{"@context":"http://iiif.io/api/presentation/2/context.json","@type":"sc:Manifest","@id":"https://iiif.quartexcollections.com/ncdcr/iiif/2feeaab9-fa28-440b-9380-2e157c7db6d7/manifest","label":"Personnel_Department","metadata":[{"label":"Title","value":"State Agency Finding Aid: State Personnel, 1949-1960"},{"label":"MARS ID","value":"34"},{"label":"Digital Collections","value":["Legacy Finding Aids Collection"]},{"label":"Identifier","value":"Personnel_Department"},{"label":"Digital Format","value":["application/pdf"]},{"label":"Hosted By","value":["State Archives of North Carolina"]},{"label":"Metadata Creator","value":["Cusick, Aaron"]},{"label":"Type","value":["Text"]},{"label":"Notes Public","value":"If you have questions about this collection, please contact the State Archives of North Carolina at archives@ncdcr.gov."},{"label":"Source","value":"State Personnel Records. State Archives of North Carolina"},{"label":"Language","value":["English"]},{"label":"Description","value":"During the early years of the twentieth century, North Carolina  took its first steps toward establishment of a uniform personnel system  for state employees.  Prior to 1907, the General Assembly routinely  allocated lump sums to each agency and authorized agency heads to set  the salaries of individual employees.  From 1907 to 1920 the  legislature assumed responsibility for setting wages for state workers, generally requiring a legislative act  to authorize any individual pay increase.  In 1920 this function was  turned over to the governor and Council of State.  The following year  the legislature named the governor and Council of State to a Salary  Standardization Board with power to set wages and make adjustments. In 1925 the General Assembly established the Salary and Wage   Commission to address the wide variations in the compensation rates of    state workers.  The commission's major achievement was a rudimentary   classification of positions on the basis of duties and responsibilities,  providing both a precedent and a foundation for later classification  efforts undertaken by its successors. In 1931 the General Assembly implemented recommendations of a   Brookings Institute study of 1930 by abolishing the Salary and Wage   Commission and creating a separate Department of Personnel within the  Office of the Governor.  As a gubernatorial appointee, the director of  personnel was to serve a four-year term and was charged with establishing  and administering a standardized personnel system within state  government. In 1933 the legislature abolished the Department of Personnel and  transferred its functions to the Budget Bureau, also under the Office of  the Governor.  The department was replaced by a Division of Personnel and  was supervised by the assistant director of the budget.  Since the  division had no staff assigned to deal exclusively with personnel  problems, little was done to keep job classifications current or to  maintain uniform salary ranges.  However, in 1939 the General Assembly  required the assistant director of the budget to obtain detailed  personnel information from heads of all state agencies and institutions. In 1941 the General Assembly established a Merit System Council to  permit certain state and local agencies to qualify for federal funds  provided under the Social Security Act of 1935.  Agencies eligible to  receive aid included the Unemployment Compensation Commission, the  State Board of Health, the State Board of Charities and Public Welfare,  and the State Commission for the Blind.  The Merit System Council  comprised five gubernatorial appointees with authority to appoint a  supervisor of merit examinations and to implement federal regulations on  job standards and pay. During the 1940s the Merit System Council was separate from the  Division of Personnel, although the two entities performed similar  functions and were affiliated by statute to the governor as director of  the budget.  By the end of the decade, great disparities had developed  in job standards and pay for those state employees not covered by the  competitive merit system law, and employee discontent over existing  salary levels became a major campaign issue.  In response, the 1949  General Assembly enacted a State Personnel Act, establishing a separate  State Personnel Department under the direction of a State Personnel  Council to centralize the personnel system and bring uniformity in all  areas of personnel policy and administration.  The act required that  studies be made periodically to make needed changes in classification  requirements and salary ranges. The State Personnel Council was to consist of seven gubernatorial  appointees serving staggered terms initially, with successors serving  terms of four years.  The council was to have no more than one member  employed by state government; at least one was to have recognized  standing in the field of personnel administration outside of state  government; and at least one was to hold a management position in  private business or industry. The council was charged with appointing a state personnel director  who would work closely with the head of each agency of state government  in conducting a new survey of all state positions, to establish minimum  employment requirements, and to standardize job classifications,  specifications, and salary schedules.  