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N.J.A.C. 4A:4-2.1 Announcements and applications

N.J.A.C. 4A:4-2.1, Announcements and applications. On a daily basis, open competitive examination announcements shall be posted on, and applications made available through, the Civil Service Commission web s Full text with 7 recorded amendments, 157 citing decisions.

Selection and Appointment · Competitive Examinations

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

Open competitive announcements go up daily on the Civil Service Commission web site, and that site is also where the applications come from. Promotional announcements carry an extra obligation that matters to anyone trying to show they never heard about an examination. An appointing authority without a web site has to post the announcement conspicuously at every geographic location within the unit scope in State service, or the department in local service, must notify all eligibles by electronic or other means, and must keep a record of both the posting and the notification. Every announcement states at least the title, salary information, minimum qualifications and filing information; open competitive ones also reference duties and responsibilities, and State open competitive ones give the location of the vacancies. Applications are due by 4:00 P.M. on the announced filing date, may be amended at any point before it, and stay confidential unless the Chairperson or designee decides disclosure is in the public interest.

Written by the NJ Civil Service Navigator editorial team from the text of N.J.A.C. 4A:4-2.1. It is a description of the rule, not the rule itself, and not legal advice.

(a) On a daily basis, open competitive examination announcements shall be posted on, and applications made available through, the Civil Service Commission web site (http://www.state.nj.us/csc) and may be publicized by other appropriate means, as approved by the Chairperson or designee, to secure sufficient qualified candidates. #

(b) In order to notify all employees of promotional opportunities, promotional examination announcements shall be posted on, and applications shall be made available through, the Civil Service Commission web site and may also be made available through the web sites of affected appointing authorities. If an affected appointing authority does not maintain or utilize a web site, promotional examination announcements shall be conspicuously posted by the affected appointing authority at all geographic locations within the unit scope (in State service) or department (in local service) to which the examination is open. Appointing authorities shall also ensure the notification by electronic or other means of all eligibles of the promotional examination announcement. Appointing authorities shall maintain a record of promotional examination announcement postings and the notification of eligibles of the announcement. #

(c) Examination announcements shall include at least the following information: #

1. Title of the examination; #

2. Salary information; #

3. Minimum qualifications for admission to the examination; #

4. Filing information; #

5. In open competitive examinations, a reference to duties and responsibilities; and #

6. For State open competitive announcements: location of the vacancy(ies). #

(d) A promotional examination may be reannounced if, within one year of the closing date, if the examination has not been developed and scheduled. #

(e) Unless otherwise provided for by the Chairperson or designee, applications for open competitive and promotional examinations shall be submitted to the Civil Service Commission no later than 4:00 P.M. on the announced application filing date. #

(f) Prior to the announced application filing date, an applicant may amend a previously submitted application. #

(g) The Civil Service Commission may request clarifying information from an applicant. #

(h) All examination applications shall remain confidential, except as the Chairperson or designee may determine to be in the public interest. #

(i) See N.J.A.C. 4A:4-2.17 for application processing fee procedures. #

Amendment history

Rule numbers, effective dates and New Jersey Register citations as published. 7 recorded changes.

  1. AmendedR.2017 d.142
    49 N.J.R. 492(a); 49 N.J.R. 2239(a)
  2. AmendedR.2014 d.062
    45 N.J.R. 783(a); 46 N.J.R. 617(a)
  3. AmendedR.2006 d.104
    37 N.J.R. 4351(a); 38 N.J.R. 1425(a)
  4. AmendedR.1997 d.481
    29 N.J.R. 3383(a); 29 N.J.R. 4864(a)
  5. AmendedR.1993 d.270
    25 N.J.R. 1085(b); 25 N.J.R. 2509(a)
  6. AmendedR.1989 d.570
    21 N.J.R. 2429(a); 21 N.J.R. 3451(a)
  7. date not statedPetition for rulemaking
    21 N.J.R. 1581(b); 21 N.J.R. 2675(a)

How this rule has been applied

157 decisions have cited N.J.A.C. 4A:4-2.1. 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.

Appellate Division (1)
  • In the Matter of Critchlow201 N.J.Super. 371; 493 A.2d 66
Civil Service Commission final determinations (153)
Other decisions (3)
  • Good cause was established to relax the provisions of N.J.A.C. 4A:4-2.1(f) and admit a candidate to the open competitive examination for Senior Stock Clerk, Warren County. Initially, the Division of Selection Services correctly determined that the candidate was not eligible for the subject examination because his original application did not show the required one year of experience in receiving, issuing, and storing parts, materials, and supplies in an organized stock room. The candidate contended that he listed all of experience, which exceeded the requirements, on the original application but he must not have realized that all of his experience did not properly update when he submitted the on-line application. In re Michael Warring, Senior Stock Clerk (C0721R), Warren County, CSC Dkt. No. 2014-1650cites (f)
  • African-American provisional state employee's Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 race discrimination claim failed as a matter of law because she did not show that she was qualified for a promotion to a food services supervisor position at a state hospital: (1) because she was a provision employee, the employee was required to take a competitive examination give for the position pursuant to N.J.A.C. 4-2.3; (2) she did not become a permanent employee merely because she had worked as a provisional employee for more than 12 months; and (3) the employee was ineligible for the promotion because she ranked eighth on the eligibility list based on her examination results and pursuant to N.J.A.C. 2.1(a)2009
  • Appointee to title of Health Systems Specialist 2 following was not entitled to a retroactive date of permanent appointment as of the certification date because there was no support for her claim that an open competitive exam for the title was improperly administered prior to the promotional examination that the appointee took. Nor did the appointee offer any

Commission decisions citing 4A:4-2.1

424 decisions of the Civil Service Commission since January 16, 2019 cite this section (granted 270, denied 146, granted in part 6, as the minutes record the outcome). The newest:

All 424 decisions

This rule points to

Elsewhere in Competitive Examinations