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City of Pittston, PA
Luzerne County
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Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Code
New Laws (0) Index
A. 
The examination shall measure the physical skills and abilities that meaningfully relate to the actual work a successful job applicant can be expected to perform. This expectation includes both routine and repetitive work, and work the performance of which is essential but which occurs sporadically. The CSC may contract with another agency or entity to oversee or actually conduct the physical performance/physical agility exam. Applicants who fail to appear for the physical performance/physical agility exam shall be disqualified. Applicants appearing for the physical performance/physical agility examination shall be required to identify themselves in a manner which assures that the person taking the examination is the applicant. Each applicant shall present his or her notice to the examiner before he or she shall be examined. In addition, applicants shall be required to show that they hold a valid Pennsylvania drivers' license. Applicants who fail to meet these requirements shall be disqualified/removed from the examination process and shall not be permitted to take the physical performance/physical agility examination. To pass the physical performance/physical agility examination every aspect or exercise which is part of the testing must be successfully performed. Any applicant who is unable to complete, to the degree required, a portion of the physical performance/physical agility examination, with or without reasonable accommodations, shall be disqualified.
B. 
The CSC in its discretion may administer the written examination prior to the physical performance/physical agility examination. The written examination and/or the physical performance/physical agility examination may be administered prior to the CSC and/or applicants receiving their grade for the either examination.
Except for persons who have been disqualified during the process of reviewing applications, each applicant shall be notified of the time, place, and date of the physical performance/physical agility examination. Each such applicant shall be informed as to the general nature of this examination and of the fact that it is a pass/fail examination. Notice to appear for the physical performance/physical agility examination shall be mailed or otherwise delivered at least 14 days prior to the date established for the examination. The notice will specify a deadline by which applicants with disabilities should request an interactive discussion regarding potential reasonable accommodations.
The Commission will give consideration to the reasonableness of accommodations requested by applicants with a disability and will permit reasonable accommodations to be utilized in conjunction with any aspect of the testing procedure including but not limited to physical performance/physical agility examinations. Applicants with a disability who believe that they can pass the physical performance/physical agility examination with a reasonable accommodation should immediately contact the Secretary to request an interactive discussion regarding potential accommodations. A request for accommodations should be made by the deadline set by the Commission and an unreasonable delay in requesting a discussion regarding accommodations may be itself a disqualifying event. On the date of the examination an applicant who has reason to believe that he/she would be able to perform some aspect of the physical performance/physical agility examination if provided with a reasonable accommodation and who has not done so previously should make that belief known to the person or persons responsible for proctoring/monitoring the testing procedures. An announcement to this effect will be made at the start of each physical performance/physical agility examination. When apprised of such a belief the proctor/monitor, or other individual(s) designated by the Commission, will, if practical, immediately engage the relevant applicant in an interactive discussion. If the requested accommodation is reasonable and can be utilized without serious disturbance to the testing regime (taking into account the opportunity the applicant had to address the issue to the Secretary at an earlier point in time) it will be utilized.
Applicants shall be notified in writing as to whether they passed or failed the physical performance/physical agility examination. The basis for any failure shall be specified. Notice regarding subsequent phases of the examination process shall be mailed or otherwise delivered to all passing, eligible applicants who have not been disqualified at least 14 days prior to the date established for the examination.
A. 
All applicants who are eligible to take the written examination will receive written notice of the date, time and place for the written examination. Any qualified agency, entity or individual may be appointed to act as creator, proctor, scorer or administrator of the written examination. The Commission shall prepare a statement of instructions and rules for the conduct of written examinations. The appointed examiner shall administer each examination in accordance with the instructions of the Commission, and will be responsible for enforcing the rules of conduct for written examinations.
B. 
A 100% score on the written test will be worth 50 points. The minimum passing score on the written examination shall be 70% or 35 points. An applicant who fails to score 35 points or higher will be disqualified.
C. 
An applicant with a disability who believes that he/she should be provided with a reasonable accommodation relative to the taking of the written test should notify the Commission of that fact immediately upon receipt of the notice of examination. That notice will contain directions on how to seek a reasonable accommodation for applicants who believe that they need one. An applicant who provides notice of the need for a reasonable accommodation will be engaged in an interactive discussion regarding the possibility of a reasonable accommodation being provided.
