Classified vs. Unclassified Civil Service
By NJ Civil Service Navigator Editorial Team · Updated April 12, 2026
Compare classified and unclassified NJ civil service positions. Classified positions follow merit system rules; unclassified positions are appointed at-will.
What Is the Classified Service?
The classified civil service includes most state and local government positions. Classified employees are hired through merit-based processes — either competitive examinations or qualification reviews — and receive tenure protections, layoff rights, and appeal rights under the Civil Service Act.
What Is the Unclassified Service?
Unclassified positions are exempt from civil service rules. They include elected officials, cabinet-level appointees, senior policy staff, and certain professional roles. Unclassified employees serve at the pleasure of the appointing authority and do not receive the same tenure protections as classified employees.
Key Differences
- Merit hiring: Classified positions require exams or qualification reviews; unclassified do not.
- Tenure: Classified employees earn tenure after probation; unclassified employees serve at-will.
- Appeal rights: Classified employees may appeal disciplinary actions to the Civil Service Commission; unclassified employees generally cannot.
- Salary: Classified salaries follow negotiated pay schedules; unclassified salaries are individually negotiated.
How many titles are in each service
Of the 6,740 title records the Civil Service Commission publishes, 6,171 record a class of service. The career service holds 4,973 of them and the unclassified service 1,198 — so roughly 19.4% of classified titles are appointed rather than examined for. The remaining 569 are title codes CSC lists without publishing a class of service; they are not a fourth category, only a gap in the source.
| Service | Titles | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Career service — competitive divisionAppointment from an eligible list after an open competitive or promotional examination. | 3,957 | 64.1% |
| Career service — noncompetitive divisionNo examination, but the title still carries career-service tenure and appeal rights. | 1,016 | 16.5% |
| Unclassified serviceAppointed and removable at will. No eligible list, no examination, no tenure. | 1,198 | 19.4% |
The word "classified" is not in the law
This page is called what people call it. New Jersey's statute and rules are not: across 180 sections of Title 11A and 319 of Title 4A, the phrase classified service appears 0 times. The operative term is career service, which 23 statute sections and 39 rule sections use.
That is not pedantry. N.J.S.A. 11A:3-1 directs the Commission to assign titles among three services, not two: the career service, the senior executive service and the unclassified service. A reader holding a two-way model has nowhere to put a senior executive appointment. And N.J.S.A. 11A:3-2 is what makes the career service divisible at all — it is one service with two divisions, which is why the competitive and noncompetitive question is a separate one from this page's.
Which statute puts a title in the unclassified service
Unclassified status is not an administrative label; it is enumerated in statute, and 143 published specifications cite the enumeration in their own text.
| Statute | Specifications citing it |
|---|---|
| N.J.S.A. 11A:3-4State unclassified service | 125 |
| N.J.S.A. 11A:3-5Political subdivision unclassified service | 18 |
Moving a title the other way — out of the career service and into the unclassified service — requires a public hearing under N.J.S.A. 11A:3-6.
Browse competitive titles, non-competitive titles, or unclassified titles.