With the council's approval and  with the assistance of agency heads, the director was mandated to set  the number and type of allowable positions in each agency and to submit  to the governor a personnel summary of each agency, including a scale of  salary increments to be granted at least once a year to each employee  whose services met a standard of efficiency set by the director and  approved by the council and governor.  The state personnel director was  authorized to appoint a supervisor of merit examinations, although the  Merit System Council was permitted final approval of the chosen  candidate. The State Personnel Council was to designate a member of the council  to serve as chairman and to advise the director in promulgation of  personnel rules and regulations.  In the event of a disagreement between  the director and a department head or state employee, the State  Personnel Council was empowered to hold hearings and settle disputes.   The council's decision, however, could be appealed to the governor,  whose decision was final. In 1953 the General Assembly reduced the membership of the State  Personnel Council to five.  Between 1953 and 1957, two separate study  commissions reviewed the state's program of personnel management and  cited the state personnel director's unusual authority to fix the number  of allowable positions in each state agency.  Also, the two studies  concluded that the relationship between the director of personnel and the  supervisor of the merit system was uncooperative and that state laws had  not clearly defined their separate roles.  In response, the 1957 General  Assembly rescinded the authority of the director of personnel to  determine the positions allocated to each state agency and required the  director, when requested by any state agency head, to reconsider  personnel surveys and reports submitted to the governor and make changes  if approved by the council and governor.  In separate action, the  assembly specified that two persons serve jointly on the State Personnel  Council and the Merit System Council in order to increase communication  between the two councils. In 1965 the General Assembly passed a new state personnel act which  abolished the Merit System Council and the State Personnel Council and  transferred their powers and duties to a State Personnel Board.  The  act also reestablished the State Personnel Department directly under the  Office of the Governor to consolidate the state's personnel services and  to implement established management concepts and practices in personnel  administration.  The act also applied to local and county employees paid  at least partially from federal funds. The State Personnel Board consisted of seven members appointed by the  governor to staggered terms, with their successors serving six-year  terms.  Members included two chosen from among state employees; two  appointed from a list of individuals nominated by the North Carolina  Association of County Commissioners; two engaged in the management of a  private business or industry; and one appointed from the public-at- large.  Like its predecessor, the State Personnel Board was permitted to  appoint an administrator of the consolidated Personnel Department.  The  board was authorized to establish a new position classification plan; a  comprehensive compensation plan; minimum qualifications for each class   of positions; a recruitment plan to attract applicants; a performance  evaluation system; and training programs for state and local employees  developed in cooperation with the Department of Public Instruction, the  State Board of Education, the Board of Higher Education, and the state's  colleges and universities. By the Executive Organization Act of 1971 the Personnel Department  and Board were transferred for administrative purposes to the Department  of Administration (DOA) under a cabinet-level secretary appointed by the  governor.  The department and board, however, retained their previous  statutory powers and duties.  In 1975 the General Assembly reestablished  the State Personnel Department as the Office of State Personnel (OSP),  again under the DOA, and granted it authority to exercise its statutory  powers independently of the secretary of administration.  The former  State Personnel Board was upgraded to a commission directly responsible  to the governor.  It was permitted to issue binding corrective orders in  employee grievance cases and to address discrimination appeals following  specified procedures.  The OSP was placed under the management of a state  personnel director appointed by the governor to serve at his pleasure.   The director was placed under the commission's supervision, and the  entire state personnel system was placed under the Administrative  Procedures Act.  