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Department of Human Resources

Employment Information: Class Based Exams

Looking for benefits information? Benefits Overview

Note: The information contained on this web page is for class-based examinations. Job announcements are "Class Based" unless they are marked "Position Based" on the announcement. If your job announcement is marked as a "Position Based" examination, please read the Employment Info for Position Based Exams.

This web page contains information on the following topics:
Announcements: Definition of terms
Appealing Examination Announcements
Applicants with Disabilities
Applications
Appointment Screening
Appointment Types
Change of Address/Name Changes
Classification
Conviction History forms
Disaster Service Workers
Diversity Statement
Examinations
Finger Printing
Identification/Right to work
License to Drive
Medical Examinations
Minimum Qualifications
Requirements at the Time of Hire
Security Clearance
Seniority Credit in Promotional Examinations
Veterans Preference

Announcements: Definition of terms
Entrance - refers to classifications where all applicants file under the same conditions.

Promotive - refers to classifications where permanent City employees are given additional points for competent employment and service time.

File Immediately - means the filing period may be closed at any time, i.e. with one day's notice.

Continuous - means the filing period is open on a continuous basis, and testing is done periodically for those people who have filed a qualified application.

Appealing Examination Announcements
Written appeals concerning an examination announcement must be received within five (5) business days from the original issue date of the announcement. Petitioners will be notified in writing concerning their appeals. Decisions may be reconsidered only if the request is received from the petitioner by noon of the fifth business day following mailing of the decision notice. Following this appeal period, only questions dealing with interpretation of requirements will be considered. Decisions made by the Human Resources Director can be appealed to the Civil Service Commission.

Applicants with Disabilities
Reasonable accommodation will be made so that qualified disabled applicants may participate in the examination process. Please advise the staff member in writing at the address listed on the examination announcement of special needs at the time of application.

Information about exempt employment of individuals who are severely disabled:

Civil Service Rule 115 provides for the exempt employment of qualified individuals who are severely disabled. The program defines an alternative process through which individuals with severe disabilities can join the City's Permanent workforce without going through the Civil Service examination process. Positions in the Rule 115 program are filled by permanent exempt appointment. While employees in these positions are not subject to examination, appointees filling such positions are subject to a one-year evaluation period. If the appointee performs the job satisfactorily during the evaluation period, he or she will be advanced to regular Permanent Civil Service (PCS) status.

For more information please contact the Department of Human Resources.

Applications
All City employees will need to fill out a job application (download the Job Application), and submit it to the address indicated on the job announcement. Make sure to keep a copy of your job application as you will probably be asked for it more than once.

Appointment Screening
After receiving a conditional offer of employment, prospective employees may be required to pass a medical examination, which might include drug testing. Some positions (e.g., patient contact positions) in the Department of Public Health require that employees meet departmental Disease Immunity Standards for certain vaccine-preventable diseases and/or that employees undergo periodic tuberculosis testing. Most new appointees will be fingerprinted. Some departments or positions require a background check and/or security clearance. Conviction History?? When reached for employment, candidates who are required to drive must be insurable under the City's automobile liability insurance. Qualifications must be maintained throughout employment.

Appointment Types

Permanent Civil Service
Permanent Civil Service positions in the City & County of San Francisco may be full-time or part-time. The benefits to Permanent Civil Service positions include membership in the retirement system, health coverage on the first pay period following employment, and salary step increases based on union contract.

In general, for Permanent Civil Service positions, you will need to file an application, show that you meet the minimum qualifications as defined by the job announcement, and then go through an examination process.
Provisional Appointments
When a department needs to fill a vacancy that is covered by the civil service process, but no applicant pool of eligible employees is available, departments are allowed to hire Provisional (or temporary) employees. Provisional employees may not receive the same benefits as permanent employees and they may be "bumped" or laid off in favor of a permanent employee.

In order for a provisional appointee to keep his or her job, he or she must file an application for the position when its permanent civil service job announcement is issued. They then must go through the permanent civil service job application process (explained above) in order to become a Permanent employee. Provisional employees are not guaranteed permanent selection.
Exempt (Permanent Exempt or Temporary Exempt)
A job in this category is exempt from the Permanent civil service process described above. An exemption is granted for a variety of reasons, but usually because of the level of the position (e.g., department head), because the duties are highly specialized (e.g., confidential secretary to a department head), or because the process by which the person achieved that particular classification constitutes a sufficient test (e.g., attorney, doctor).

Employees in exempt positions are appointed by department heads, commissions, or the mayor, and serve “at will”. Benefits are similar to permanent civil service or provisional employees. Recruitment and selection for exempt positions is the responsibility of the person/commission who has the authority to appoint the candidate to the position (e.g., if a commission or the Mayor has the authority to appoint a person as head of the department, then they are responsible for the job announcement and selection procedures used to choose the person to be employed).

