NJ Civil Service Navigator
State Payroll

Civil Service Commission

281 employees · NJ state government agency

Civil Service Commission is a substantial state agency, employing 281 people statewide.

The most common title is Human Resource Consultant 2 (10% of staff), followed by Senior Executive Service and Human Resource Consultant 5. Median pay is $97,100, about 15% above the statewide median.

Median tenure is 10.3 years. CWA represents the largest share of its unionized workforce (about 25%).

About Civil Service Commission

The Civil Service Commission administers Title 11A, the law that governs merit hiring in New Jersey. It writes and scores the examinations, certifies eligible lists, maintains the classification plan that defines every job title on this site, and hears appeals from employees and applicants.

The roster is a direct read of that mandate. Human resource consultants at five graded levels are the largest group, handling classification, appointment and personnel policy work for other agencies. Test development specialists build the examinations. The agency has an unusually high share of confidential and exempt salary codes for its size, because much of its work touches appeals and personnel records. If you have taken a New Jersey civil service exam, the people who wrote and scored it are on this payroll.

Who works here

These are the titles that carry the most people on this payroll. Each one links to its civil service specification, which sets out the duties, the minimum requirements and the salary range.

51 further titles appear on this agency's payroll, 63 in all. Senior Executive Service is a catch-all title used for very different jobs across agencies, so the median pay shown against it covers a wide mix of roles and does not describe a single position.

Titles you will not find elsewhere

11 of this agency's titles are concentrated here rather than shared across departments, and for 11 of them every single position in the state sits on this payroll.

Concentration is measured against the same payroll file, comparing this agency's headcount in a title with the statewide headcount in that title.

How pay is spread

Below are the quartile boundaries for this agency's salaries, with the statewide equivalents alongside them for reference.

The middle half of this agency's employees earn between $72,230 and $127,826, a ratio of 1.77 between the two quartiles. That is about the same spread as state government as a whole (1.81).

  • Lowest recorded salary$36,449
  • Lower quartile$72,230
    statewide $62,428
  • Median salary$97,100
    statewide $84,796
  • Upper quartile$127,826
    statewide $113,264
  • Highest recorded salary$210,000

Based on 272 salaried records.

Union representation

Which contract covers a job decides its salary schedule, its step ladder and its grievance route. This is the union mix on this payroll.

  • CWA71 employees
    25.3% of the agency
  • IFPTE5 employees
    1.8% of the agency

Union coverage is identifiable for 27% of this agency's payroll records. The remainder are unclassified, exempt or managerial positions that sit outside a bargaining unit.

How long people stay

Tenure tells you something a salary table cannot: whether this is a place people arrive at or a place they stay.

Half of this agency's employees have been on the state payroll longer than 10.3 years, against a statewide median of 9.6. 27% joined within the last five years, and 31% have twenty years or more behind them.

  • Under 5 years73 employees
    26.9% of those with a hire date
  • 5 to 10 years61 employees
    22.5% of those with a hire date
  • 10 to 15 years44 employees
    16.2% of those with a hire date
  • 15 to 20 years8 employees
    3.0% of those with a hire date
  • 20 to 25 years48 employees
    17.7% of those with a hire date
  • 25 years or more37 employees
    13.7% of those with a hire date

Hire dates are present for 271 of this agency's 281 payroll records.

Overtime

57 employees here recorded overtime, 20.3% of the agency, against 31.6% across state government. Little overtime usually means salaried professional work with no shift to fill.

Together they were paid $72,571 in overtime, averaging $1,273 for each employee who earned any. Overtime is not part of the salary figures elsewhere on this page, which report base pay.

  • Employees with recorded overtime57
  • Share of the agency20.3%
  • Total overtime paid$72,571
  • Average per employee earning it$1,273

Civil service coverage

89% of this agency's payroll records carry a title that matches a published civil service specification. The rest are unclassified, exempt or agency-specific positions filled outside the competitive examination process, so the standard exam and eligible list route covers most but not all of the jobs here.

  • Records matched to a specification250
  • Records with no matching specification31
  • Distinct civil service titles on the roster63

Where it sits among state agencies

By headcount this is the 23rd largest of the 39 payroll lines in New Jersey state government, holding 0.4% of the state workforce.

Its nearest neighbours by headcount, for readers who want a like-for-like comparison.