Say Provisionals Are First on Layoff Line, Regardless of Their Seniority

Before laying off as many as 22,000 city workers with civil-service status to deal with a $9-billion budget gap, the de Blasio administration would have to start by eyeing the nearly-15,000 provisional employees it has on the payroll, according to the chair of the City Council Civil Service and Labor Committee.

Under state law, provisional employees are supposed to hold jobs for a maximum of nine months, yet thousands do stay in city jobs for years without passing—and sometimes even taking—a civil service test. Thousands of others are tenured civil servants in a lower title who were promoted provisionally and have the option to revert back to in their civil-service line to avoid being discharged.