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8 EXAMINATIONS


8.1 EXAMINER RESPONSIBILITIES.
      Subject to the general direction and review of the Commission the Examiner shall:
      A. Order examinations when appropriate and determine the type and methods of examination, relative weight to be given to each part of the examination, and, when appropriate, minimum passing scores;
      B. Appoint impartial experts, examiners and other persons to assist in conducting examinations;
      C. Consult with the appointing authority and other subject matter experts to develop valid, job-related measures of applicants’ qualifications.
      D. Determine special requirements for admission to examination, rule on questions regarding eligibility of applicants, extensions of time and other matters that arise in the examination process;
      E. Submit reports to the Commission regarding examination process and results after each examination, together with all appeals from Examiner rulings regarding the examination.
8.2 NOTICE OF EXAMINATION
      A. ENTRY EXAMINATIONS.
      Public notice of each examination other than a promotional series examination or an open and continuous examination shall be published in the Official Newspaper at least ten (10) days prior to the first part of the examination. Notice shall also be posted in the Human Resources Department and provided in other places and publications as directed by the Examiner.

      B. PROMOTIONAL SERIES EXAMINATIONS.
      Written notice of each promotional series examination shall be posted in the Human Resources Department and other appropriate departments, or provided to each employee eligible for admission to the examination, at least fifteen (15) days prior to the first part of the examination.

      C. AMENDED NOTICE.
      The notice of examination may be amended by the Examiner provided the amended notice is published, posted, and/or provided to eligible individuals as provided in this Rule.

Links: Definition of Official Newspaper.

8.3 OPEN AND CONTINUOUS EXAMINATIONS.
      A. Open and continuous, or periodic, examinations may be ordered by the Examiner for any class or position. Public notice of open and continuous examinations shall state that the application period will remain open until further notice. Qualified applicants may take the examination at scheduled times announced in the public notice(s), provided that the Examiner may limit each applicant to one examination in a six month period. The open application period may be closed by order of the Examiner which shall be published in the Official Newspaper and posted at the Human Resources Department at least seven (7) days prior to the closing date.

      B. Qualified eligibles resulting from open and continuous examinations shall be entered on the eligible register for the class or position in the rank order determined by final scores.

      C. Except as otherwise provided in this Rule 8.3, open and continuous examinations are subject to all rules applicable to other examinations.


8.4 LIMITS ON NUMBER OF APPLICANTS
      A. MULTI-PART EXAMINATIONS. The Examiner may limit the number of qualified applicants to proceed to a later part or parts of a multi-part examination to those scoring highest on an earlier part or parts of the examination. If limits are set the number of qualified applicants who will proceed to the later part shall be determined prior to the administration of the earlier part of the examination.

      B. RANDOM SAMPLE. The Examiner may limit the number of qualified applicants admitted to a non-promotional examination when it would be too costly or impractical to administer the examination to all of the qualified individuals expected to apply. If limits are imposed the number of qualified applicants to be admitted to the examination shall be stated in the Notice of Examination. Those qualified applicants who will be admitted to an examination shall be determined by selection of a random sample. Any qualified applicants who are regular Civil Service employees, and employees who are eligible for similar treatment due to provisions of a collective bargaining agreement, will be added to the applicant pool chosen by random sample. Random sample selection of applicants shall be used only in extraordinary circumstances when other methods of examining qualified applicants are prohibitively costly or impractical.

      C. REMAINING APPLICANTS. If examination of the randomly selected applicants fails to result in an eligible list of sufficient size to meet the City’s needs, or the list is exhausted before it expires, another sample of the remaining qualified applicants shall be drawn and the examination process repeated.

8.5 CHARACTER AND CONTENT OF EXAMINATIONS.
      A. Examinations shall be designed (1) to determine qualifications of candidates to perform the duties of the class or position that is the subject of the examination, and (2) when appropriate, to rank candidates in order of their relative fitness to perform these duties.
      B. Examinations shall be competitive by (1) testing a candidate’s qualifications and abilities relative to other candidates, or (2) scoring candidates against a fixed standard.
      C. Examinations shall be impartial. No questions relating to a candidate’s age, gender, sexual orientation, marital status, race, color, national origin, religion, political or union affiliation or activity, or physical or mental disability will be allowed unless necessary to determine a bona fide occupational qualification or reasonable accommodation and permitted by applicable law and City policy.
      D. Examinations shall be practical. They may include written tests, physical or performance tests, assessment centers, interviews, evaluations of personal qualifications, training and experience, or any other suitable evaluation of fitness generally accepted by Human Resources professionals, and any combination of these tests. Tests may evaluate education, experience, aptitude, knowledge, skill, physical or mental condition, personal characteristics, and other qualifications to determine the relative fitness of candidates to perform the duties of the class or position.

8.6 MINIMUM SCORES
      Any minimum passing score for all or part of an examination shall be determined by the Examiner before the examination or part is administered. In a multi-part examination the failure of a candidate to achieve a minimum score on any part shall be considered failure of the entire examination. A failing candidate will not be admitted to the remaining parts of the examination.

