Int. No. 1373
By Council Members Banks, Riley, Narcisse, Louis, Williams and Cabán
A Local Law in relation to the department of citywide administrative services conducting a study to assess the feasibility of a reimbursement program for civil service applicants who did not receive an employment offer before their eligible list expired
Be it enacted by the Council as follows:
Section 1. a. Definitions. For purposes of this section, the following terms have the following meanings:
Background check. The term “background check” means the search or gathering of records or information, including through a third party, for information about an individual’s criminal history.
Civil service. The term “civil service” means all positions in the competitive class of the city’s classified service.
Civil service examination. The term “civil service examination” means a competitive examination administered in accordance with the civil service law to determine the merit and fitness of applicants for the civil service.
Department. The term “department” means the department of citywide administrative services.
Eligible applicants. The term “eligible applicants” means any applicant for a position in the civil service who has paid fees associated with civil service examinations, background checks, or other required assessments to determine the applicant’s fitness to be hired for a position in the civil service, but whose name was not called off of an eligible list by the time such list expired.
Eligible list. The term “eligible list” means any list established by the department of citywide administrative services after the administration of either an open-competitive or a promotional civil service examination containing the names of persons eligible to be considered for appointment or promotion by an appointing authority in the city of New York pursuant to article four of the civil service law.
b. Feasibility study. The department shall, within one year of the effective date of this local law, complete a study of the feasibility of creating and administering a reimbursement program for eligible applicants who were not offered a position in the civil service by the time the eligible list upon which their name was listed expired as described in section 56 of the civil service law. The study shall include, but not be limited to, an analysis of:
1. the feasibility of creating a program that provides a reimbursement of costs associated with the civil service application process to eligible applicants;
2. the prospective costs of creating and administering such program, provided that each reimbursement is capped at $500 and eligible applicants would be required to submit a reimbursement request form within 6 months of the expiration of the eligible list upon which their name was listed;
3. the average cost for individuals to apply for a position in the civil service, disaggregated by employing agency;
4. the average number of applicants who would be eligible for such reimbursement every fiscal year; and
5. the average number of applicants whose eligible list may be extended past the prescribed expiry date pursuant to relevant state and local law.
c. Reporting. The department shall, within 3 months of the completion of the feasibility study required by subdivision b of this section, submit to the council a report on the findings of such study and any recommendations relating to the implementation of a reimbursement program.
§ 2. This local law takes effect immediately.
RO
LS #19727
8/7/25, 2:40 PM