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Absolute Civil Service Preference

Pass the open competitive examination and you rank above every non-veteran on the eligible list, whatever their score — except on Firefighter and Police Officer lists, where residency preference comes first. A disabled veteran is also the last let go when jobs are cut.

Verified August 19, 2026

What this benefit is

What it's worth: Above every non-veteran on the eligible list — disabled veterans first — plus retention preference for disabled veterans

The ordering is by category first and score second: disabled veterans by their standings, then veterans, then the named survivors, then everyone else.

Who is entitled to it

You were honorably discharged.
Your service meets the Massachusetts wartime-service definition.
The spouse or parent of someone killed in action, or who died of service-connected causes, holds a place in the list order in their own right.
The preference applies to Massachusetts civil service employment.

Not sure whether that describes you?

Answer a few questions about this benefit specifically — we only ask what this one actually depends on, and we stop as soon as we know.

How to claim it

1You must still pass the examination — the preference reorders the list of those who passed; it does not lower the passing mark.
2Claim veteran status with the examination application, and disabled veteran status with VA evidence if you hold a service-connected disability — the disabled tier ranks above the veteran tier.
3If you are already employed and a reduction comes, raise the retention preference: a disabled veteran is retained in preference to all other persons, including other veterans.
4Send the right discharge copy. The division asks for a DD214 in any Member copy EXCEPT Member 1, or a State Director of Veterans’ Affairs 6 Form; a Member 1 copy is the commonest reason a claim comes back.
5If you are still serving, send a verification letter from your commanding officer on official letterhead giving the dates of full-time active duty, current assignment, date of entrance into service and estimated separation date, and confirming you will receive a DD214 not for Training.
6Claim it late if you missed it. Veteran status can be claimed, or the preference changed, after the examination while your name is on the eligible list.
7Hand the honourable discharge documentation to the hiring department AND the Civil Service Unit at the time of appointment, and keep the originals available while the list lives.
8If you opted onto the State Police list, send a new veteran status claim to State Police human resources as well as to the Civil Service Unit — the division treats that list separately.

File with: The Civil Service Unit, with your examination application
Documents you will need: dd214
No renewal: Once granted it does not need renewing.

Worth knowingThis is absolute preference: the list is ordered by category first — disabled veterans, veterans, the named survivors, everyone else — and by score only within a category. A veteran who scrapes a pass ranks above a non-veteran with a near-perfect score.

CorrectionVeteran status here follows the Massachusetts wartime-service definition, not federal veteran status. Peacetime-only service generally does not carry the preference, and a veteran told simply that "Massachusetts has absolute preference" will overestimate their claim.

Worth knowingThe retention sentence is its own benefit: a disabled veteran is retained in employment in preference to all other persons, including veterans. Hiring preference is spent once; this one operates for as long as you hold the job.

CorrectionAbsolute preference is not absolute on the two lists most veterans are chasing. The Human Resources Division states that on Firefighter and Police Officer lists the veteran ordering is superseded by the residency preference in M.G.L. c.31 §58 — so a non-resident veteran can rank below a resident non-veteran on exactly those lists.

CorrectionRemarriage closes the survivor route. The division states the spouse or single parent of a veteran killed in action, or dead of a service-connected disability incurred during wartime service, holds the third place in the list order only "provided that the spouse or parent has not remarried".

Worth knowingThe three routes are three different sizes. On an open competitive examination the preference is absolute placement above every non-veteran. On a promotional examination it is two points added to the passing score — an advantage, not a reordering. In labour service, where there is no examination at all, veterans go to the top of the list for state agencies and the City of Boston, with spouses and single parents below veterans but above everyone else.

Worth knowingYou can claim it late. The division allows veteran status to be claimed or the preference changed after the examination, while your name is on the eligible list — so a veteran who missed the box on the application has not necessarily lost the round.

Worth knowingIf there is no eligible list at all, the route is different: M.G.L. c.31 §12 carries a Veteran’s Application for Provisional Appointment, which the division names as the mechanism for that case.

Known gapRE-SOURCED 23 August 2026. This record previously cited a secondary mirror of the General Laws, which this corpus does not accept. The section text could not be re-read: malegislature.gov refused the connection to the browser and to curl at https://malegislature.gov/Laws/GeneralLaws/PartI/TitleIV/Chapter31/Section26. The record now rests on the Human Resources Division’s own published guidance and is tier B in consequence, so the exact statutory wording of the retention sentence has not been re-verified against the code this session.

Sources

This finder provides an informational match, not a government eligibility determination. The responsible agency decides your application.