Local Personnel Standards in the Federal Grant-in-Aid System

The current federal grant-in-aid system, as it pertains to local personnel standards, is being seriously challenged by a series of court cases in New Jersey. At issue is whether local employees paid by federal funds are in the employ and under the control of the recipient's merit system. This article will explore this issue, draw conclusions, and raise some implications. During the past four years, the New Jersey courts have established that employment under the Comprehensive Employment and Training Act (CETA) is philosophically inconsistent with the merit system. This determination was made in order to save a local government from losing its CETA grant; otherwise, the municipality would have been forced to select its new employees from a civil service list and pay them with its own funds. This action, based upon unique circumstance, has encouraged another locality to challenge the principle that local merit systems must be used in federally funded programs

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