Public Personnel Administration Exam
1 Review (updated) correctly
answered to pass
Spoils System is characterized by - correct answer ✔✔•Elitism
•Cronyism
•Nepotism
Spoils System - correct answer ✔✔•Pros
•Ensures that political winners have the support of the workforce
.•Ensures that the agendas of political winners are more easily carried out.
•Makes re-election potentially more feasible
Spoils System - correct answer ✔✔•Cons
•Fosters corruption within the system (e.g., using position to gain financially)
•Leads to Groupthink mentality within government systems
•Prohibit access to government jobs by top talent
•Civil Service Reform - correct answer ✔✔•Pendleton Act of 1883
•Transition from "person" to "position"
Civil Service Reform Act of 1978 - correct answer ✔✔•Carter Administration - exposed
inefficiencies
•"There is not enough Merit in the Merit System."
•Nine Principles
,•Recruitment from all segments of society, selection/promotion based on KSAs
•Fair/equitable treatment
•Equal pay for equal work
•Integrity
•Efficiency/effectivenes
s•Retention of high performers and separation of poor performers
•Training and development
•Protection of employees - arbitrary action, favoritism, political coercion
•Protection of employees - from retaliation
Civil Service Reform Act of 1978 - correct answer ✔✔•Created the Office of Personnel
Management (OPM)
•Created the Merit System Protection Board (MSPB)
•Created the Federal Labor Relations Authority (FLRA)
•Gave the Federal Equal Employment Opportunity program to the EEOC for independent
enforcement
Tenets of Civil Service - correct answer ✔✔•Job "Ownership"
•Right to Due Process
•Selection/appointment based on Merit
•Probation
•Freedom from Political Influence
Civil Service Pros and Cons - correct answer ✔✔Pros
•Consistency in operations across political administrations
•Promotes integrity in government
•Attempts to ensure taxpayer dollars are spent appropriately
,•Cons
•Perceptions of public employees
•Complacency
•Bureaucracy
State and Local Government Structures - correct answer ✔✔•Many State and Local
Governments are structured in similar manner to federal civil service
•Reform was/is harder to achieve at these levels
State and Local Examples - correct answer ✔✔•Jefferson County, AL Sheriff
•Spoils
•State of Alabama Personnel
•Use of pejorative racial terms
•Attitudes towards females (Pregnancy, Equal Pay, etc...)
•Attitudes towards people with disabilities
•Personnel Board of Jefferson County
•Lack of appropriate expertise
•Change averse
•Interference from Board Chair and Board Members is daily operations
Legal Issues in Public Service - correct answer ✔✔•Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA)
•Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)
•Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA)
•Civil Rights Act of 1964 - Title VII and the EEOC
•Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA)
, Family Medical Leave Act - correct answer ✔✔•Entitles eligible employees of covered
employers to take unpaid, job-protected leave for specified family and medical reasons.
•Covered Employers
•All government agencies
•Private organizations with at least 50 employees working for at least 20 weeks in the current or
previous calendar year
Family Medical Leave Act Covered Employees - correct answer ✔✔•Works for a covered
employer•
Has worked for the employer for at least 12 months (not required to be consecutive 12 months)
•Has at least 1,250 hours of service for the employer during the 12-month period immediately
preceding the leave
•Works at a location where the employer has at least 50 employees within 75 miles (private
sector) or works for a government agency (public sector)
Family Medical Leave Act Entitlements - correct answer ✔✔•Eligible employees may take up to
12 workweeks of leave in a 12-month period for one or more of the following reasons:
•The birth of a son or daughter or placement of a son or daughter with the employee for
adoption or foster care;
•To care for a spouse, son, daughter, or parent who has a serious health condition;•For a
serious health condition that makes the employee unable to perform the essential functions of
his or her job;
•For any qualifying exigency arising out of the fact that a spouse, son, daughter, or parent is a
military member on covered active duty or call to covered active duty status.
Families First Coronavirus Response Act - correct answer ✔✔•Allows for an additional 12 weeks
of leave for COVID-related reasons.
•First two weeks must be unpaid, remaining 10 weeks paid at 2/3 normal rate of pay.
