In Philadelphia, Prospective Municipal Employees Must Be Metropolis Residents for a Twelvemonth Before Applying

Quango-passed residency requirement is stricter than in other large U.S. cities

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In Philadelphia, Prospective Municipal Employees Must Be Metropolis Residents for a Year Earlier Applying

Market Street

Lexey Swall GRAIN for The Pew Charitable Trusts

In June 2020, Philadelphia City Council passed an ordinance requiring all new hires for civil service positions to accept lived in the metropolis for at least a yr prior to being appointed, making Philadelphia the only city among the nation's 30 near populous to accept such a strict mandate. Mayor Jim Kenney allowed the ordinance to go into upshot without his signature.

This rule for civil service, which covers 81% of the roughly 30,000 positions in Philadelphia urban center government, was proposed after the protests over the death of George Floyd, who died during an arrest in Minneapolis. Some residency requirement backers expressed promise that it would produce a more various grouping of incoming police officers, in particular. The Philadelphia Police Department is 55% non-Hispanic White, 33% Black, and ix% Hispanic, while the city'southward population is 34% non-Hispanic White, twoscore% Black, and 15% Hispanic.

Residency requirements for municipal jobs are not uncommon in large American cities, although many, particularly in the South and Due west, do not have them. Some mandate that jobholders found residency on their start dates or within weeks or months of their engagement. That had been the case in Philadelphia since 2008, with the time period set at six months in about cases. Those applying for laborer positions had to take been residents for at least one year earlier starting. And individuals must continue to live in the city to keep their jobs, although law officers and firefighters are permitted to move out later five years.

Table ane shows the residency policies in each of the 30 most populous U.Due south. cities, listed from largest to smallest. In 12 of them, state law prevents residency requirements; that's the instance in California, Michigan, Ohio, and Texas. Denver, which previously had a residency requirement, eliminated information technology to heighten competitive recruitment. Other cities, including Baltimore and Washington, restrict their residency requirements to certain job classes or salary bands. Most residency requirements accept upshot afterwards a new employee starts working.

Likewise Philadelphia, Boston is the only one of the 30 cities to crave whatever employees to live in the city for a year prior to appointment—but that applies merely to police officers. This rule was adopted in March 2016 later the mayor and City Quango formed a special commission in response to a 2014 paper investigation, which found that police control staff and other city section leaders were living outside Boston despite a residency requirement. At the fourth dimension, but some municipal employees were required to live within city limits.

Boston'southward 2016 ordinance requires constabulary officers to exist metropolis residents for at least a year prior to appointment. Well-nigh all other city employees must exist residents by their appointment date.

Table ane

Employee Residency Requirements in the 30 Nearly Populous U.S. Cities

Metropolis Residency requirement State
pre-emption
New York Employees have 90 days to establish residency after date.
Los Angeles None. X
Chicago Employees must found residency on their date of appointment.
Houston None. 10
Phoenix Employees take 24 months to establish residency within 35 miles of Phoenix eye later on their start date.
Philadelphia Candidates must found residency one year prior to appointment.
San Antonio None. Ten
San Diego None. X
Dallas None. Ten
San Jose, CA None. X
Austin, TX None. X
Jacksonville, FL None. Preference in employment and retention will be given to qualified eligible residents of Duval County, which includes Jacksonville.
Fort Worth, TX None. X
Columbus, OH None. X
Charlotte, NC None.
San Francisco None. Ten
Indianapolis Employees have half-dozen months to establish residency within Marion County, which includes Indianapolis, subsequently appointment.
Seattle None for most employees. There may exist a preference on hiring exams, and exempt employees may exist required to establish residency within six months of their starting time appointment.
Denver None.
Washington Select high-level employees must institute residency inside 180 days of appointment. For other civil service positions, applicants receive a x-point preference during hiring if they are city residents and maintain residence in the city for seven years.
Boston Workers must establish residency on their date of employment. Police department officials must have lived inside city borders for one year prior to their start engagement.
El Paso, TX None. X
Nashville, TN None.
Detroit None. X
Oklahoma City None. Preference is given to Oklahoma residents.
Portland, OR None.
Las Vegas None.
Memphis, TN Employees accept six months to establish residency within Shelby County, which includes Memphis, subsequently appointment.
Louisville, KY None.
Baltimore Some classifications and exempt positions may require residency.

Source: Civil service rules and regulations for each city

© 2020 The Pew Charitable Trusts

Philadelphia is non the only city to consider changing its residency requirement in response to the deaths of Floyd and others killed by law. In Detroit, Council President Brenda Jones wanted to practise information technology for police officers: "If the immature people see officers living in their community, information technology gives them an opportunity to say, 'I want to be similar Chief [Robert] Dunlap.' … With no law enforcement living in their customs, … they don't have that mentorship." But Detroit cannot impose such a requirement without the country Legislature's permission.

In Baltimore, changes to residency requirements must be enacted past the Maryland General Assembly. A new state police force taking effect in Jan 2022 volition require all Baltimore police force command staff members at the rank of colonel or deputy commissioner to live in the city subsequently their starting time appointment.

Philadelphia's rule change, proposed by Councilmember Cherelle Parker on Council President Darrell Clarke's behalf, was adopted past a 16-i vote. In a argument on the bill, Clarke, Parker, and fellow Councilmembers Curtis Jones Jr. and Marker Squilla said they had the police department in listen. They noted that the move "volition not exist a 'silverish bullet' in curing [the department's] long-entrenched systemic issues, merely it's a step in the right direction. … If they must look to hire from within the metropolis'southward borders and commit to their diversity goal, they have a hazard at improving the culture within the force." Waivers are an selection if the urban center can't find qualified Philadelphians for specific jobs. Simply Parker said if that happens in a city with nearly one.6 1000000 residents, "Shame on us."

Pew explored the city'due south employment practices in the 2018 written report "Hiring and Employment in Philadelphia Metropolis Regime." At the time, Philadelphia had some of the strictest civil service hiring rules of any big U.Southward. city, including the Rule of 2, which requires hiring managers to choose between the top two scorers on a ceremonious service examination.

Until the first decade of this century, Philadelphia and other U.S. cities had a one-year residency requirement for job candidates. Merely many abandoned this approach—as Philadelphia did in 2008—to create a larger applicant puddle and more competitive hiring. Past reverting to the old rule, Philadelphia at present becomes an outlier.

Larry Eichel is a senior adviser and Katie Martin is a senior managing director with The Pew Charitable Trusts' Philadelphia research and policy initiative.

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