Enacted in the 1974 legislative session, this act had  provided judicial review for various agency decisions of a quasi-judicial  nature. In 1977 the General Assembly decreed that any applicant for state  employment could appeal directly to the State Personnel Commission when  there was indication that equal opportunity had been denied.  Under state  laws, equal opportunity applied in the areas of race, religion, color,  creed, national origin, sex, age, or physical disability.   Correspondingly, the OSP established a separate division to administer  and monitor the state's equal employment and affirmative action program. During the 1970s the OSP supported several other divisions that  assisted the director of personnel and the State Personnel Commission in  discharging their statutory duties.  Some of the divisions continued  into the following decades, while some were terminated.  The Local  Government Division was established in 1972 by a federal grant funded  under the Intergovernmental Personnel Act.  Its programs were intended to  help local government employees and elected officials to develop and  maintain systematic personnel management practices.  Funds were  eventually exhausted, and the division had become defunct by the early  1980s. In 1983 the General Assembly designated the OSP and the State  Personnel Commission as the state's official referral agency required  under the federal Civil Rights Act of 1964, meaning that all the  complaints filed with the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission  (EEOC) by state or local government employees would be submitted by the  EEOC to the State Personnel Commission.  In response, the commission  established an affirmative action policy and expanded its equal  opportunity program.  In February 1984 Governor James B. Hunt, Jr., gave  executive endorsement to the affirmative action program and required the  OSP to submit semi-annual reports detailing each agency's compliance.   The Human Relations Council was designated as advisor and assistant to  the governor and to the OSP in the implementation of the affirmative  action program. By the mid-1980s the OSP supported various additional divisions,  including Administrative Services; Employee and Management Development;  Employer Relations and Services and its sub-program, Employee Assistance  (later known as the Employee Services Division); Human Resources  Utilization (later known as the Workforce Resources Division);   and Position Management.  The latter division was established  in 1983 to encourage agencies to enter into performance agreements with  employees and to develop and maintain pay scales and job evaluation  procedures for all positions. As an outgrowth of several recommendations of the Governor's  Efficiency Study Commission of 1985, the OSP established in 1987 an  Employee Safety and Health Division to oversee the participation of  other state agencies in programs improving workplace safety and health.   This division was charged with returning employees to productive  employment in a timely and cost-effective manner when injuries or  illnesses did occur on the job.  During the 1992 session the legislature  mandated that the State Personnel Commission, through the OSP and the  division, establish a model program of safety and health requirements,  provide technical and consultative services to other agencies, and  monitor their performances. In 1987 the General Assembly declared that employee appeals involving  disciplinary action, alleged discrimination, and other matters would be  conducted in the Office of Adminsitrative Hearings and heard by the  superior court.  The court's decisions were binding when they affirmed  the State Personnel Commission's decision.  In appeals by local  government employees, the decision of the commission would be binding  if the employee had been subjected to discrimination as prohibited by  state statute, or in any case where federal standards required a binding  decision.  However, in all other appeals by employees of local  governments, the decision of the commission was to be considered advisory  to the local appointing authority. In 1989 the State Employees Advisory Group (SEAG) was transferred by  executive order of Gov. James G. Martin to the Employee Relations  Division of the OSP.  This advisory group was originally established by  directive of the former governor, James B. Hunt, Jr., and placed under  the Governor's Management Council in the Department of Administration.   It was created for the purpose of promoting state employee involvement  in the improvement of productivity and quality of work life. In 1989 the General Assembly specified that one of the employees  serving on the State Personnel Commission must be employed by a local  government and be appointed by the governor from a list provided by the  North Carolina Association of County Commissioners.  That legislature  also established a State Personnel Study Commission to study all aspects  of the state personnel system. In 1991 various technical amendments were made to the powers and  duties of the State Personnel Commission.  The act stipulated that the  commission cooperate with the Department of Public Education, the  university and community college systems, and others in developing and  administering programs to raise the level of managerial and supervisory  skills.  