DocketNumber: 27 M.D. Appeal Docket 1985
Judges: Nix, Larsen, Flaherty, McDermott, Papadakos
Filed Date: 9/25/1986
Status: Precedential
Modified Date: 10/19/2024
OPINION OF THE COURT
This is an appeal from an order of the Commonwealth Court which held that civil service job reclassification proceedings are subject to the procedural requirements of the Administrative Agency Law, 2 Pa.C.S.A. § 101 et seq. Orage v. Commonwealth, Office of Administration, 85 Pa.Commw.Ct. 497, 482 A.2d 1174 (1984). Specifically, it was held by Commonwealth Court that civil service employees seeking to have their jobs reclassified have a legitimate claim of entitlement, i.e. a property right, to have their jobs placed in classes whose specified duties and responsibilities most closely resemble their own, and, thus, under the Administrative Agency Law, that such employees have a right to appeal adverse determinations to Commonwealth Court.
The appellee, John L. Orage, was employed by the Department of Transportation as a Construction Cost Specialist IV. Asserting that his duties were those of a Program Analyst V, Orage requested that his job be reclassified. A review was made of Orage’s request but it was determined that Orage’s duties were those of a Program Analyst III, and, hence, Orage was reclassified as such. Dissatisfied with this classification, Orage then appealed to the Commonwealth’s Office of Administration to have his position reclassified to a higher level of Program Analyst. Reclassification was, however, denied. An appeal was taken to Commonwealth Court, whereupon the Office of Administration filed a motion to quash the appeal for lack of subject matter jurisdiction. The motion to quash was denied on grounds that Commonwealth Court has jurisdiction over
In the Administrative Agency Law, 2 Pa.C.S.A. § 101, the term “adjudication” is defined, in relevant part, as follows: “Any final order, decree, decision, determination or ruling by an agency affecting personal or property rights, privileges, immunities, duties, liabilities or obligations of any or all of the parties to the proceeding in which the adjudication is made.” Commonwealth Court held that employees have property rights in having their jobs accurately classified, and, thus, determined that adverse determinations in reclassification proceedings constitute “adjudications” from which employees are entitled to appeal. Finding that the proceedings below had not been conducted in accordance with the Administrative Agency Law, to wit, that there had not been made a stenographic record of the hearing and that findings of fact and conclusions of law had not been issued, Commonwealth Court remanded for proper proceedings.
It is well established that employment with the government is not a matter to which one has a per se right. Kelly v. Jones, 419 Pa. 305, 312-313, 214 A.2d 345, 350 (1965). Rather, if an employee is entitled to employment, the source of the entitlement must normally be legislative or contractual in nature. Guthrie v. Borough of Wilkinsburg, 505 Pa. 249, 256, 478 A.2d 1279, 1282 (1984). See also Sterling v. Commonwealth, Department of Environmental Resources, 504 Pa. 7, 14, 470 A.2d 101, 104 (1983) (Opinion in Support of Affirmance); Scott v. Philadelphia Parking Authority, 402 Pa. 151, 166 A.2d 278 (1960). Given that there is no per se right to governmental employment itself, it follows that there is no right to have one’s job designated by a particular classification unless there can be discerned a specific legislative or contractual provision ere
There exists in the Commonwealth an Executive Board, comprised of the Governor and six gubernatorially designated heads of administrative departments. 71 P.S. § 64. The Executive Board is empowered to standardize the employment qualifications, titles, salaries, and wages of persons employed by most of the Commonwealth’s administrative departments, boards, and commissions. 71 P.S. § 249(a). In establishing such standards, the Executive Board “may ... [establish different standards for different kinds, grades and classes of similar work or service.” 71 P.S. § 249(a)(2). Further, it is provided that “[t]he classification of positions and the compensation of employes in the classified service shall conform to standards and rules adopted by the Executive Board.”
For example, 71 P.S. § 741.807 provides that no civil servant may be dismissed from employment absent just cause. Similarly, 71 P.S. § 741.706 provides that civil servants may be demoted only when they fail to satisfactorily perform the duties of their current positions and are able to perform the duties of lower classifications. With respect to each of these directives, however, there are set forth in the
As stated in Sterling v. Commonwealth, Department of Environmental Resources, 504 Pa. 7, 14, 470 A.2d 101, 104 (1983) (Opinion in Support of Affirmance), “No property interest in government employment exists per se which makes denial of a right of appeal a violation of due process, Kelly v. Jones, 419 Pa. 305, 214 A.2d 345 (1965); accordingly, the scope of an employee’s right to appeal actions of his employer is circumscribed by the Act which has created it.” Upon examination of the applicable statutory provisions, heretofore discussed, it is evident that there has not been set forth a right to appeal reclassification decisions.
This conclusion is consistent with considerations of public policy which support a legislative scheme that does not
Subjecting reclassification decisions to appeals under the Administrative Agency Law would impose an additional layer of bureaucracy onto the management of the Commonwealth’s classification system. Not only would full hearings with stenographic records, along with findings of fact and conclusions of law, be required in every case where an employee persists in seeking reclassification, but there would also be created a considerable burden upon the court system in that reclassification decisions would become routinely subject to judicial review. Such results would substantially impair governmental interests in maintaining efficiency in the administration of public employee personnel systems, and, thus, absent expression by the legislature of a clear right for employees to have access to such procedures, no such rights are to be recognized. The order of Commonwealth Court to the contrary must, therefore, be reversed.
Order reversed.
ON CONSIDERATION WHEREOF, it is now hereby ordered and adjudged by this Court that the order of the Commonwealth Court is reversed.
. The Executive Board has promulgated rules defining “reclassification" as the "reassignment of a position from one class to a different class to recognize a change in duties and responsibilities or to correct an error in the original assignment," and the Board has defined “class” as a “group of positions sufficiently similar with respect to duties and responsibilities so that the same title and code ... may be used to describe all positions included in the group and so that the positions may be treated alike for recruitment, selection, pay, and other personnel purposes.” 4 Pa.Code § 23.2.