Engle v. Personnel Appeal Bd.

• Decision Date: 16 May 1978
• Citation: 394 A.2d 731,175 Conn. 127
• Court: Connecticut Supreme Court
• Parties: Deborah ENGLE v. PERSONNEL APPEAL BOARD of the State of Connecticut.

Page 731

394 A.2d 731

175 Conn. 127

Deborah ENGLE v. PERSONNEL APPEAL BOARD of the State of Connecticut.

Supreme Court of Connecticut.

Argued Dec. 13, 1977.

Decided May 16, 1978.

Michael Sucoll, East Hartford, with whom was Peter Jenkelunas, for appellant (plaintiff).

Richard J. Lynch, Asst. Atty. Gen., with whom, on the brief, were Carl R. Ajello, Atty. Gen., and Bernard F. McGovern, Jr., Asst. Atty. Gen., for appellee (defendant).

Before HOUSE, C. J., and LOISELLE, BOGDANSKI, LONGO and SPEZIALE, JJ.

SPEZIALE, Associate Justice.

This is an appeal from a judgment of the Court of Common Pleas upholding a decision by the personnel appeal board that the plaintiff, Deborah Engle, was not entitled to additional compensation for working "out of class."

Engle was employed by the state as a typist II in the department of transportation. On January 5, 1972, her supervisor requested her to perform the duties of a clerk III, which duties she performed until November 24, 1972. On July 24, 1972, Engle commenced a grievance against the state, requesting that she be paid at the rate of a clerk III for the time during which she performed the duties of that position. The department of transportation, on August 23, 1972, applied to the state for approval of payments to Engle for working out of class. Such payments were denied by the department of personnel, on behalf of the personnel commissioner, on September 25, 1972. Engle appealed this denial to the personnel appeal board, and a hearing was held on July 5, 1973. The personnel appeal board ruled against her, and she then appealed to the Court of Common Pleas. Engle has appealed to this court from the judgment dismissing her appeal.

Basically the plaintiff's claims on appeal are that: (1) approval of the personnel commissioner is not required under General Statutes § 5-209 before a state employee can be compensated for working out of class, and (2) even if such approval is required, the state is obligated to pay Engle by virtue of the doctrines of estoppel or unjust enrichment.

General Statutes § 5-209, at the time here in question, provided: "Any state employee who is assigned, by his appointing authority, duties and responsibilities of a job classification higher than the class in which he is placed, on a continuous basis for a period of more than sixty working days, shall be compensated for such time in excess of sixty days at a rate in the higher class which shall not be less than one step in that class above his existing rate of pay, Provided such payment shall be approved by the personnel commissioner. Service in a higher classification under this section shall not constitute permanent status in such class." (Emphasis added.) See Public Acts 1967, No. 657, § 18. The plaintiff contends that, once it is determined that an employee has actually worked out of class after being assigned such duties by his or her appointing authority, the personnel commissioner may not deny payment under the statute. To interpret the statute in any other fashion, the plaintiff argues, would permit the commissioner to withhold approval arbitrarily, thus making the statute constitutionally suspect. We do not agree.

Adopting the plaintiff's position would effectively eliminate the proviso from the statute. The statute expressly makes payments contingent on approval by the personnel commissioner; if the commissioner is powerless to withhold approval once the work has been performed, then the proviso is meaningless. In construing a statute, each part should be treated as significant and necessary; every sentence, phrase and clause is presumed to have a purpose. Doe v. Institute of Living, Inc., 175 Conn. 49, 392 A.2d 491 (1978); State ex rel. Kennedy v. Frauwirth, 167 Conn. 165, 168, 355 A.2d 39 (1974); Charlton Press, Inc. v. Sullivan, 153 Conn. 103, 109, 214 A.2d 354 (1965). It should further be presumed that a law was enacted in view of existing relevant statutes and that the legislature intended it to be read with them so as to constitute one consistent body of law. Doe v. Institute of Living, Inc., supra; Cicala v. Administrator, 161 Conn. 362, 365, 288 A.2d 66 (1971); State v. Jordan,142 Conn. 375, 378, 114 A.2d 694 (1955). This latter presumption is relevant to a determination of whether a statutory requirement is mandatory or merely directory. Although it is often difficult to distinguish a provision which is merely directory from one which is mandatory, " 'the test most satisfactory and conclusive is, whether the prescribed mode of action is of the essence of the thing to be accomplished, or in other words, whether it relates to matter material or immaterial to matter of convenience or substance.' Gallup v. Smith, 59 Conn. 354, 358 (22 A. 334) . . . . In the determination of the question as to whether or not a provision . . . is of the essence of the thing to be accomplished, . . . significance is to be attached to the nature of the act, and also the language and form in which the provision is couched." Spencer's Appeal, 78 Conn. 301, 303, 61 A. 1010, 1011 (1905); State ex rel. Arcudi v. Iassogna, 165 Conn. 203, 205, 332 A.2d 90 (1973); Akin v. Norwalk, 163 Conn. 68, 72, 301 A.2d 258 (1972); State ex rel. Barnard v. Ambrogio, 162 Conn. 491, 501, 294 A.2d 529 (1972).

