STATE OF LOUISIANA
DEPARTMENT OF STATE CIVIL SERVICE
BATON ROUGE, LOUISIANA
General Circular No. 001473
To: Heads of State Agencies and Human Resource Directors
Subject: New Mandatory Training Policy
Issue Date: February 14, 2002
The Civil Service Commission adopted Rule 7.4(f) that mandates training for employees who occupy or are appointed to designated supervisory, managerial or administrative jobs. This policy, which is stated below, goes into effect July 1, 2002. Required courses taken either before or after July 1 will count for credit. A list of job titles in each supervisory group will be placed on the Civil Service web site at www.dscs.state.la.us.
MANDATORY TRAINING POLICY
Training is being mandated for three supervisory groups. Supervisory Group 1 is comprised of job titles which have an Organizational Control rating of 5 or 6 in the Louisiana factor evaluation system; Supervisory Group 2 is comprised of those with an Organizational Control rating of 7 or 8; and Supervisory Group 3 is comprised of those with an Organizational Control rating of 9 or higher. NOTE: Not all jobs with an organizational control rating of 5 or higher appear in these groups. Jobs that were identified as having functional or regulatory supervision, rather than direct supervision of incumbents, have been excluded.
The Mandatory Training Policy appears below. Attached is a class chart showing the classes required for each Supervisory Group.
AGENCY RESPONSIBILITIES
Agencies are responsible for ensuring that employees in each Supervisory Group are granted reasonable periods of time to obtain the required training, and that training time is made uniformly available to all employees in each Supervisory Group. Failure to make time available uniformly to all employees in a Supervisory Group will be considered an agency violation of Rule 7.4(f).
Agencies are responsible for making the required training known to all employees in an affected job title. It is highly recommended that the required training be included as a performance expectation for at least one, if not more, performance factors in the PPR planning document.
Agencies are also responsible for designating an individual within the organization who is granted authority and responsibility for directing employees to the appropriate courses for the employee’s job in those instances where choices are allowed within the required training. Each agency shall make written notification to the Department of State Civil Service stating the name, business address, business phone number and e-mail address of the individual designated for this responsibility, no later than September 1, 2002.
EMPLOYEE RESPONSIBILITIES
Employees are responsible for attending the training for which they are scheduled and for making reasonable notification prior to the training date to the agency Training or CPTP Coordinator when scheduled training must be cancelled. When at all possible, cancellation notice shall be rendered at least five (5) working days prior to the training date to allow sufficient time for substitutions to be made.
TRANSITION PERIOD
The mandatory training transition period shall begin the effective date of this policy (July 1, 2002) and shall continue for three years, through June 30, 2005). An employee eligible for the "transition period" has until June 30, 2005, to obtain the required training for the supervisory group that he occupies on July 1, 2002.
The transition period shall apply to employees who occupy an affected job on July 1, 2002, and it shall apply to these employees as long as the employees occupy a position in the same supervisory group as that occupied on July 1, 2002. The transition period shall NOT apply to employees who are hired into an affected position after July 1, 2002; those employees shall be governed by the regular provisions of this policy, stated below in this Circular. Employees who are covered by the "transition period" are not required to obtain the training required for any supervisory group which is lower than the group occupied on the effective date of the policy.
There are no prohibitions on promotions or reallocations. An employee who is promoted (or whose position is reallocated) to a job in a higher supervisory group shall complete the training requirements for the supervisory group he occupies after the promotion or reallocation, as well as the supervisory group he previously occupied. These employees shall have three (3) years from the effective date of the action to complete the required training.
REGULAR PROVISIONS OF THE POLICY
Employees who are hired or promoted, after July 1, 2002, into a job affected by this policy shall have three (3) years from the date of appointment to meet the mandatory training requirements for the supervisory group to which the job has been assigned.
An employee who promotes from a job in Supervisory Group 1 to a job in Supervisory Group 3 (skipping Supervisory Group 2), OR an employee who is hired or promoted into a job in Supervisory Group 2 or 3 without ever having held a job in a lower supervisory group, must meet the training requirements for the current job as well as all lower Supervisory Groups. Such employees shall be granted four years from the date of appointment to meet the mandatory training requirements.
For purposes of this policy, an employee affected by any action which places him into a job which is on or added to one of the Supervisory Groups on this list shall have three years from the effective date of the action (or the effective date the job was added to this list) to complete the required training for the supervisory group to which the job is assigned.
EFFECT OF NOT MEETING THE TRAINING REQUIREMENTS DURING THE ALLOWED TIME PERIOD
An employee who has not met the mandatory training requirements within the allowed three (3) year time may be disciplined in a manner consistent with the policies of the employing agency or may be separated in accordance with the provisions of Civil Service Rule 12.6(b).
EXCEPTIONS TO THE TRAINING REQUIREMENTS
If an agency has its own mandatory training program, the agency may apply to the CPTP Policy Board to have its course(s) substituted for one or more of the courses listed in this policy or may apply to have its training program as a whole substituted for the training mandated in this policy. Each request must include sufficient information to enable the CPTP Policy Board to determine that the agency’s courses or training program provide appropriate training for the jobs for which the exception is being requested. Approved substitutions shall be reported to the Civil Service Commission.
An employee may apply to the CPTP Policy Board for approval of a substitution of education, experience and other training for CPTP courses.
Employees who have earned the Certificate in Supervisory Techniques (CST) shall be considered as having met all training requirements for Supervisory Group 1 and Supervisory Group 2. Employees who have earned the Certified Public Manager (CPM) designation shall be considered as having met all training requirements for all three Supervisory Groups.
Sincerely,
Allen H. Reynolds
Director
Attachment
These training requirements may be replaced by an agency-specific training program upon approval of that program by the CPTP Policy Board.
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Jobs with an organizational control rating of 5 or 6
5.5 to 8.5 days of training required
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CLASS #1 : PPR for Supervisors (1 day) |
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CLASS #2: The agency and employee may choose one of two classes to satisfy this requirement. The choices are:Key Elements of Civil Service Disciplinary Actions (1 day) |
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CLASS #3: Civil Service Rules (2 days) – The agency and the employee may choose two different days of classes to satisfy this requirement.Common Myths that Affect Good Supervision (1 day) |
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CLASS #4: Any of the following will satisfy this requirement:Developing a Motivated Workgroup (1.5 days) |
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Jobs with an organizational control rating of 7 or 8 Between 4.5 and 5.5 days required, depending upon choices made |
CLASS #1 : Conducting an Effective Job Interview (1.5 days) |
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CLASS #2 & CLASS #3: The agency and the employee may choose two of four courses to satisfy these requirements. The choices are:Improving Employee Performance through Coaching (1.5 days) Effective Problem Solving (1.5 days) Building Better Performance Through Employee Skill Development (2 days) Managing and Improving Work Processes (2 days) |
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Jobs with an organizational control rating of 9 or higher
Between 3.5 and 5.5 days required, depending upon choices made |
CLASS #1 : Assuring Accountability in Work Groups (2 days) |
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CLASS #2: Individual Differences and Diversity in the Workplace (1.5 days) |
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CLASS #3: Managing and Improving Work Processes (2 days) NOTE: This class is required at this level ONLY if it was not taken as one of the Supervisory Group 2 choices. |