November 30, 2004 |
2004-R-0914 | |
GENERAL WORKERS EMPLOYED BY THE STATE | ||
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By: John Moran, Associate Analyst | ||
You asked how many people the state employs under the title of “general worker,” including a breakdown by agency, and how the title is defined.
SUMMARY
Approximately 370 general workers are employed by the state in a wide range of agencies and jobs. It is usually a short-term, hourly-paid position with no benefits. The position is unclassified, meaning it is not part of the civil service system, but it does have a Department of Administrative Services (DAS) job description. The DAS web site indicates this job class has five possible uses: (1) student worker, (2) Commission on Deaf and Hearing Impaired interpreter, (3) program support, (4) technical services, and (5) Department of Mental Retardation (DMR) patient working at a state site.
DAS has recently indicated it intends to refine the job class and make it less broad. One expected change is creating a separate class for DMR patient workers.
DAS provided the general worker figures contained in this report, but department officials note that since it is up to the individual agencies to keep the personnel data current in the new, centralized CORE system, they are not completely confident that all listed positions are still active. Currently, DAS is attempting to update this information.
GENERAL WORKER BY AGENCY
The largest group of general workers under the current job title is the 235 DMR patient workers who perform basic tasks such as food preparation, facility cleaning, and maintenance duties at DMR sites. These patient workers may work for the state for a number of years and their positions are not intended to be temporary. As this group will most likely be moved into its own job title, the rest of this report will focus on the remaining 135 general workers.
Table 1 shows the remaining 135 general workers by agency.
Table 1. General Workers by Agency
Agency |
General Workers |
Dept. of Mental Health and Addiction Services |
35 |
Dept. Environmental Protection |
29 |
CT State Library |
19 |
Dept of Revenue Services |
10 |
Dept of Banking |
9 |
Agricultural Experiment Station |
8 |
Dept of Insurance |
6 |
Dept. of Public Health |
4 |
Central CSU |
3 |
Dept of Children and Family |
3 |
Dept. of Labor |
3 |
State Treasurer |
2 |
Dept. Motor Vehicles |
1 |
Dept. of Veterans Affairs |
1 |
Fire Prevention |
1 |
Attorney General |
1 |
Total |
135 |
Source: DAS, figures subject to change.
PURPOSE OF THE GENERAL WORKER CLASS
The general worker class has the following five sub-classes according to the current DAS job class descriptions:
1. student worker—performs miscellaneous part-time work while enrolled in a school or college;
2. Commission on Deaf and Hearing Impaired interpreter—interprets to deaf and hard of hearing professional staff or clients of the agency;
3. program support—performs a variety of support services in a structured or limited scope on a full- or part-time basis;
4. technical services—performs a variety of technical, laboratory, and scientific support services on a full- or part-time basis in state institutions of higher education and other state agencies that provide technical or scientific services;
5. DMR patient workers—perform basic tasks such as food preparation, patient care, facility cleaning, and maintenance duties at DMR sites.
OTHER TYPES OF TEMPORARY STATE JOBS
General worker is only one type of temporary state job title. Others include: temporary worker—retiree, summer worker, university helper, sessional employee, and transitional or durational project manager.
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