Juan Cosme, CSC Docket No. 2019-1471

Appellant's argumentJuan Cosme, represented by Michael L. Prigoff, Esq., requests that he be permitted to submit an application for the promotional examination for Police Sergeant (PM2540W), Newark after the application filing deadline.

BackgroundBy way of background, the announcement for the Police Sergeant (PM2540W), Newark, examination was issued on October 1, 2018 with an online application filing deadline of October 22, 2018 and all applications had to have been submitted by that date. It is noted the subject test is tentatively scheduled to be administered in February 2019.

Appellant's argumentIn an appeal filed on November 16, 2018, the appellant indicates that on October 2, 2018, he attempted to file for the subject test. He explains “having never previously applied for a promotional exam, Officer Cosme was unfamiliar with the process and had difficulty locating the exam to register for. He ended up registering for the ‘Manager 1 Civil Service Commission’ [(PS8575C)] exam, which appeared to be the closest fit to the position he was seeking, paid the fee and received a confirmation of his registration.” He presents that on November 7, 2018, he received a notice of ineligibility for the PS8575C examination and argues that “had the notice of [i]neligibility been issued in a more timely fashion, Officer Cosme could have easily registered for the correct exam prior to the deadline’s expiration.” He argues that the closing date for the subject exam “is not until January [3]1, 2019 and the exam itself is not scheduled until February.” In an attached certification dated November 16, 2018, the appellant maintains that he “went on the Civil Service website and looked under ‘Job Announcements’ . . . and looked under the heading ‘Promotional Announcements for Current Government Employees.’ I then clicked on ‘View Promotional Announcements here,’ scrolled down to ‘Essex County’ and clicked on that. I did not see the much smaller dialog box below that for promotional announcements for municipalities.” He presents that “on the list provided by the website, I signed up for the only exam that appeared to be appropriate, ‘Manager 1 Civil Service Commission,’ filled out the registration materials and paid the registration fee.

CONCLUSION

RuleN.J.A.C. 4A:4-2.1(e) provides, in part, that applications for promotional examinations shall be submitted no later than 4:00 p.m. on the announced application filing date. N.J.A.C. 4A:4-6.3(b) provides that the appellant in an examination appeal shall have the burden of proof.

AnalysisIn the present matter, the subject announcement indicated that only online applications would be accepted and directed candidates to “visit www.state.nj.us/csc and select ‘Job Announcements’ to view this announcement and to file an application.” On the “Job Announcements” page, candidates for the subject announcement would select the “View Promotional Announcements here” link (https://info.csc.state.nj.us/epoa/) which would take them to the following screen:

Candidates for the subject test should have proceeded to the “Promotional Announcements for New Jersey Municipalities” section and used the pull-down menu in the “Select” box to choose “Newark City (ESSEX COUNTY).” Once candidates selected Newark, they would be taken to a screen (https://info.csc.state.nj.us/epoa/ListMunicipal.aspx) which listed all available promotional examinations for Newark. It is noted that after a candidate selects a promotional symbol, he or she is taken to a warning screen in order to provide the candidate with another opportunity to verify that he or she is employed by the State, department, county or municipality, as applicable, before choosing to continue.1 If the candidate elects to continue, he or she is taken to a copy of the announcement which provides a link to begin the application process.

It is further noted that if a candidate is unclear as to how to proceed once he or she accesses the “Job Announcements” page, just below the “View Promotional Announcements here” link, a link to the “Online Application System (OAS) User Guide”2 is provided to assist candidates in navigating the application process.3 Moreover, it is noted that the subject announcement, in the “Important Information” section, informed candidates:

If you are having difficulty submitting your application on-line, technical support and customer care are available during regular business hours, 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. EST, Monday-Friday, excluding holidays and emergency closings. Please email:

OAS.support@csc.state.nj.us or call (609)292-4144. Please note that application support requests received outside of regular business hours on the closing date will not change the application filing deadline, so

PLEASE FILE EARLY.

Thus, if a candidate has questions or concerns regarding the application process, there are available resources, i.e., the OAS User Guide and/or technical support, to assist him or her.

1 This warning is also provided on the above noted screen pages (https://info.csc.state.nj.us/epoa/ and https://info.csc.state.nj.us/epoa/ListMunicipal.aspx).

2 The “Job Announcements” page, provides the following:

3 Similarly, on the “Promotional Job Announcements” screen above, the “NEED HELP?” box provides links to the “OAS User Guide” and to “Job Application - Tips and Techniques.”

While the appellant argues that he had “difficulty locating the exam to register for,” the appellant does not indicate that he attempted to access the OAS User Guide or contact technical support at the above noted phone number or email address prior to the October 22, 2018 application filing deadline. In addition, although the appellant claims to have selected “Essex County” from the “Promotional Announcements for New Jersey Counties” section on the https://info.csc.state.nj.us/epoa/ page, it is noted that Civil Service Commission promotional exams would not appear in this location. Rather, an individual would have to select the Civil Service Commission in the “Promotional Announcements for the State of New Jersey by Department” section. In addition, it is not clear why the appellant believed that the Manager 1 Civil Service Commission (PS8575C) exam was the “closest fit” to the subject exam as neither the title name nor the symbol are remotely similar. In this regard, the appellant does not provide any explanation as to why he did not seek assistance when he was unable to locate an exact match. Moreover, the appellant would have been taken to the warning screen, as noted above, once he selected the PS8575C symbol:

Accordingly, the appellant was clearly on notice that if he did not work for the Civil Service Commission, Division of Test Development and Analytics, and filed an application for PS8575C, he would be found ineligible. Again, the appellant provides no explanation as to why he did not stop at this point and seek assistance.

With respect to his argument that his request should be granted since the test will not been administered until February, the rules clearly indicate that in order to establish eligibility for a promotional examination, an applicant must file a timely application. This provision is necessary for the Division of Agency Services to properly process the voluminous applications for various examinations. As indicated above, applications for the promotional examination for Police Sergeant (PM2540W), Newark, were due by the October 22, 2018 application filing deadline.

ORDER

Therefore, it is ordered that this request be denied.

ClosingThis is the final administrative determination in this matter. Any further review should be pursued in a judicial forum.