NJ Civil Service Navigator

N.J.A.C. 4A:3-3.1 Classification of positions

N.J.A.C. 4A:3-3.1, Classification of positions. Each position in the career and unclassified services shall be assigned by the Civil Service Commission to a job title. (b) Positions in the career service Full text with 1 recorded amendment, 14 citing decisions.

Classification, Services, and Compensation · Classification

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

This is where a job specification comes from. Every position in the career and unclassified services is assigned to a job title by the Civil Service Commission, and for career service positions the assignment is made on the basis of job analysis. The title has to do three things: describe the duties and the level of supervision both exercised and received, set the minimum education and experience qualifications needed for successful performance, and in State service fix the level of compensation. So a specification is not an advertisement, it is the instrument deciding what the work is, who is qualified for it, and what it pays. Assigned titles are used in every personnel and payroll record including budgets, though an appointing authority may use a friendlier descriptive title for other purposes such as correspondence with the public. Title language must avoid specifying or implying a fixed gender. Disputes about whether a position carries the right title have their own procedure.

Written by the NJ Civil Service Navigator editorial team from the text of N.J.A.C. 4A:3-3.1. It is a description of the rule, not the rule itself, and not legal advice.

(a) Each position in the career and unclassified services shall be assigned by the Civil Service Commission to a job title. #

(b) Positions in the career service shall, on the basis of job analysis, be assigned the title which: #

1. Describes the duties and responsibilities to be performed and the level of supervision exercised and received; #

2. Establishes the minimum education and experience qualifications necessary for successful performance; and #

3. In State service, sets the level of compensation. #

(c) Assigned job titles shall be used in all records and communications relating to personnel and payroll, including budgets. Appointing authorities may designate appropriate descriptive titles to be used for other purposes, such as correspondence with the public. #

(d) Titles shall be identified by language which does not specify or imply a fixed gender. #

(e) See N.J.A.C. 4A:3-3.9 for classification appeal procedures. #

Amendment history

Rule numbers, effective dates and New Jersey Register citations as published. 1 recorded change.

  1. AmendedR.2017 d.100
    48 N.J.R. 2653(a); 49 N.J.R. 1182(a)

How this rule has been applied

14 decisions have cited N.J.A.C. 4A:3-3.1. The list below is citations to those decisions, not the decisions. We have not written summaries for this section. A citation with no summary is deliberate: we do not paraphrase a decision we have not read. Nothing here is legal advice.

New Jersey Supreme Court (4)
  • Aparin v. County of Gloucester345 A.2d 412001
  • Commission. State v. State Supervisory Employees Association78 N.J. 54; 393 A.2d 2331978
  • Schroeder v. Bd. of Freeholders, Essex Cty.63 N.J. 124; 305 A.2d 4091973
  • 62 N.J. 302; 301 A.2d 1411973
Appellate Division (1)
  • Bowser v. Dept. of Civil Service of New Jersey108 N.J.Super. 132; 260 A.2d 246
Superior Court (1)
  • Morris Cty. v. Civil Service Dept.177 N.J.Super. 25; 424 A.2d 8521980
Civil Service Commission final determinations (8)
  • In re VanLoan, Juvenile Justice Comm'n, CSC Docket No. 2018-13352018 N.J. CSC LEXIS 769Docket 2018-1335
  • In re Newark Sch. Dist., CSC Docket No. 2018-2792017 N.J. CSC LEXIS 586Docket 2018-279
  • In re Finn, Dep't of Health, CSC Dkt. No. 2016-16422017 N.J. CSC LEXIS 46
  • In re Pienciak, Deputy Fire Chief, CSC Dkt. No. 2017-8112017 N.J. CSC LEXIS 47
  • In re Rowell, Dep't of Health, CSC Docket No. 2015-22172015 N.J. CSC LEXIS 201Docket 2015-2217
  • In re Vogt, et al., Jersey City, CSC Docket Nos. 2011-4505 to 2011-4512 (Consolidated) (On Remand)2014 N.J. CSC LEXIS 488Docket 2011-4505
  • In re Perla, Assistant Admin. Analyst (PC1074P), Atlantic Cnty., CSC Docket No. 2013-27652013 N.J. CSC LEXIS 737Docket 2013-2765
  • In re Marquez and Oddo, Maintenance Repairer/Mechanic (C0993P), Bergen County, CSC Docket Nos. 2013-26992013 N.J. CSC LEXIS 890Docket 2013-2699

This rule points to

Elsewhere in Classification