N.J.A.C. 4A:2 Appeals, Discipline, and Separations
Chapter 2 is the one people reach for on a bad day. It covers appeals generally, then major discipline (removal, suspension of more than five days, demotion, fines), then minor discipline and grievances, then what happens at the end of a working test period, then resignations. If you are holding a d
Chapter 2 is the one people reach for on a bad day. It covers appeals generally, then major discipline (removal, suspension of more than five days, demotion, fines), then minor discipline and grievances, then what happens at the end of a working test period, then resignations. If you are holding a disciplinary notice, the charge on it comes from 4A:2-2.3 and the process that follows is in 4A:2-2.5 through 4A:2-2.9. Note the split between major and minor discipline: they run on different tracks with different appeal rights, and which one you are on decides almost everything else.
Subchapter 1. Appeals
8 sections
- 4A:2-1.1 Filing of appealsSummaryExplainerGuide69 citing decisions
Twenty days, running from the earlier of two things: when you had notice of the decision, situation or action, or when you reasonably should have known of it.
- 4A:2-1.2 Stay and interim relief requestsSummary52 citing decisions
Asking for a stay does not pause anything by itself.
- 4A:2-1.3 AdjournmentsSummary5 citing decisions
Postponing a hearing carries a risk if the reason does not hold up.
- 4A:2-1.4 Burden of proofSummaryGuide256 citing decisions
Who has to prove what, settled in three lines.
- 4A:2-1.5 RemediesSummary30 citing decisions
Winning an appeal and being made whole are two separate questions.
- 4A:2-1.6 Reconsideration of decisionsSummary110 citing decisions
Forty-five days from receiving the decision, and only two grounds will do.
- 4A:2-1.7 Specific appealsSummary1 citing decision
An index, and one worth checking before assuming the general rules apply to your situation.
- 4A:2-1.8 Appeal processing feesSummary11 citing decisions
Twenty dollars per appellant, by check or money order payable to NJCSC, submitted with the appeal.
Subchapter 2. Major Discipline
13 sections
- 4A:2-2.1 Employees coveredSummary17 citing decisions
Major discipline protections reach permanent career service employees and people serving a working test period.
- 4A:2-2.2 Types of disciplineSummaryGuide346 citing decisions
Three things count as major discipline: removal, disciplinary demotion, and a suspension or fine of more than five working days at one time.
- 4A:2-2.3 General causesSummaryExplainerGuide1663 citing decisions
Twelve grounds, and every disciplinary charge in New Jersey civil service traces to at least one of them.
- 4A:2-2.4 Limitations on suspensions and finesSummary26 citing decisions
A suspension or fine cannot run beyond six months, with one exception: a suspension pending a criminal complaint or indictment, which 4A:2-2.7 governs separately.
- 4A:2-2.5 Opportunity for hearing before the appointing authoritySummaryExplainerGuide79 citing decisions
Before major discipline is imposed you must be served with a Preliminary Notice of Disciplinary Action setting out the charges and the facts supporting them, and offered a hearing.
- 4A:2-2.6 Hearings before the appointing authoritySummary16 citing decisions
What the departmental hearing looks like.
- 4A:2-2.7 Actions involving criminal mattersSummary87 citing decisions
What happens to the job while a criminal charge is pending.
- 4A:2-2.8 Appeals to Civil Service CommissionSummaryExplainerGuide34 citing decisions
Twenty days.
- 4A:2-2.9 Commission hearingsSummary59 citing decisions
Whether you get a hearing, and who conducts it.
- 4A:2-2.10 Back pay, benefits and senioritySummaryExplainerGuide138 citing decisions
What you get back when discipline is overturned.
- 4A:2-2.11 InterestSummary7 citing decisions
Interest on a back pay award is discretionary and narrow.
- 4A:2-2.12 Counsel feesSummaryExplainer117 citing decisions
Counsel fees are recoverable, but the bar is high and the rates are capped.
- 4A:2-2.13 Removal appeals of certain law enforcement officers and firefightersSummaryGuide11 citing decisions
A separate removal appeal route for police officers, other law enforcement officers and full-time paid firefighters, and the definitions decide who is in it.
Subchapter 3. Minor Discipline and Grievances
7 sections
- 4A:2-3.1 General provisionsSummaryExplainerGuide13 citing decisions
State service only.
- 4A:2-3.2 Minor discipline appeal to appointing authority: State serviceSummary5 citing decisions
Read the contract before the rule.
Group grievances get explicit treatment here, running in both directions.
- 4A:2-3.4 Grievance procedure: Step One: State serviceSummary1 citing decision
Four numbers run Step One in State service.
Ten calendar days to move up, and the clock starts on either of two events: receipt of the written Step One decision, or the department failing to respond in time at Step One under 4A:2-3.4.
- 4A:2-3.6 Conduct and scheduling of hearings and grievance meetings: State serviceSummary4 citing decisions
Paid time to attend, unpaid time to prepare.
- 4A:2-3.7 Appeals from appointing authority decisions: State serviceSummaryGuide12 citing decisions
The gate that catches these is not the deadline.
Subchapter 4. Termination at End of Working Test Period
3 sections
- 4A:2-4.1 Notice of terminationSummaryExplainerGuide27 citing decisions
The notice that ends a working test period, and the timing rule that can hand you permanent status.
- 4A:2-4.2 Time for appealSummaryGuide4 citing decisions
Twenty days from receiving the written notice of termination or return to a former permanent title, in writing, to the Civil Service Commission.
- 4A:2-4.3 Civil Service Commission hearingSummary66 citing decisions
The hardest sentence in this part of the code sits here: the employee has the burden of proof to establish that the action was in bad faith.
Subchapter 5. Employee Protection Against Reprisals or Political Coercion
2 sections
- 4A:2-5.1 General provisionsSummary15 citing decisions
Two protections sit in this section, with two different coverage lists, and that is the detail to get right.
- 4A:2-5.2 AppealsSummaryGuide2 citing decisions
Twenty days, measured from the action or from the date the employee should reasonably have known it happened.
Subchapter 6. Resignations
3 sections
- 4A:2-6.1 Resignation in good standingSummary40 citing decisions
Fourteen days notice, written or verbal, and a permanent career service employee who gives it resigns in good standing.
- 4A:2-6.2 Resignation not in good standingSummaryExplainer122 citing decisions
You can land here without ever writing a resignation letter.
- 4A:2-6.3 General resignationSummary1 citing decision
A third category, and it exists only inside a settlement.