N.J.A.C. 4A:6-5.1 General provisions
N.J.A.C. 4A:6-5.1, General provisions. In local service, an appointing authority may establish an employee performance evaluation program. A performance evaluation system must be reviewed and app Full text with 4 recorded amendments, 5 citing decisions, cited by 1 other rule.
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
In local service an employee performance evaluation program is optional, but using one in promotions or layoff requires review and approval by the Chairperson first. State service runs the Performance Assessment Review, which applies to all career service employees and to whichever unclassified titles a department designates, with agencies encouraged to include the rest. The default is a three-level scale: Exceptional, Successful, Unsatisfactory. The Chairperson may instead implement a five-level scale running from Exceptional Performance through Commendable, Successful, Needs Improvement/Development and Unsatisfactory Performance, unless a collective negotiations agreement precludes it. Rating cycles last one year, and within a cycle everyone is rated at the same time, twice, with the interim and final ratings six months apart. Evaluations sit in the personnel record, and final ratings are reported to the Commission.
Written by the NJ Civil Service Navigator editorial team from the text of N.J.A.C. 4A:6-5.1. It is a description of the rule, not the rule itself, and not legal advice.
(a) In local service, an appointing authority may establish an employee performance evaluation program. A performance evaluation system must be reviewed and approved by the Chairperson or designee in order to be used in promotions or layoff. #
(b) In State service, a Performance Assessment Review (PAR) program shall apply to all employees in the career service, and those in unclassified titles as designated by particular departments or agencies. #
1. While not mandated, departments and agencies are encouraged to include all unclassified titles in the PAR program. #
2. The PAR program shall use standardized forms and rating scales for different performance appraisal models to be designated by the Chairperson or designee and, except as provided in (d) below, a three-level rating scale to include the following ratings: #
i. Exceptional; #
ii. Successful; and #
iii. Unsatisfactory. #
3. Each agency shall establish standardized rating cycles with a duration of one year. Within a particular standardized rating cycle, employees shall be rated at the same time, twice a year, with the interim and final ratings being six months apart. #
(c) Each appointing authority shall maintain an employee's PAR evaluations in his or her personnel records and shall submit reports to an appropriate representative of the Civil Service Commission on all final PAR ratings of its employees in a form prescribed by the Chairperson or designee. #
(d) The Chairperson or designee may modify the PAR program based on specific employee or agency needs and implement for State appointing authorities, unless precluded by a collective negotiations agreement, a five-level rating scale to include the following ratings: #
1. Five - Exceptional Performance; #
2. Four - Commendable Performance; #
3. Three - Successful Performance; #
4. Two - Needs Improvement/Development; and #
5. One - Unsatisfactory Performance. #
Amendment history
Rule numbers, effective dates and New Jersey Register citations as published. 4 recorded changes.
- AmendedR.2016 d.17148 N.J.R. 5(a); 48 N.J.R. 2775(b)
- AmendedR.2014 d.04545 N.J.R. 525(a); 46 N.J.R. 497(a)
- AmendedR.2000 d.1131 N.J.R. 2824(a); 32 N.J.R. 35(a)
- AmendedR.1993 d.4724 N.J.R. 3590(a); 25 N.J.R. 293(a)
How this rule has been applied
5 decisions have cited N.J.A.C. 4A:6-5.1. 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 (1)
- State v. State Supervisory Employees Association78 N.J. 54; 393 A.2d 2331978
Civil Service Commission final determinations (4)
- Assistant Supervisor of Building Repairs. In re Creamer, Assistant Supervisor of Building Repairs (PS5829K), Woodbine Dev. Ctr., Dep't of Human Servs., CSC Docket No. 2021-3342021 N.J. CSC LEXIS 88Docket 2021-334
- In re F.C., Office of the Public Guardian, Dep't of Human Servs., CSC Docket No. 2020-7302020 N.J. CSC LEXIS 282Docket 2020-730
- In re Stemler, Dep't of Health, CSC Docket No. 2014-8422014 N.J. CSC LEXIS 602Docket 2014-842
- Chaudhry v. DEPE93 N.J.A.R.2d (CSV) 635