19
Our Civil Service Act
Questions Answered by Commission
The officers of the State Employees
Association have received many ques­
tions from employées and citizens re­
garding employment conditions and Ci­
vil Service in the’s tm ^government. T^e
following more commonly aisked ques­
tions are here answered briefly by the
Civil Service {department to all associa­
tion members sq that they will be able
to answer intelligently questions of like
nature.
1. W HAT IS THE PRINCIPAL
PURPOSE OF THE OREGON CIVIL
SERVICE LAW?
Many persons have been led to be­
lieve that Civil Service exists mainly for
the employees’ benefit. Actually Civil
Service has; as its principal objective a
sound system ofz personnel administra­
tion necessary, to the effèctive operation
of any large public or private orgàniza-
tion. Many of the industrial -relations
programs of larger American business
concerns are similar in many respects tQ
the Oregon Civil Service System. Under
this system there I are mutual benefits*
And obligations for both employees and
employers. The Civil Service Commis-
-„sibn serves as an impartial third party
representing the general public interest
in sëêing thatvfair and uniform person­
nel practices are maintained to the full­
est extent possible.
2. IS THE CIVIL SERVICE SYS­
TEM IN OREGON THE SAME AS
CIVIL SERVICE IN OTHER PUBLIC
JURISDICTIONS?
The "Oregon Civil Service Law is one
of the. more modern laws of its type.
The/ "experience of other jurisdictions
under Civil Servlce^^Bs studied in de­
veloping the Oregon law. It was model­
ed- closely after: the model civil service
law recommended by the National Civil
Service League— ah organization of pri­
vate citizens who are interested in bet­
ter government practices. The law also
was reviewed by state officials and, em­
ployee groups and revisions which were
necessary in view of Oregon’s qwn prob­
lems were made before the law was
adopted. In actual operation the Ore'gon
law varies somewhat from systems pro­
vided in the federal jlS jernm enM the
city of Portland, and many other public
jurisdictions. It is similar in mogaggga
spects to Civil Service Systems njSgftgJa
cently placed into effect such as in the
state of Min.neW|| The basic principles
underlying the Civil Service System
aimed at improvement <of^ the public
service are,, substantially similar in all
Civil Service Systems.
3. WHAT ABOUT THE QUES­
T IO N of EMPLOYEE DISCHARGE?
Depending, upon the person to whom
you are talking, you will frequently
h ^ r, that it is "too easy” or that it is
"too hard” to discharge »^em ployee
under Civil Service. Actually^m Ore­
gon employee discharge polishA ^beem
set on a workable basis providing pro­
tection to the employee and at the same,
time recognizing that department heads
must have authority to discharge em­
ployees. whose work^fis not satisfactory.
Usually'-the conditibns surrounding each
individual
will govern discharge.
Employees are given absolute protection
against,? dismissal because of politics,
race, or feligion. In all other cases the
department head makes the final deci­
sion based upon the employee’s work
•performance, but employees are entitled
to a fair ’ hearing. In those cases where
personality conflicts are responsible, the
.employee may-be/^|ven. work under a
diffqrent supervisor.;. In general, experi­
ence seems to indicate that this system
I working out reasonably well. Al­
though a number of dismissals are made
every month in the Estate service^ the
Civil Service Department has had rela­
tively few requests for investigation by