N.J.A.C. 4A:5-2 Use of Preference
Every section of N.J.A.C. 4A:5-2, Use of Preference: 3 rules with full text, amendment history and citing decisions.
- 4A:5-2.1Open competitive examinations
Rank on an open competitive list is not score order. Every disabled veteran comes first, ordered by score among themselves; then every veteran, ordered by score; then everyone else. A non-veteran who scored 90 ranks below a disabled veteran who scored 80, and the worked example printed in the rule makes exactly that point. Where two eligibles have the same score and the same veterans status the tie is not broken and both hold the same rank. When a regular appointment is made and a disabled veteran or veteran has been certified, the appointing authority appoints disabled veterans first and then veterans, in ranking order. Only once those are exhausted does the rule of three under N.J.S.A. 11A:4-8 govern the choice among the remaining eligibles. One carve-out: preference is not required when the appointment being made is a provisional one from an incomplete list.
- 4A:5-2.2Promotional examinations
Promotion works nothing like open competitive hiring, and the difference catches people out. A promotional list is in score order regardless of veterans status, so nobody moves up the list for having served, and disabled veterans and veterans are treated identically for this purpose. Status shows up in two places only. Tied scores put veterans first within the tied rank. And whoever heads the certification decides what the appointing authority may do. If a veteran heads it, a veteran among the top three interested eligibles must be appointed, and a non-veteran may be appointed only where the appointing authority shows cause for removing the veteran from the promotional list under the list removal procedures. If a non-veteran heads it, any reachable eligible may be appointed under the rule of three. Where there is more than one vacancy the test is applied again after each appointment, so a veteran who rises to the top of the shrinking certification must be appointed to the next one.
- 4A:5-2.3Veterans and disabled veterans preference in the noncompetitive division
One sentence, with no list mechanics in it. In the noncompetitive division, preference among qualified applicants goes to disabled veterans first, then to veterans. The wording repays attention: the preference operates among qualified applicants, not by reordering an eligible list the way it does on the open competitive side. Timing is set apart from the list rules as well. For initial employment in the noncompetitive division, and for promotion out of it into the competitive division, the preference takes effect on the date of the Adjutant General's determination rather than by reference to a list issuance date.