•12 Month Work Period waved for COVID (30 days)
1 Review (updated) correctly
answered to pass
Spoils System is characterized by - correct answer ✔✔•Elitism
•Cronyism
•Nepotism
Spoils System - correct answer ✔✔•Pros
•Ensures that political winners have the support of the workforce
.•Ensures that the agendas of political winners are more easily carried out.
•Makes re-election potentially more feasible
Spoils System - correct answer ✔✔•Cons
•Fosters corruption within the system (e.g., using position to gain financially)
•Leads to Groupthink mentality within government systems
•Prohibit access to government jobs by top talent
•Civil Service Reform - correct answer ✔✔•Pendleton Act of 1883
•Transition from "person" to "position"
Civil Service Reform Act of 1978 - correct answer ✔✔•Carter Administration - exposed
inefficiencies
•"There is not enough Merit in the Merit System."
•Nine Principles
,•Recruitment from all segments of society, selection/promotion based on KSAs
•Fair/equitable treatment
•Equal pay for equal work
•Integrity
•Efficiency/effectivenes
s•Retention of high performers and separation of poor performers
•Training and development
•Protection of employees - arbitrary action, favoritism, political coercion
•Protection of employees - from retaliation
Civil Service Reform Act of 1978 - correct answer ✔✔•Created the Office of Personnel
Management (OPM)
•Created the Merit System Protection Board (MSPB)
•Created the Federal Labor Relations Authority (FLRA)
•Gave the Federal Equal Employment Opportunity program to the EEOC for independent
enforcement
Tenets of Civil Service - correct answer ✔✔•Job "Ownership"
•Right to Due Process
•Selection/appointment based on Merit
•Probation
•Freedom from Political Influence
Civil Service Pros and Cons - correct answer ✔✔Pros
•Consistency in operations across political administrations
•Promotes integrity in government
•Attempts to ensure taxpayer dollars are spent appropriately
,•Cons
•Perceptions of public employees
•Complacency
•Bureaucracy
State and Local Government Structures - correct answer ✔✔•Many State and Local
Governments are structured in similar manner to federal civil service
•Reform was/is harder to achieve at these levels
State and Local Examples - correct answer ✔✔•Jefferson County, AL Sheriff
•Spoils
•State of Alabama Personnel
•Use of pejorative racial terms
•Attitudes towards females (Pregnancy, Equal Pay, etc...)
•Attitudes towards people with disabilities
•Personnel Board of Jefferson County
•Lack of appropriate expertise
•Change averse
•Interference from Board Chair and Board Members is daily operations
Legal Issues in Public Service - correct answer ✔✔•Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA)
•Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)
•Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA)
•Civil Rights Act of 1964 - Title VII and the EEOC
•Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA)
, Family Medical Leave Act - correct answer ✔✔•Entitles eligible employees of covered
employers to take unpaid, job-protected leave for specified family and medical reasons.
•Covered Employers
•All government agencies
•Private organizations with at least 50 employees working for at least 20 weeks in the current or
previous calendar year
Family Medical Leave Act Covered Employees - correct answer ✔✔•Works for a covered
employer•
Has worked for the employer for at least 12 months (not required to be consecutive 12 months)
•Has at least 1,250 hours of service for the employer during the 12-month period immediately
preceding the leave
•Works at a location where the employer has at least 50 employees within 75 miles (private
sector) or works for a government agency (public sector)
Family Medical Leave Act Entitlements - correct answer ✔✔•Eligible employees may take up to
12 workweeks of leave in a 12-month period for one or more of the following reasons:
•The birth of a son or daughter or placement of a son or daughter with the employee for
adoption or foster care;
•To care for a spouse, son, daughter, or parent who has a serious health condition;•For a
serious health condition that makes the employee unable to perform the essential functions of
his or her job;
•For any qualifying exigency arising out of the fact that a spouse, son, daughter, or parent is a
military member on covered active duty or call to covered active duty status.
Families First Coronavirus Response Act - correct answer ✔✔•Allows for an additional 12 weeks
of leave for COVID-related reasons.
•First two weeks must be unpaid, remaining 10 weeks paid at 2/3 normal rate of pay.
•12 Month Work Period waved for COVID (30 days)
