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N.J.A.C. 4A:3-2.3 SES appointments: State service

N.J.A.C. 4A:3-2.3, SES appointments: State service. The SES selection process includes the following: 1. Notice of vacancies in SES positions shall be posted, at a minimum, within the department in which the Full text with 4 recorded amendments.

Classification, Services, and Compensation · Senior Executive Service

Current through New Jersey Register, Vol. 58 No. 14, July 20, 2026. Reviewed as of July 26, 2026.

This is an annotated mirror, not the official publication. Verify against the Civil Service Commission before relying on it.

In plain language

The section covers hiring into the SES, but the half that matters most is what becomes of the person already in the chair. When a career service position is converted to the SES, the appointing authority has to notify the incumbent in writing that the SES position exists and give them the chance to complete the whole selection process. An incumbent who is not selected, or who declines, becomes a non-appointed incumbent and is placed in a career service position at the same class code within the same appointing authority, provided that permanent title was held within current continuous service. Three placement routes exist, one of which involves separating a provisional employee to free up the position. Where only those routes are offered, the employee takes what is offered; where an optional alternative is offered as well, the employee may choose. Layoff procedures come into play only when no placement can be made at all. A non-appointed incumbent with no career status underneath has three possible outcomes, and termination is one of them.

Written by the NJ Civil Service Navigator editorial team from the text of N.J.A.C. 4A:3-2.3. It is a description of the rule, not the rule itself, and not legal advice.

(a) The SES selection process includes the following: #

1. Notice of vacancies in SES positions shall be posted, at a minimum, within the department in which the vacancies exist. Posting is not required if the department selects the incumbent for a position at the time of the initial allocation to the SES. #

i. A department head wishing to circulate a Statewide posting of the vacancy shall do so through the Chairperson or designee. #

2. The department shall contact the Chairperson or designee for assistance in recruiting to fill SES vacancies before recruiting applicants outside State service. Where possible, SES members from other departments will be encouraged to apply for a vacant SES position when it will not be filled from within the requesting department. #

3. If the position is an initial conversion of a position previously assigned to the career service, the appointing authority shall notify in writing the incumbent of the availability of the SES position and provide the individual with the opportunity to complete the entire SES selection process. #

4. The departmental selection process is at the option of the department. However, once a selection process is chosen, it must be consistently applied to all candidates for that position. #

5. The department head shall forward his or her selection(s) to the Chairperson or designee. #

6. Final appointment shall be subject to approval by the Chairperson or designee. #

(b) A permanent employee holding a position allocated to the SES who is not selected to join the SES or chooses not to join the SES (referred to as a "non-appointed incumbent"), shall be placed in a career service position in the same organizational unit for which he or she is qualified at the same class code. #

1. The employee must have held the permanent title within current continuous service. #

2. For purposes of this section, an organizational unit means an appointing authority. #

3. The appointing authority shall use the following procedures to effect the placement of the non-appointed incumbent: #

i. Reassign the employee to a vacant position; #

ii. Separate a provisional employee without underlying career status and reassign the non-appointed incumbent to the position; or #

iii. Return an employee, serving provisionally in the highest permanent title held by the non-appointed incumbent, and reassign the non-appointed incumbent to the permanent title vacated by the provisional employee. #

4. The organizational unit and the non-appointed incumbent may agree to use the following optional procedures: #

i. The non-appointed incumbent may accept an appointment to another title at the same or lower class code, in the same or different title series for which the employee is qualified in the same or another organizational unit. #

ii. The career status and compensation rights of the non-appointed incumbent shall be determined in accordance with the rules governing voluntary demotion. See N.J.A.C. 4A:4-7.8. #

iii. If the organizational unit offers the non-appointed incumbent options under either (b)3 or 4 above, the employee may accept either option. #

iv. If the organizational unit offers only the option under (b)3 above, the non-appointed incumbent shall accept that option. #

5. Layoff procedures shall be utilized when the organizational unit cannot effect the placement of a non-appointed incumbent under (b)3 or 4 above. See N.J.A.C. 4A:8. #

6. If the placement of the non-appointed incumbent causes a reduction in salary of the employee, the department head may, at his or her discretion, recommend to the Chairperson or designee placement of the employee at a salary no greater than the salary the employee received in the permanent title held immediately prior to non-appointment. #

(c) A non-appointed incumbent without career status may be: #

1. Reassigned to an unclassified title; #

2. Reassigned to a vacant career service title for which no eligible list exists; or #

3. Terminated. #

Amendment history

Rule numbers, effective dates and New Jersey Register citations as published. 4 recorded changes.

  1. AmendedR.2019 d.072
    51 N.J.R. 191(b); 51 N.J.R. 1115(a)
  2. AmendedR.2017 d.100
    48 N.J.R. 2653(a); 49 N.J.R. 1182(a)
  3. AmendedR.2014 d.099
    45 N.J.R. 500(a); 46 N.J.R. 1331(c)
  4. AmendedR.1996 d.427
    28 N.J.R. 2538(a); 28 N.J.R. 4220(a)

This rule points to

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