An examination of the wording of the statute, the legislative history surrounding its enactment, and its statutory context indicates that the provision should be construed as mandatory, and that approval by the personnel commissioner is a condition precedent to payment for working out of class.

Section 5-209 is part of chapter 67 of the General Statutes, the State Personnel Act. This act, which established a civil service system based upon principles of merit; General Statutes § 5-195; "was designed to eliminate, as far as practicable, the 'spoils' system of making appointments based upon political affiliations, and to prevent discrimination in appointments and dismissals based upon considerations other than fitness to perform a job." Wagner v. Connecticut Personnel Appeal Board, 170 Conn. 668, 671, 368 A.2d 20, 22 (1976). Section 5-206, relating to position classifications, provides, inter alia, that the listing of a classification established by the personnel policy board must include a statement of the duties and responsibilities of an employee in that class and the pay grade for the class. Thus, an employee's rate of pay is determined by job classification, and job classification is controlled by the merit system.

The general rule is that an employee who has not been appointed and classified to a civil service position is not entitled to the salary prescribed for that classification even though he or she is performing the duties or has assumed the responsibilities of someone in that position. 15A Am.Jur.2d, Civil Service, § 48; 81A C.J.S. States § 108. Remarks in the General Assembly, in support of the bill providing for compensation to state employees who performed duties of a higher job classification, ¹ indicated that the purpose of the legislation was to correct the practice whereby supervisors would request employees hired at a lower grade to fill vacancies in positions of a higher grade for indefinite periods of time only to have these employees shunted aside when the position was ultimately filled through competitive examination; the legislation was intended to permit an employee to be compensated for work done out of class for a significant period of time. 11 S.Proc., pt. 7, 1965 Special Sess., p. 2445; 11 H.R.Proc., pt. 7, 1965 Special Sess., pp. 3239-40. The merit system was safeguarded by the provision that service under a higher classification would not entitle an employee to permanent status in that class. Ibid.

Although § 5-209 Permits payment to an employee who works out of class for an extended period of time, such payment is conditioned "provided such payment shall be approved by the personnel commissioner." The function of this proviso can be deduced from a look at several related sections of the State Personnel Act. Section 5-203 ² requires that all personnel changes, including vacancies and temporary changes in status, be reported to the personnel commissioner "at such time, in such form and together with such supporting or other pertinent information as he prescribes." At the time relevant here, § 5-214 provided in part that no vacancies in the classified service could be filled until the commissioner of finance and control certified to the appointing authority that the position was "necessary for carrying on the work of the state in an efficient and businesslike manner." Section 5-235 provided in subsection (a) that, under certain circumstances, the personnel commissioner could authorize the filling of a position by provisional appointment, pending the establishment of a reemployment or employment list, but that such appointment could continue only until such list was established, and in no case for a period exceeding four months. Subsection (c) of § 5-235 permitted appointing authorities, in an emergency, to appoint a qualified person to a position for which there were no certified eligibles for a period not to exceed sixty days; all such appointments were to be reported immediately to the commissioner of finance and could not be renewed.

It is clear from a reading of these statutes that the personnel commissioner was given broad powers to administer the state personnel system and was to supervise carefully any changes in employee placement. Provisional and emergency appointments were carefully regulated, to be kept to a bare minimum. If a vacancy arose, it could not be assumed that funds would be allocated to fill the position. In the context of this existing legislation, it is evident that a statute permitting compensation to employees who work out of class for more than sixty days would need to be qualified in some way. The legislature chose to qualify it by making...