Report 2020-111 Recommendations

To increase the objectivity and transparency of its minimum qualification requirements, when possible the Commission should create qualification requirements based on time spent working in District job classifications or equivalent experience, rather than using ambiguous terms such as "professional-level."

To increase transparency and ensure that it makes consistent decisions when assessing applicants' minimum qualifications, the Commission should establish a rule for its examiners by October 2021 that defines the key terms it uses when reviewing applications for minimum qualifications, such as "professional-level" and "recent."

To ensure that its examination process is fair and evaluates all candidates consistently, the Commission should establish a rule by October 2021 to require examiners to provide disqualification notices that describe their reasons for disqualifying an applicant.

To ensure that its examination process is fair and evaluates all candidates consistently, the Commission should establish a rule by October 2021 to require examiners to create detailed scoring benchmarks that provide raters guidance on how to rate individual evaluation factors.

To ensure that its examination process is fair and evaluates all candidates consistently, the Commission should establish a rule by October 2021 requiring that when it creates examinations it establish a method for determining candidates' overall scores based on the ratings of the individual evaluation factors.

To ensure that its examination process is fair and evaluates all candidates consistently, the Commission should establish a rule by October 2021 to require raters to provide written comments on rating sheets for each candidate, explaining the basis for the score they awarded.

To ensure that its examination process is fair and evaluates all candidates consistently, the Commission should establish a rule by October 2021 to require examiners to review scoring sheets to determine if raters have followed the Commission's candidate evaluation guidance, and if the raters have failed to follow the guidance request that the raters review their evaluation of the candidate.

To promote transparency in its application process and to minimize the perception that it arbitrarily disqualifies applicants, the Commission should revise its rules by October 2021 to implement an appeal process for applicants who it has determined do not meet minimum qualifications for a position.

To ensure that employees are aware that they can request intermittent payments while performing out-of-class work assignments, the Commission should immediately revise its claim form to include this option.

To ensure that employees receive prompt compensation for the higher-level duties they perform, the Commission should revise its rules by October 2021 to process employees' compensation for out-of-class work each month.

To ensure that employees are fairly compensated for the entirety of the out-of-class work they perform, the Commission should amend its rules by October 2021 to allow employees at least 100 days to submit their out-of-class work claims before limiting their compensation.

To ensure that employees are fairly compensated for the entirety of the out-of-class work they perform, the Commission should amend its rules by October 2021 to require employees to submit a copy of their out-of-class claim form to the Commission at the same time as they submit it to their supervisors, and use the date the Commission receives this copy of the form as the date of submission.

To ensure that it consistently identifies and responds to all complaints and to reduce the risk of retaliation against complainants, by October 2021 the Commission should amend its rules to clearly define complaints and create a formal process for addressing all complaints, including a process to elevate to the commissioners those complaints that are not resolved at lower levels.

To ensure that it consistently identifies and responds to all complaints and to reduce the risk of retaliation against complainants, by October 2021 the Commission should amend its rules to include a provision for submitting whistleblower complaints directly to the District's Office of the General Counsel and assign it the responsibility of designating an appropriate party to respond.

To ensure that it consistently identifies and responds to all complaints and to reduce the risk of retaliation against complainants, by October 2021 the Commission should amend its rules to establish that complainant information may not be shared with the subject of a whistleblower complaint.

To ensure that it treats applicants consistently when considering whether to debar them in the case of false statements or deception, the Commission should establish rules to require that examiners independently verify the reason for inconsistencies between applications.

To ensure that it treats applicants consistently when considering whether to debar them in the case of false statements or deception, the Commission should establish rules to require that examiners provide applicants with an opportunity to address the inconsistencies.

To ensure that it treats applicants consistently when considering whether to debar them in the case of false statements or deception, the Commission should establish rules to require that examiners document the steps taken to verify the disputed information and retain relevant supporting documentation.

To ensure that the Commission's practices align with the mission of the merit system, the Commissioners should establish rules that require staff to periodically report to them on how its practices compare to those of other entities with merit systems, along with any recommendations for improving the Commission's practices.