1200 Examinations

.1 BACKGROUND

.110 Legal Background

.111 Civil Service Law (CSL) section 52(7) provides that when there are no more than three qualified candidates in a promotion field, the appointing authority may nominate one of the candidates for a non-competitive promotion examination; there is no requirement to hold a competitive examination. In determining that there are no more than three qualified candidates in the field for promotion, agencies should first discuss any potential promotion by non-competitive examination with your Staffing Services Representative. The text of CSL section 52(7), provides:

Whenever there are no more than three persons eligible for examination for promotion to a vacant competitive class position, or whenever no more than three persons file application for examination for promotion to such position, the appointing officer may nominate one of such persons and such nominee, upon passing an examination appropriate to the duties and responsibilities of the position may be promoted.

.2 POLICY

.210 Requirements

†.211 Promotion by non-competitive examination is in order when the following conditions are met:

• There is no reemployment list for the position to be filled.


• There is no viable department promotion eligible list.


• There are no more than three candidates qualified for appointment (i.e. serving or on leave from a permanent competitive or permanent 55-b/c position and having the required service in a qualifying title) in the departmental promotion field, interested in competing in an examination for the position to be filled.

If more than one position is to be filled, a non-competitive promotion (NCP) is still in order if the number of interested candidates in the promotion field does not exceed the number of vacancies to be filled by more than two.

.212 In order to determine the composition of the promotion field, agencies must post their intention to pursue an NCP. The posting must state the agency's intent to pursue a non-competitive promotion under section 52(7) of CSL should three or fewer qualified candidates in the departmental promotion field indicate interest in the position.

†.213 When identifying employees in the promotion field, agencies must consider:

• The current permanent and contingent permanent incumbents of the titles that comprise the promotion field.


• The permanent and contingent permanent encumbents of the titles that comprise the promotion field.


• Permanent and contingent permanent incumbents or encumbents of the titles that comprise the promotion field who are on leave from the agency. These individuals must be contacted directly regarding the vacancy. Be sure to include details regarding the expected response time frame (no less than five (5) business days). The communication should indicate that failure to respond will be considered declining the position, and those that fail to respond or decline should be sent written communication confirming such declination.


• Provisionals serving in the same agency, title, and location (NYSTEP/ELMS location code) being posted for NCP. Such provisionals are considered implied applicants (as they accepted a provisional appointment pending examination) and must be nominated by the agency for NCP or otherwise addressed.

  Note: When posting for NCP in any single location, it is recommended that the agency also conduct an analysis of other locations with provisionals in the title to determine the possibility of an NCP in those locations. If so, those locations should be included as a note on the NCP posting to provide provisionals with notice of additional opportunities to become permanent.

  Provisionals may decline an NCP in a location other than where they are serving. The nominating agency must provide copies of any provisional declinations with their NCP nomination submission.

• Department promotion eligibles. If there is a promotion eligible list for the title being filled, the list must be canvassed, and any department eligibles who respond to the canvass and indicate they are interested must be included with those responding to the NCP posting to determine the complete NCP promotion field.

  Note: Only those department eligibles who also meet the NCP qualifications for the selected promotion field must be included (see below).

†.220 Qualifications

†.221 For purposes of NCP, the nominating agency may choose to consider only candidates from the next lower level, direct line title.

If the nominating agency wishes to consider an expanded promotion field outside of the lower-level direct line (i.e. when there are collateral qualifying titles or an "A" and "B" field of qualifying titles), the posting must include all titles in the chosen promotion field. The agency must also conduct the same analysis detailed above to determine the numerical size of the promotion field for all titles included in the chosen NCP promotion field.

For example: The qualifying titles for a Contract Management Specialist 2 are Either A. Contract Management Specialist 1, Business Officer 1, DHSES Program Administrator 1, Parks Regional Grants Administrator or Purchasing Agent; Or B. Head Account Clerk, Senior Budgeting Analyst.

For the purposes of an NCP, an agency may choose to consider only Contract Management Specialist (CMS) 1 candidates as the promotion field. This is because CMS 1 is the direct line lower-level title for CMS 2. The agency does not have to consider titles outside of the direct line, even if those titles were included on the NCP posting.

Note: Promotion fields may vary for interdepartmental (IDP) titles based on agencies' classification structure, i.e. agencies may or may not have all levels of a given title series classified at their agency. An example of this is the title series for Assistant Directors and Directors of Financial Administration. Please reach out to your Staffing Services Representative and Classification & Compensation Analyst with any questions regarding promotion fields.

†.230 Examinations

†.231 An examination for non-competitive promotion shall consist of a review of the nominee's qualifications against the minimum qualifications for the position to be filled; written tests are not required.

†.232 Nominees for NCP must have the necessary permanent service time in an appropriate title as per the minimum qualifications from the NCP posting, on or before the date of submission of the NCP nomination resulting from the posting.

.240 Limitations

†.241 Nominations for promotion by non-competitive examination will not be approved if the nominee failed the two most recent examinations for promotion to the title for which they are nominated.

†.242 Generally, nominations for an NCP will not be approved for titles for which a competitive promotion examination is scheduled or held within 90 days of the dated request submission or is pending list establishment.

.250 Programmatic Needs

.251 Before requesting an NCP for titles that have extensive interdepartmental promotion fields and/or interdepartmental promotion eligible lists, agencies are encouraged to consider whether programmatic needs can be satisfied through appointment of an interdepartmental candidate.

.3 PROCEDURES

†.310 Nominations

†.311 Nominations for an NCP must be submitted in writing to the Staffing Services Representative for your agency and must include:

1. Name of the nominee.


2. Item number and title of the position to which promotion is sought.


3. Names of all known employees in the promotion field.


4. Description of the steps taken by the agency to determine that a non-competitive examination is in order, including a copy of the vacancy posting. The posting should be visible for the same duration as your regular public notice/position postings and for no less than five (5) business days.


5. Completed NYS-APP Examination Application for the nominee.


6. Clearance code to ensure no reemployment lists exist.

If the promotion field is comprised of more than three candidates, the agency must note for all known candidates whether they were interested, not interested, or did not respond.

Note: Nominations for NCP must be submitted within 90 days of the close of the vacancy posting, indicating the intention to appoint via NCP, and/or within the life of the certification demonstrating appropriate eligible list exhaustion.

.320 Department of Civil Service Review

.321 The Staffing Services Section that has staffing responsibility for the nominating agency has responsibility for reviewing and processing the nomination for NCP.

.330 Notice of Results

†.331 The nominating agency will be sent a completed form, S-121: Action on Nomination for Permanent Appointment, containing the results. It is the responsibility of the nominating agency to advise the nominee of the determination and submit a NYSTEP transaction to effectuate the appointment.

The effective date of the NCP appointment may be no earlier than the effective date indicated on the S-121 and no later than 90 days from the effective date indicated on the S-121.

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† = revised material November 2025

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