Change of Address or Name Changes
Applicants are responsible for notifying the Department of Human Resources of any change of address throughout the application/examination process, and prior to employment, by sending either a letter or a change of address form (Word) and to the Department of Human Resources, Recruitment and Assessment Service Team, 44 Gough Street, San Francisco, CA 94103. Your letter or change of address form should state the job code number and title of the position for which you applied.

If you legally change your name, you should notify the Recruitment and Assessment Services team at the above address and provide copies of documents verifying the name change.

Classification
Positions in the City have been classified by the Department of Human Resources according to their duties and responsibilities. Positions that are comparable in the type of work performed and in the level of difficulty and responsibility are placed in the same class so that they will be treated alike for recruitment, examination, transfer and pay.

The Department of Human Resources assigns positions to classifications. Each classification has a job code number and a descriptive title, as well as a list of typical duties and responsibilities. Go to the Classification & Compensation database.

Conviction History forms
As part of the application process, an applicant must also fill out a Conviction History form. Please note that the conviction history form should not be submitted with a job application unless you are instructed to do so in the job announcement.

Disaster Service Workers
All City and County employees are designated by both State and City law as "Disaster Service Workers." In the event of a declaration of emergency, any employee of the City and County of San Francisco may be assigned to perform activities which promote the protection of public health and safety or the preservation of lives and property. Such assignments may require service at locations, times, and under conditions that are significantly different than the normal work assignment and may continue into the recovery phase of the emergency. (Go to the Disaster Service Worker Website)

Diversity Statement
The City and County of San Francisco is an equal opportunity employer. Applicants shall not be discriminated against because of race, religion, sex, national origin, ethnicity, age, disability, political affiliation, sexual orientation, gender identity, color, marital status, medical condition (cancer-related) or the conditions Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) and AIDS Related Conditions (ARC). Read all City & County of San Francisco Equal Employment Opportunity statements.

Exams
The City is dedicated to recruiting and hiring fairly and on the basis of merit. In furtherance of this goal, the majority of City jobs are filled through a civil service examination process. The purpose of the examination is to create an applicant pool of qualified persons to be considered “eligible” for employment. Open positions for which examinations are given are announced on a weekly basis (view the Examination Schedule).

All candidates will be required to present identification showing a photograph at each part of the examination. Acceptable identification includes: driver license; city, state, or federal issued Identification card; passport; student body card; alien registration receipt card.

If you pass the exam, you will be placed in an applicant pool, also called an “eligible list”, ranked according to your score on the exam (separate “eligible lists” are established for each job announcement). Applicants are selected from the “eligible list” based on a certification rule, also posted on your job announcement.

If you are selected from the eligible list, you will be notified by mail that you have been “Referred” to the department for consideration. Be sure to read this letter carefully and in its entirety, and follow all of the instructions exactly and in the time specified. If you fail to respond to the letter as it instructs you, the department is not required to consider you for this position.

You will remain active on the eligible list until you request to be inactive, refuse the number of times allowed by the examination announcement, are selected for employment, or until the expiration of the eligible list.

Fingerprinting
It is mandatory for most new civil service appointees to be fingerprinted. Fingerprints are electronically transmitted to the California Department of Justices to obtain conviction records. These records are used to verify conviction information provided by the candidates.

Identification/Right to Work
All persons employed by the City and County of San Francisco are required to comply with the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 by presenting documents to verify identity and authorization to work in the United States. Acceptable forms of identification as required by the Federal Immigration and Naturalization Service may be found in the pamphlet "Federal Immigration and Naturalization Service Requirements."

License to Drive
If your job duties require you to drive, you must have the appropriate licenses and maintain insurability under your department’s automobile liability insurance policy. Only employees with a valid California Driver License will be authorized to operate a City and/or private vehicle. The City will use the State Department of Motor Vehicles’ Pull Notice Program to obtain information about employees as actions appear on their driving records. The City will base driver-related decisions on compliance with the California Vehicle Code, as well as the City’s efforts to reduce vehicular accidents and exposure to liability.

Medical Examination
Depending on the classification or position in which you are to be employed, you may be required to pass a medical examination, including drug testing, as a condition of employment. Most medical examinations are conducted by the Department of Public Health, San Francisco General Hospital Medical Center, Occupational Health Service (OHS) located in Building 9, 2nd floor, Potrero Avenue and 22nd Street.

Minimum Qualifications
In order to be considered for a Permanent Civil Service position (and in addition to the application and the examination) you must meet the job announcement’s minimum qualifications, which usually consist of educational and previous job experiences. Your application should show that you meet the minimum qualifications, however, you may also be asked to present an official college transcript, or a license. Papers filed with an application are not returned.

