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N.J.A.C. 4A:3-4.5 Anniversary dates: State service

N.J.A.C. 4A:3-4.5, Anniversary dates: State service. An anniversary date is the biweekly pay period in which an employee is eligible, if warranted by performance and place in the salary range, for a salary inc Full text with 3 recorded amendments, 3 citing decisions, cited by 1 other rule.

Classification, Services, and Compensation · Compensation

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

An anniversary date is the biweekly pay period in which an employee becomes eligible for a salary increase, if performance warrants it and their place in the range allows it. Eligibility, not entitlement, and the wording carries both conditions. The default cycle is 26 full pay periods: the initial anniversary date is the first pay period after 26 full pay periods have run from appointment, and years containing 27 pay periods are handled by a schedule the Commission issues. One step is longer than the rest. An employee sitting on the eighth step becomes eligible for the ninth only after 39 pay periods. Anniversary dates move for several reasons, including an advancement pay adjustment that can restart the count from the date of the adjustment, and time spent in non-pay status. Trainees, apprentices, recruits and interns get a fresh 26 pay period count from the date of regular appointment to the primary title. Intermittent employees count hours instead, 1827 or 2088 depending on the workweek code.

Written by the NJ Civil Service Navigator editorial team from the text of N.J.A.C. 4A:3-4.5. It is a description of the rule, not the rule itself, and not legal advice.

(a) An anniversary date is the biweekly pay period in which an employee is eligible, if warranted by performance and place in the salary range, for a salary increase. #

1. An employee's anniversary date shall be assigned upon initial appointment to the first pay period following the completion of 26 full pay periods after appointment. In years which contain 27 pay periods, anniversary dates shall be determined in accordance with a schedule issued by the Civil Service Commission. EXAMPLE: An employee is appointed to a position on Monday, August 17, 2016. The first full pay period following the date of appointment is pay period 19, which begins on August 20, 2016. The employee's anniversary date is pay period 18 in calendar year 2017, expressed as 18/17. #

2. An employee who starts work on the first Tuesday of a pay period immediately following a Monday holiday or special day off shall be assigned the anniversary date of that pay period. #

3. An employee at the eighth step of the range only becomes eligible for advancement to the ninth step, if warranted by performance, following the completion of 39 pay periods. #

(b) A current employee's anniversary date may change as a result of an advancement pay adjustment. See N.J.A.C. 4A:3-4.9. If the anniversary date is advanced based on the date of adjustment, the new anniversary date is the first pay period following the completion of 26 full pay periods after the date of that adjustment. #

1. An employee's anniversary date may also change as a result of time spent in non-pay status. See N.J.A.C. 4A:3-4.6. #

(c) The anniversary date of a trainee, apprentice, recruit or intern shall change as the result of regular appointment to the primary title. See N.J.A.C. 4A:3-3.7. The new anniversary date shall be the pay period following completion of 26 full pay periods after the date of regular appointment to the primary title. #

(d) Employees in intermittent titles shall receive initial and subsequent anniversary dates which correspond to the first pay period after completion of 1827 work hours (NL, NE, 35 and 3E titles) or 2088 work hours (40, 4E and N4 titles) in regular pay status. When an employee moves from an intermittent title, 80 hours of service in an intermittent title shall equal one pay period for 40, 4E and N4 titles and 70 hours of service in an intermittent title shall equal one pay period for NL, NE, 35 and 3E titles. #

Amendment history

Rule numbers, effective dates and New Jersey Register citations as published. 3 recorded changes.

  1. AmendedR.2017 d.100
    48 N.J.R. 2653(a); 49 N.J.R. 1182(a)
  2. AmendedR.2012 d.043
    43 N.J.R. 2693(a); 44 N.J.R. 449(a)
  3. AmendedR.1993 d.424
    25 N.J.R. 1916(a); 25 N.J.R. 4064(a)

How this rule has been applied

3 decisions have cited N.J.A.C. 4A:3-4.5. 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.

Civil Service Commission final determinations (3)
  • In re Kurapka, Greystone Park Psych. Hosp., Dep't of Health, CSC Docket No. 2024-16392024 N.J. CSC LEXIS 338Docket 2024-1639
  • In re Commc'ns Workers of Am. Grievance Settlement, Various State Agencies, CSC Docket No. 2019-34402019 N.J. CSC LEXIS 343Docket 2019-3440
  • In re State Government Managers, CSC Docket No. 2015-3072014 N.J. CSC LEXIS 683Docket 2015-307

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