The City of Austin has earned state recognition for its innovative and successful implementation of its Municipal Civil Service System, which applies to the majority of city employees. The Texas Municipal Human Resources Association presented the city its Innovation in Municipal Human Resources Management Award as part of the association’s 2015 Professional Awards Program. In slightly more than a year and a half, Austin’s Human Resources Department conducted a thorough development process to draft and implement Municipal Civil Service Rules — approved by Council in 2014 and trained more than 8,500 employees on those new rules. The commission hears appeals and makes final, binding decisions in the case of any municipal civil service employee who is discharged, suspended, demoted, denied a promotion or put on disciplinary probation. For more about information about the commission, go here.