-examination. The proceedings are informal in nature and the formal rules of evidence do not apply. The appellant may choose to submit all or part of their evidence in written form. The President may exclude irrelevant or unduly repetitive evidence from any proceeding, and may limit the time for presentation of the appeal.

Consistent with the CSL, there is no verbatim record kept of the appeal proceeding before the Commission. The appeal record will be closed at the conclusion of the proceeding, unless a party indicates that they wish to submit additional information for consideration. In those cases, the President shall determine the need for additional information and the time periods within which the information, and appropriate responses, shall be submitted. All additional information submitted to the Commission must be in writing. Commission staff will forward copies to any other parties. After receiving all approved submissions, the record on appeal may be closed.

If an appellant or his or her representative fails to appear at the scheduled proceeding, the appeal will be determined based upon the appellant's written submissions.

E. Decision after Hearing the Appeal

After hearing all the evidence and arguments presented, the Commission shall deliberate and determine whether an appeal shall be granted or denied. All final decisions of the Commission shall be in writing. Commission staff will mail to the appellant a copy of the final decision. The final decision will also be posted on the Commission's public website, unless the appeal is confidential in nature.

  1. This does not include any actions or determinations relating solely to matters of internal management of the Department or considered and approved in advance by the Commission, or matters subject to Article 11 of the CSL