The commission was also responsible for the health and safety  program, the employee assistance program, the equal employment  opportunity program, and productivity incentives. In other action the 1991 General Assembly required the OSP to  decentralize its functions of job classification and salary administration and locate these duties within each agency employing more  than 500 permanent, full-time employees.  Criteria and standards for the  agencies would be set by the State Personnel Commission.  The OSP was to  submit a decentralization plan to the State Personnel Study Commission  set up in 1989, which in turn was to report its recommendations for  statutory changes to the General Assembly by 1 April 1992. The State Personnel Study Commission concluded that the growth of  state government had made decentralization necessary and that the OSP  had been systematically decentralizing its personnel functions for more  than 20 years, delegating its personnel functions to the state's larger  agencies.  Consequently, the commission recommended that the General  Assembly shift the functions of job classification and pay administration  from the OSP to qualifying agencies, as mandated by the 1991 General  Assembly; that the legislature establish a comprehensive and equitable  compensation system based on employee performance, to provide equitable  pay for all state employees subject to the State Personnel Act; and that  the issue of inequities in state government should be the subject of  serious continuing study by the commission.  The decentralization plan  was approved by the General Assembly in July 1992. REFERENCES: P.L., 1907, cc. 830, 994. P.L., 1920, c. 95. P.L., 1921, c. 143. P.L., 1933, c. 46. P.L., 1939, c. 248. P.L., 1941, c. 378. S.L., 1949, cc. 718, 1174. S.L., 1953, c. 1085. S.L., 1957, cc. 1004, 1349. S.L., 1965, c. 640. S.L., 1967, c. 260. S.L., 1971, c. 864, s. 12(1)(2)(6). S.L., 1975, c. 667. S.L., 1977, c. 866, s. 16. S.L., 1983, c. 516; Executive Order No. 101, 13 February 1984. S.L., 1987, cc. 394, 689. S.L., 1989, cc. 540; 802, s. 21.1; Executive Order No. 89, 8 May 1989. S.L., 1991, cc. 65; 354, s. 2; 689, s. 18; 754, s. 4.1; 982; 996. G.S. 126.1 through 126.5 [1992]. American Management Resources, Inc.  AN ANALYSIS OF THE NORTH  CAROLINA OFFICE OF STATE PERSONNEL.  Chicago, 1975?. Commission on Reorganization of State Government.  THE REPORTS OF THE    1953-1955 COMMISSION ON REORGANIZATION OF STATE  GOVERNMENT.  Raleigh, 1955.  Pp. 54-65. ---.  THE REPORTS OF THE 1955-1957 COMMISSION ON REORGANIZATION OF  STATE GOVERNMENT.  Raleigh, 1957.  Pp. 98-109. Commission on the State Personnel System.  REPORT TO THE 1991 GENERAL    ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA, 1992 SESSION.  Raleigh, 1992. Department of State Auditor.  OPERATIONAL AUDIT: OFFICE OF STATE    PERSONNEL.  Raleigh, 1979.  Pp. 35-50. Governor's Efficiency Study Commission.  FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS.     Raleigh, 1985.  Pp. 24-26. ---.  SURVEY AND RECOMMENDATIONS.  Raleigh, 1973.  Pp. 18-20.  Institute for Government Research of the Brookings Institution.   REPORT ON A SURVEY OF THE ORGANIZATION AND ADMINISTRATION  OF THE STATE GOVERNMENT OF NORTH CAROLINA.  Washington, D.C.,  1930.  Pp. 17,  87-119. Office of the Secretary of State.  NORTH CAROLINA MANUAL, 1991-   1992.  Edited by Julie W. Snee.  Raleigh, 1992.  Pp. 209-213."},{"label":"Digital Characteristics","value":"1 page"},{"label":"Format","value":["Finding aids"]},{"label":"Rights","value":"This item is provided courtesy of the State Archives of North Carolina and is a public record according to G.S.132."},{"label":"Source Collections","value":["State Personnel Records. State Archives of North Carolina"]}],"description":"State Agency Finding Aid: State Personnel, 1949-1960","sequences":[{"@type":"sc:Sequence","canvases":[{"@id":"https://iiif.quartexcollections.com/ncdcr/iiif/2feeaab9-fa28-440b-9380-2e157c7db6d7/canvas/_1","@type":"sc:Canvas","label":"Personnel_Department-1","height":1684,"width":1251,"images":[{"@type":"oa:Annotation","motivation":"sc:painting","resource":{"@id":"https://iiif.quartexcollections.com/ncdcr/iiif/54cf9989-0489-4e28-99b1-7c72efeb3cd9/full/full/0/default.jpg","@type":"dctypes:Image","format":"image/jpeg","service":{"@context":"http://iiif.io/api/image/2/context.json","@id":"https://iiif.quartexcollections.com/ncdcr/iiif/54cf9989-0489-4e28-99b1-7c72efeb3cd9","profile":"http://iiif.io/api/image/2/level2.json","tiles":[{"width":512,"scaleFactors":[1,2,4]}]},"height":1684,"width":1251},"on":"https://iiif.quartexcollections.com/ncdcr/iiif/2feeaab9-fa28-440b-9380-2e157c7db6d7/canvas/_1","metadata":[]}],"thumbnail":{"@id":"https://iiif.quartexcollections.com/ncdcr/iiif/54cf9989-0489-4e28-99b1-7c72efeb3cd9/full/500,500/0/default.jpg","@type":"dctypes:Image","height":500,"width":500}}]}],"thumbnail":"https://iiif.quartexcollections.com/ncdcr/iiif/54cf9989-0489-4e28-99b1-7c72efeb3cd9/full/300,300/0/default.jpg","logo":"https://iiif.quartexcollections.com/ncdcr/iiif/logo"}