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<br /> `he Honorable Stacy Higa, Chairman <br /> ,And Members of the Hawai~l County Council <br /> February 17, 2006 <br /> Page 2 of 3 <br /> civil service law (Chapter 76, HRS), including any matter not inconsistent with law <br /> concerning the establishment and maintenance of a system of personnel management <br /> based on merit principles, were also transferred to the Director. <br /> Act 253 effectively eliminated all of the functions of the Civil Service Commission. In its <br /> place, it created a Merit Appeals Board whose duties are described in §76-14(a), HRS. <br /> Those duties solely pertain to hearing appeals from certain actions taken by the Director, <br /> the Mayor, or other appointing authorities or any individual acting on behalf of anyone of <br /> these named persons. <br /> During the interim between the effective date of Act 253 and now, we have utilized the <br /> Civil Service Commission as our Merit Appeals Board. At present, our Civil Service <br /> Commission serves additionally as our Merit Appeals Board. Our proposed charter <br /> amendment will formally change the name of the Civil Service Commission to the Merit <br /> Appeals Board and eliminate any confusion caused by the dual titles now applicable to <br /> the Commission. <br /> Department of Civil Service <br /> The body of knowledge involved in human resource management recognized by the <br /> Society of Human Resource Management (an organization for human resource <br /> professionals 185,000+ members-strong) and the Human Resource Certification Institute <br /> (the national testing organization to ensure human resources competency) consists of the <br /> following areas: <br /> • Strategic management <br /> • Workforce planning and employment <br /> • Human resource development <br /> • Compensation and benefits <br /> • Employee and labor relations <br /> • Occupational health and safety <br /> As a result of the demands placed upon our department by our County departments and <br /> agencies, we have become increasingly more involved in these functional areas. This is <br /> not to say we haven't been performing many of these functions in the past but <br /> increasingly, our service to our departments and agencies have become more aligned <br /> with the functions of human resource management rather than the traditional view of civil <br /> service. <br /> The term "civil service" draws up visions of civil service law and the rules and regulations <br /> promulgated thereunder. Civil service has, more often than not, been associated with <br /> being the gatekeeper of these laws and rules. Tied in to this perception was the notion <br /> that personnel was all about record keeping and stifling bureaucracy. Civil service was <br /> perceived as tying the hands of management with all of its archaic laws and rules. Act <br /> Hmmi'i Cowuy is an Equa[ Opporwntty Provu(er anQ E^tp(%'R <br /> <br />