8.7 SCORING
      A. MULTI-PART EXAMINATION WEIGHTS. Prior to administration of the examination the Examiner shall assign weights to each part of a multi-part examination representing the relative value of each part of the examination to the whole.
      B. RATING TECHNIQUES. Appropriate scientific techniques and procedures generally accepted by Human Resources professionals shall be utilized in rating tests and determining earned examination scores.
      C. VETERAN’S PREFERENCE Veterans who have passed an examination may receive credit in accordance with the provisions of RCW 41.04. It is the candidate’s responsibility to submit appropriate documentation of veteran status to receive veteran’s preference points.
      D. SERVICE CREDIT POINTS Successful candidates shall receive 1/24th of one point for each service credit month earned in the same promotional series of classes for which the examination is held, up to a maximum of ten points, added to their earned examination scores.
      E. FINAL EXAMINATION SCORE Veteran’s preference and service credit points are added to the successful candidate’s earned examination score to determine the final examination score.
8.8 PROMOTIONAL SERIES EXAMINATIONS.
      Examinations to fill vacancies in classifications in a promotional series, except for the entry-level class, shall be promotional. Vacancies in other classifications specified by the Commission as promotional in the classification specification shall be filled by promotional examination. The Chief Examiner may permit an examination subject to this Rule to be opened to all qualified applicants upon determining that training or knowledge not possessed by those eligible to apply for the promotion is essential to performance of the duties of the vacant class or position.
      Promotional series examinations shall be conducted in accordance with this Chapter.
8.9 CANDIDATE RESPONSIBILITIES
      Candidates shall appear at each part of the examination on time and prepared to participate in the examination process. A candidate may not assist another candidate or receive assistance during the examination from any person or source except as authorized by the Examiner. A candidate shall follow all directions provided by the Examiner during the course of the examination. Failure of the candidate to comply with this section may result in disqualification of the candidate. Cheating on an examination may result in disqualification and disciplinary action if the candidate is an employee and removal if the candidate is a probationer. The Commission may cancel or nullify all or any part of an examination if it finds that the examination has been compromised by a candidate’s misconduct.
8.10 EXAMINATION PROTEST
      A. A candidate may challenge the scope, content or method of any examination or test by filing a written protest, in a form prescribed by the Examiner, within the later of five (5) days following the date of the challenged examination or test or the time limit specified on the examination instruction sheet.
      B. A candidate may challenge the scoring of an examination or test, failure of the candidate on any part of an examination, or clerical error in examination results, by filing a written protest, in a form prescribed by the Examiner, within five (5) days after notice of the challenged result was provided to the candidate.
      C. The Examiner shall consider all timely filed protests and make appropriate corrections if an error is demonstrated. Such corrections shall be made to the examination results of all candidates affected by the error.

8.11 CORRECTION OF CLERICAL ERRORS
      The Examiner shall correct clerical errors in the results of an examination or relative rankings when discovered during the life of the eligible register. Such corrections shall not affect any appointment made from the register prior to the correction.

8.12 EXAMINATION RESULTS

      A. REPORT TO COMMISSION
          Following completion of an examination the Examiner shall provide a report to the Commission including the position description or class specification, examination notice, testing procedures, examination results, timely filed protests, and resolution of the protests.

      B. CONFIRMATION OF RESULTS
          If no appeals relating to the examination are filed the examination results shall be considered confirmed on the date specified in the report to the Commission. When confirmed, the results shall be final and conclusive, subject to correction of clerical and computational errors, resolution of pending protests, and further examination of eligibles authorized in Rule 8.14.
      C. APPEALS
          Any appeals resulting from the Examiner’s denial of a protest shall be considered by the Commission as provided in Rule 3.3. After hearing the appeal the Commission may confirm or modify the examination results, strike questions or other component parts of tests, nullify any of the tests, order that all or any part of the examination be retaken or rescored, order a new examination, or take other action the Commission deems appropriate.
8.13 NOTICE TO CANDIDATES

      The Examiner shall provide notice to candidates of examination results, including whether the candidate passed or failed all or part of the examination, the earned examination score and the final examination score and rank.

8.14 ADDITIONAL TESTS
      Additional testing, including background investigations, medical, physical and psychological examinations, and other testing designed to determine relative qualifications for the position, may be administered or ordered by the Human Resources Department or the appointing authority prior to selection. Failure to pass these additional tests may result in the removal of a candidate’s name from an eligible register.

8.15 ANSWER KEYS
      Answer keys shall not be provided to any person other than Commissioners, Examiners and persons authorized by the Examiner to score examinations.
8.16 MEDICAL EXAMINATIONS
      A. APPOINTEES
          Medical examinations are required of all original appointees to uniformed entry positions in the Fire and Police Departments. The Human Resources Director or the appointing authority may require original appointees to other entry positions or reinstated appointees to submit to medical examination. A required medical examination shall be satisfactorily completed prior to hire or reinstatement, provided that the appointing authority may permit a trial period for a reinstated appointee prior to completion of the medical examination.
      B. EMPLOYEES
          The Commission may, for good cause, order an employee to submit to a medical examination by a physician it designates to determine the physical and mental fitness of the employee to perform his or her duties. The employee shall be given at least five days notice and an opportunity to be heard by the Commission prior to issuance of an order for a medical examination.

          A request for the medical examination of an employee may be initiated by a Department Head or designee, the Human Resources Department, the Commission, or, after exhaustion of departmental remedies, an employee who has a good faith belief that his or her safety or welfare is in jeopardy due to the physical or mental incompetence of another employee.
Revision Date:01/01/2009