PHILADELPHIA HOME RULE CHARTER
CHAPTER 3 CIVIL SERVICE: GENERAL PROVISIONS AND EXEMPTIONS
§7-301. Exemptions.
All officers and employees of the City, including all
officers and employees of all departments, all independent boards and
commissions and all departmental boards and commissions, shall be under civil
service except:
(a) All officers elected by the people and their
deputies, and employees appointed by the members of the Council;
(b) The
Managing Director, the Director of Finance and the Personnel Director and their
deputies, the heads of departments and their deputies, and members of boards and
commissions but the number of exempt deputies in any department other than the
Law Department, shall not exceed two;
(c) Such secretaries and clerks as
the Mayor may require and one secretary or clerk for each head of a department,
the Director of Finance, the Managing Director, the Personnel Director, the City
Representative and the City Treasurer, and one principal assistant or executive
director for each board or commission;
(d) Persons employed by contract
to perform special services for the City, where such contract is certified by
the Civil Service Commission to be for employment which cannot be performed by
persons in the civil service;
(e) Persons temporarily appointed or
designated to make or conduct a special inquiry, investigation, or examination,
or to perform a special service, where such appointment or designation is
certified by the Civil Service Commission to be for employment which because of
its expert or unique character could not or should not be performed by persons
in the civil service;
(f) Persons who in times of public emergency may
be appointed special employees for service not to exceed one month in
duration.
ANNOTATION
Sources: Act of June 25, 1919, P.L. 581, Article XIX, Section
3; A Model State Civil Service Law, Section 7.
Purposes: 1. No officer or employee of the City is exempt from
the civil service provisions of the Charter unless this section specifically
exempts him. Thus, for example, employees of the Department of Collections, of
the Free Library of Philadelphia, and of the Fairmount Park Commission are now
under civil service although exempt under the Charter of 1919.
2. The exemptions allowed take cognizance of political
necessities of municipal government [e.g. subsections (a) and (b)]; supervisory
offices necessary for effective municipal administration [e.g. subsection (b)];
the fostering and protecting of necessary personal and confidential
relationships [e.g. subsection (c)]; the need for special or expert services by
contract or on a temporary basis or employment in cases of public emergencies
[e.g. subsections (d), (e) and (f)].
3. Exempted employment is carefully limited so that it shall
not serve as an avenue for evading the civil service requirements of the
Charter. Thus, there can only be two exempt deputies in each department but this
limitation does not apply to the Law Department because of the nature of the
professional services involved. Contract services and temporary appointments for
special services can be availed of only after certification by the Civil Service
Commission as to necessity in light of availability of civil service personnel.
Emergency appointments may not exceed one month.