Preference still to hire within parish lines
A new rule allowing those who live outside of St. Charles Parish to work as parish civil service employee was recently passed in order to make recruitment for those positions more viable.
According to Personnel Department Director Sandy Zimmer, previously the parish mandated any civil service employee hired who lives outside the parish would be required to move into the parish within six months. That moving requirement has been waived.
The new rule was recently approved by the Civil Service Board and is in effect.
“We’ve waived the residency requirement we’ve had that says you have to move into the parish within six months,” Zimmer said. “We’ve changed it to that we have a preference to hire within the parish, but if we cannot find someone with the requirements needed through the application process, we can hire from the outside.”
Zimmer said the biggest benefit of the change is it eliminated what has at times been a difficult hurdle in searching for best candidates for a specific position.“I think it’s a necessary change,” Zimmer said. “When there’s an opening, we have to find a person that meets the qualifications. But there have been times we’ve found that person, but requiring them to move has been a deal breaker. In certain situations, we’ve had difficulty finding qualified applicants under the previous rule.”
Zimmer reiterated the first option is always to find someone in the parish who fulfills requirements before expanding a search.
“If we hire (from outside the parish), we have to be able to justify why in order to finalize it,” Zimmer said.
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