City employees receive credit for the duties of their classification unless their appointing officer officially assigns other duties in writing, at the time of the assignment, and in accordance with Civil Service Commission rules. It is the supervisor's and the employee's responsibility to ensure that work out of classification is appropriately and timely documented. Failure to do so may mean disqualification for the examination.

Part-time and volunteer experience may also be used to meet experience requirements. One year of experience equals 2000 hours.

Requirements at the Time of Hire

Social Security Number You must have a Social Security number.
Authorization to Work You must present documents to verify identity and authorization to work in the United States as required by the Immigration Reform Control Act of 1986. Failure to provide these documents may result in loss of eligibility. Acceptable verification documents are listed in the information pamphlet entitled “Federal Immigration and Naturalization Service Requirements” available at the Department of Human Resources Employment Information Center, 44 Gough Street. Any applicant or employee seeking to have the City provide documentation to the Department of Homeland Security (including the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services) about possible or actual employment with the City must obtain the approval of the appointing authority of the employing department and the Director of Human Resources.
Oath of Office You are required to take the Oath of Office as specified in the California State Constitution.
No Strike Provision Unless you are a uniformed member of the Police or Fire departments, or an employee of the Unified School District or the Community College District, you will be required to sign an acknowledgement of receipt of a copy of Charter Section A8.346 - Disciplinary Action Against Striking Employees. A separate Charter provision prohibits strikes by public safety employees. For more information, see the “Employee Obligations” section of the Employee Handbook.
Acknowledgements In addition to the No Strike Provision, new employees may be required to sign other acknowledgements of receipt, such as this Employee Handbook, the City's harassment policy, City or departmental policies regarding use of computers, and other City and departmental policies.
Union Dues or Fees If you are hired in a class represented by an organization that has an “Agency Shop” agreement with the City, you are typically required as a condition of continued employment to either join the employee organization or pay an "agency fee" as defined by state or federal law. For more information, consult your collective bargaining agreement, contact your employee organization, or departmental personnel officer.
Tax Forms You will need to fill out a Withholding Exemption Certificate (IRS form W-4), which determines the amount of taxes withheld from your paycheck. If at any time during your employment your withholding status changes (for example, if you marry, divorce or purchase a home), you should fill out a new W-4 form to ensure that the proper amount is withheld.
Warrant Recipient Designation You are required to complete a warrant recipient form at the time of hire. This form designates an individual to receive an employee's earned but unpaid wages in the event of your death.

Security Clearance
Prior to employment in certain positions or classifications, departments may require a background review of criminal history, motor vehicle (driving) record, personnel history and employment records. The requirement for a background review will be published on the examination announcement.

Seniority Credit in Promotional Examinations
Any City employee who meets the minimum qualifications, has current permanent, probationary, certified temporary from a list, or holdover status with the City and County of San Francisco, and has had six months (6) of verifiable satisfactory experience in any class in any status (including provisional appointments) as of the final filing date for applications, may participate in an examination announced on a promotive only or combined entrance and promotive basis. Such employees are entitled to up to sixty (60) additional points for seniority and satisfactory performance rating after passing the examination(s). Deductions from seniority points will be made for applicable disciplinary actions.

Veteran’s Preference
In order to be eligible for Veteran's Entitlement, an applicant must have served on active (non-reserve) duty and been released from active duty under conditions other than dishonorable. This service must have been:

At least 30 days of active duty in time of war or peace in a campaign or expedition for service in which a medal has been authorized by the government of the United States; or
During the period from September 16, 1940, through January 31, 1955; or
After January 31, 1955, at least 181 consecutive days of active duty.
Applicants must not have been discharged under dishonorable conditions, or as the result of a court martial.

Veteran's Entitlement provides additional credit of five percent (5%) of the qualifying score on an entrance eligible list.

Additional information about Veteran's Preference:

Widows/widowers or surviving domestic partners of deceased eligible veterans may also qualify for Veteran's Entitlement credit.
Veteran's Entitlement is limited to an application for entrance employment.
The applicant must notify the Department of Human Resources of his/her veteran status when he/she submits the initial job application, complete the Application for Veteran's Preference form and verify eligibility.
The applicant must attain a passing score on an entrance selection process to be entitled to the Veteran's Entitlement credit.
Applicants must not have already used Veteran's Entitlement in an entrance examination which resulted in the applicant's permanent appointment
Once the probationary period is passed, Veteran's Entitlement points are to be removed from all other eligible lists on which there is standing.
Veterans with a permanent service connected disability that is of record in the US Veteran's Administration may apply for a disability credit of ten percent (10%) of the qualifying score.
Disabled veterans as defined above shall be afforded all rights under the Americans with Disabilities Act, including any reasonable accommodation if appropriate.

Veteran's Preference Application (Word)