Residence Requirements:

CANDIDATES MUST HAVE BEEN LEGAL RESIDENTS OF ERIE COUNTY FOR AT LEAST ONE MONTH IMMEDIATELY PRECEDING THE DATE OF THE WRITTEN TEST AND MUST BE LEGAL RESIDENTS OF ERIE COUNTY AT THE TIME OF APPOINTMENT. There is one present vacancy at the Erie Community College. 

Examples of Duties:

An Employee Relations Investigator-College investigates employee relations and discrimination complaints filed with the College’s Human Resources Office;

Conducts and oversees internal investigations into alleged violations of law, regulation, Handbook/policies, and other misconduct, including allegations of discrimination and harassment, following requisite legal requirements and guidelines for same;

Works independently or with cross-functional team to prioritize and investigate allegations in a fair, thorough and timely manner, and provides guidance to colleagues on the handling of investigations;

Develops and executes investigative plans to gather information (e.g., witnesses, electronic data, physical evidence) to assess the validity of allegations reported by students, employees and third parties;

Prepares written reports and summaries of findings detailing the factual outcome of the investigation utilizing approved standard work, and makes recommendations of determination, as well as on countermeasures, operational improvements and risk mitigation;

Advises concerned parties of report findings, and tracks completion of agreed upon actions;

Ensures consistent interpretation and application of policies, concepts, and practices, in all aspects of the employment relationship and related to employee relations investigations and related matters;

May design or conduct training in support of compliance initiatives;

Assists in the development and implementation of SUNY Erie’s Anti-discrimination/Harassment Investigation/Review process by recommending priorities, program needs, goals and objectives;

Establishes and maintains hard copy and electronic files, including complainant files, logs, summaries, investigative notes, and correspondence;

Participates in the preparation of statistical analyses, summary reports, annual State and Federal reports, and other reports as assigned, including, but not limited to the collection and verification of data;

May assist in reviewing legal documents responsive to complaints and legal filings and act as witness in legal matters as required;

May attend meetings and perform outreach activities, as directed by supervisor.

Qualifications:

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS:  Candidates must meet one of the following requirements on or before the date of the written test:

A.) Graduation from a regionally accredited or New York State registered college or university with a Bachelor’s degree and (2) years of experience in conducting investigations or in a position which demonstrates specialized experience in prevailing practices and concepts in employment law, employee relations, Title IX or equal employment opportunity and affirmative action; or:

B.) Completion of 60 semester credit hours at a regionally accredited or New York State registered college or university and four (4) years of experience in conducting investigations or in a position which demonstrates specialized experience in prevailing practices and concepts in employment law, employee relations, Title IX or equal employment opportunity and affirmative action; or:

C.) An equivalent combination of training and experience as defined by the limits of (A) and (B).

Notes:

1. Verifiable part-time and/or volunteer experience will be pro-rated toward meeting the experience requirements.

2. Your degree and/or college credit must have been awarded by a regionally accredited college or university or one recognized by the New York State Education Department as following acceptable educational practices. A grade of "D" or better is necessary for a course to be credited as successfully completed. If your degree and/or college credit was awarded by an educational institution outside of the United States and its territories, you must provide independent verification of equivalency. You can write to this Department for a list of acceptable companies providing this service; you must pay the required evaluation fee.

Notice to Candidates: Transcripts will now be accepted by the Department of Personnel ONLY at time of application.
All subsequent transcripts must be submitted at time of interview.

A Guide for the Written Test for Investigators is available at the New York State website: https://www.cs.ny.gov/testing/testguides.cfm . Candidates not having access to a computer or the internet may request copy of the test guide from the municipal civil service office conducting this examination using the contact information found elsewhere on this announcement.

Subjects of Examination:

SUBJECTS OF EXAMINATION: A written test designed to evaluate knowledge, skills and /or abilities in the following areas:

1. Evaluating information and evidence

These questions test for the ability to evaluate and draw conclusions from information and evidence. Each question consists of a set of facts and a conclusion based on the facts. The candidate must decide if the conclusion is warranted by the facts.

2. Preparing written material

These questions test for the ability to present information clearly and accurately, and to organize paragraphs logically and comprehensibly. For some questions, you will be given information in two or three sentences followed by four restatements of the information. You must then choose the best version. For other questions, you will be given paragraphs with their sentences out of order. You must then choose, from four suggestions, the best order for the sentences.

3. Understanding and interpreting written material

These questions test for the ability to understand and interpret written material. You will be presented with brief reading passages and will be asked questions about the passages. You should base your answers to the questions only on what is presented in the passages and not on what you may happen to know about the topic.    

NOTICE TO CANDIDATES: Unless otherwise noted, candidates are permitted to use quiet, hand held, solar or battery powered calculators. Devices with typewriter keyboards, "Spell Checkers", “Personal Digital Assistants", "Address Books", "Language Translators", "Dictionaries", or any similar devices are prohibited. You may not bring books or other reference materials.

**IMPORTANT APPLICATION FEE - READ CAREFULLY**

A $20.00 filing fee is required for this exam. The required fee must accompany your application. Send or bring check or money order made payable to Erie County Personnel Department and write the examination number(s) on your check or money order. Do not send or bring cash, as the County cannot be responsible for cash payment. As no refund will be made, you are urged to compare your qualifications carefully with the requirements for admission and file only for those examinations for which you are clearly qualified.