D. 
Applicants shall be notified in writing as to whether they passed or failed the written examination and their score.
A. 
Except as provided in Section 507, applicants who have passed the physical performance/physical agility examination and the written examination and have not been disqualified will receive written notice of the date, time and place for the oral examination. The CSC will establish the parameters for the oral examination, but will not participate in that examination or in the giving of scores as part of that aspect of the testing process. Oral examinations will be conducted by three individuals who are not members of the Commission who are selected by the Commission and are knowledgeable regarding matters/duties relating to the job for which the examination is being conducted. One of them will be the Bureau of Police Chief or Fire Chief. The other two individuals shall be independent and selected by the Commission.
B. 
The oral examination shall be worth 50 points.
C. 
Each round of the oral examination shall require each applicant to respond to the same set of questions or hypothetical situations. These shall be developed in advance of the round of oral examination by those posing the questions or hypothetical situations. Care shall be taken so that no applicant, waiting for his/her turn, shall learn of the contents of the examination. Each tester shall, without consulting with any of the other testers, evaluate each candidate. Each interviewed candidate shall be asked to respond to five questions and/or scenarios. As to each question/scenario the applicant's responses shall be graded on a 0-10 scale. Applicants shall be graded on the basis of demonstrated technical proficiencies, knowledge, skills, and abilities, on the ability to communicate accurately and effectively, and on the applicant's ability to function well as a member of a quasi-military team devoted to public safety service.
D. 
Each candidate's scores on each of the five questions/scenarios from each of the testers shall be added together and then divided by the number of testers. These averaged scores for each question will then be added together with the total being the applicant's score on the oral examination.
E. 
An applicant with a disability who believes that he/she should be provided with a reasonable accommodation relative to the taking of the oral examination test should notify the Commission of that fact immediately upon receipt of the notice of examination. That notice will contain directions on how to seek a reasonable accommodation for applicants who believe that they need one. An applicant who provides notice of the need for a reasonable accommodation will be engaged in an interactive discussion regarding the possibility of a reasonable accommodation being provided.
F. 
Applicants shall be notified in writing as to their score on the oral examination.
A veteran who passes both the written and the oral examination shall receive, in addition to his combined score on the written examination and his score on the oral examination, 10 additional points.
An applicant who fits into any one of the below listed categories, and who passes both the written examination and oral examination, will be provided a maximum of 10 additional points in addition to his/her combined score on the written and oral exams. An applicant can receive a maximum of 10 City employee preference points.
A. 
Employed by the City of Pittston in a part-time capacity as a police officer or firefighter in the last five years; or
B. 
Volunteer firefighter in Eagle Hose Company #1 in last two years; or
C. 
Volunteer firefighter in the Niagara Engine Company #2 in the last two years; or
D. 
Volunteer or paid employee of the Greater Pittston Regional Ambulance Association in the last two years.
Taking into account all applicable preference points from §§ 28-30 and 28-31, the applicants who have passed all three examinations shall be listed, in rank order, highest combined score to lowest combined score to form the eligibility list. Each applicant shall be given written notice of his written examination score, his oral examination score and his total score including all applicable preference points.
The Commission shall post, in a public place at its office, the eligibility lists, including each passing individual's name, total combined score and whether he/she is a veteran, and shall also post appointments made from the lists.
If two applicants on the final eligibility list have identical scores the first tie breaker shall be a comparison of scores on the oral examination. The second tie breaker shall be a comparison of scores on the written examination. If after these tie-breaking mechanisms have been applied the candidates are still in a tie, then, in the case of two individuals, the tie breaker shall be the flip of a coin, and in the event of more than two tied individuals the tie-breaking mechanism shall be a blind drawing of place numbers.
When there are a number of positions of the same kind to be filled at the same time, each appointment shall be made separately.
Should it be determined that an applicant has acted so as to defeat the proper conduct or result of any portion of the hiring process, including but not limited to the written and oral examinations, he/she shall be removed from consideration for employment or, if on the eligible list, his/her name shall be removed from that list.