Merit Promotion and

Fitness Principle
Monaliza A. Herrero
Merit System

• system by which entrance and

advancement in the civil service is based
on merit and fitness to be determined by
competitive examinations and other
objective criteria.
• is the guiding principle in the selection,
recruitment and promotion of the officers and
employees of the local government
bureaucracy or in the executive departments.
Promotion

• is an advancement of an employee from

one position to another with an increase
in duties and responsibilities and
usually accompanied by an increase in
salary.
Purposes of promotion
• It permits an organization to utilize more
effectively any skills and abilities that
individuals have been able to develop
during the course of their training and
employment.
• It can serve as incentive for individuals to
improve further their capacities and their
performance.
• It can also serve as reward and as
evidence of appreciation for past
achievements. If the promotion program
is administered properly, it can serve to
Bases for Promotion

1. Merit - used as criterion for determining that an

individual is qualified to meet the requirements
of a higher-level job
2. Seniority - refers to the length of service that an
employee has accumulated.
Policies

• Whenever a position in the first level

becomes vacant, the employees in the
department/agency who occupy
positions deemed to be next-in-rank to
the vacancy, shall be considered for
promotion.
• Whenever a position in the second level
becomes vacant, the employees in the
entire bureaucracy who occupy next-in-
rank position, shall be considered for
promotion.
• The most qualified next-in-rank
Policies

• The appointing authority may appoint an

individual who is not next-in-rank but
possess superior qualifications and
competence than the next-in-rank
employee
• Next-in-rank position is defined as the
one which by the reason of the
hierarchical arrangement of position in
the department or agency or in the
government, assumes the nearest degree
of relationship to a higher position as they
appear in the agency’s System of Ranking
Positions
Policies

• When employees are on equal footing in

their qualifications, preference may be
given to the employee in the
organizational unit where the vacant
position is, or for second level positions,
in the department or agency where the
vacancy is.
Policies

The factors used in determining degree of

competence and qualification of employees are
the following:
Performance
Education and Trainings
Experience and Outstanding
Accomplishments
Physical Characteristics and Personality
Traits
Potential
Selection and Promotion
Board
• An official of the department/agency is
directly responsible for personnel
management
• A representative of management
• A representative of the organizational
unit where the vacancy is
• Two representatives of the rank-and-file
employees representing the first and
second level, who are chosen by the duly
registered/accredited employee
association in the department or agency.
The Board has the following
functions:

• Adopts formal screening procedures and

formulate criteria for evaluation and
candidates for promotion.
• Evaluates the qualifications of employees
being considered for promotion according
to the set standards.
• Prepares the list of employees
recommended for promotion from which
the appointing authority may choose.
• Recommends the promotion of
employees most qualified to fill the
vacancies.
Merit Promotion Plan

• The Plan is the document that will show

an agency’s adherence to the established
rules and regulations governing
promotion.
• The MPP is developed by the agency
within a year from its organization or
reorganization and is submitted for
approval to CSC Regional Office having
jurisdiction over the agency. It is updated
and any amendments or changes therein
take effect six months from the date of
approval by the Commission.
Important Policies on
Promotion
• All appointments involved in a chain of
promotions are submitted simultaneously
for approval by the Commission.
Disapproval of the appointment of a
person proposed to a higher position
invalidates the promotion of those in the
lower position and automatically restores
them to their positions. Affected persons
are entitled to the payment of salaries for
services rendered based on rates fixes
promotional appointments.
Important Policies…

• When an employee has a pending

administrative case, he/she is disqualified
for promotion while the case remains
unsolved. If found guilty, he is disqualified
for promotion for a period based on the
penalty imposed, as prescribed by the
Commission.
• An administrative case in considered
pending when the disciplining authority
has already filed a formal charge; or
when, in a complaint filed by a private
person, the disciplining authority, already
found a prima facie case.