Utah Admin. Code R477-1-1 - Definitions
The following definitions apply to Title R477 unless otherwise indicated within the text of each rule.
(1) "Abandonment of Position" means an act of
resignation resulting when an employee is absent from work for three
consecutive working days without approval.
(2) "Actual FTE" means the total number of
full time equivalents based on actual hours paid in the state payroll
system.
(3) "Actual Hours Worked"
means time spent performing duties and responsibilities associated with the
employee's job assignments.
(4)
"Actual Wage" means the employee's assigned wage rate in the central personnel
record maintained by the Division of Human Resource Management.
(5) "ADA" means the Americans With
Disabilities Act, 42 U.S.C. 12102.
(6) "Administrative Leave" means leave with
pay granted to an employee at management discretion that is not charged against
the employee's leave accounts.
(7)
"Administrative Adjustment" means a DHRM approved adjustment to a job or salary
range that is not a Market Comparability Adjustment, a Structure Adjustment, or
a Reclassification. It is for administrative purposes only. An Administrative
Adjustment will result in an increase to incumbent pay only when necessary to
bring salaries to the minimum of the salary range.
(8) "Administrative Salary Decrease" means a
decrease in an employee's current actual wage based on non-disciplinary
administrative reasons determined by an agency head.
(9) "Administrative Salary Increase" means an
increase in an employee's current actual wage based on special circumstances
determined by an agency head.
(10)
"Agency" means an entity of state government that is:
(a) directed by an executive director,
elected official, or commissioner defined in Title 67, Chapter 22, State
Officer Compensation, or in other sections of the code;
(b) authorized to employ personnel;
and
(c) subject to Title 63A,
Chapter 17, Utah State Personnel Management Act.
(11) "Agency Head" means the executive
director or commissioner of each agency or a designated appointee.
(12) "Agency Human Resource Field Office"
means an office of the Division of Human Resource Management located at another
agency's facility.
(13)
"Alternative State Application Program (ASAP)" means a program designed to
appoint a qualified person with a disability through an on the job examination
period.
(14) "Appeal" means a
formal request to a higher level for reconsideration of a grievance
decision.
(15) "Appointing
Authority" means the officer, board, commission, person, or group of persons
authorized to make appointments in their agencies.
(16) "Break in Service" means a point at
which an individual has an official separation date and is no longer an
employee of the State of Utah.
(17)
"Budgeted FTE" means the total number of full time equivalents budgeted by the
Legislature and approved by the Governor.
(18) "Career Mobility" means a temporary
assignment of an employee to a different position for professional development
or to fulfill specific organizational needs.
(19) "Career Service Employee" means an
employee who has successfully completed a probationary period in a career
service position.
(20) "Career
Service Exempt Employee" means an employee who serves at the pleasure of the
appointing authority and may be separated from state employment at any time for
any reason or for no reason.
(21)
"Career Service Exempt Position" means a position in state service that is
exempt from career service provisions under Section 63A-17-301.
(22) "Career Service Status" means status
granted to an employee who successfully completes a probationary period
following appointment to a career service position.
(23) "Category of Work" means a job series an
agency head designates as having positions to be eliminated agency wide through
a reduction in force. Category of work may be further reduced as follows:
(a) a unit smaller than the agency upon
providing justification and rationale for approval, including:
(i) unit number;
(ii) cost centers;
(iii) geographic locations; or
(iv) agency programs.
(b) positions identified by a set of
essential functions, including:
(i) position
analysis data;
(ii)
certificates;
(iii)
licenses;
(iv) special
qualifications; or
(v) degrees that
are required or directly related to the position.
(24) "Change of Workload" means a
change in position responsibilities and duties or a need to eliminate or create
particular positions in an agency caused by legislative action, financial
circumstances, or administrative reorganization.
(25) "Classification Grievance" means the
approved procedure by which an agency or a career service employee may grieve a
formal classification decision regarding the classification of a
position.
(26) "Classified Service"
means positions that are subject to the classification and compensation
provisions stipulated in Section 63A-17-307.
(27) "Classification Study" means a
classification review conducted by DHRM under Section R477-3-4. A study may
include single or multiple job or position reviews.
(28) "Compensatory Time" means time off that
is provided to an employee in lieu of monetary overtime compensation.
(29) "Contractor" means an individual who is
contracted for service, is not supervised by a state supervisor, but is
responsible for providing a specified service for a designated fee within a
specified time. The contractor shall be responsible for paying any taxes and
FICA payments, and may not accrue benefits.
(30) "Critical Incident Drug or Alcohol Test"
means a drug or alcohol test conducted on an employee as a result of the
behavior, action, or inaction of an employee that is of such seriousness it
requires an immediate intervention by management.
(31) "Demotion" means a disciplinary action
resulting in a reduction of an employee's current actual wage.
(32) "Position Management Report" means a
document that lists an agency's authorized positions, incumbent's name and
hourly rate, job identification number, salary range, and schedule.
(33) "DHRM" means the Division of Human
Resource Management.
(34) "DHRM
Approved Recruitment and Selection System" means the state's recruitment and
selection system, which is a centralized and automated computer system
administered by the Division of Human Resource Management.
(35) "Direct Supervisor" means an employee's
primary supervisor who normally directs day to day job activity such as
assigning work, approving time records, and considering leave
requests.
(36) "Disability" has the
same definition found in the Americans With Disabilities Act of 1990, 42 U.S.C. 12101 (2008); Equal Employment Opportunity Commission regulation, 29 CFR 1630
(2008); including exclusions and modifications.
(37) "Disciplinary Action" means action taken
by management under Rule R477-11.
(38) "Dismissal" means a separation from
state employment for cause under Section R477-11-2.
(39) "Dual State Employment" means an
employee works for more than one agency and meets the employee criteria which
is located in the Division of Finance accounting policy 11-18.00.
(40) "Drug-Free Workplace Act" means a
congressional act, 41 U.S.C. Section 8101, et seq., requiring a drug-free
workplace certification by state agencies that receive federal grants or
contracts.
(41) "Employee Personnel
Files" means the files or records maintained by DHRM and agencies as required
by Section R477-2-5 for purposes of Title 67, Chapter 18, Employees' Personnel
Files and Title 63A, Chapter 17, Utah State Personnel Management Act. This does
not include employee information maintained by supervisors.
(42) "Employment Eligibility Verification"
means a requirement of the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986, 8 U.S.C. 1324 that employers verify the identity and eligibility of individuals for
employment in the United States.
(43) "Escalator Principle" means returning
veterans are entitled to return back onto their seniority escalator at the
point they would have occupied had they not left state employment under the
Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act of 1994, 3 8 U.S.C.
4301, et seq. (USERRA).
(44)
"Excess Hours" means a category of compensable hours separate and apart from
compensatory or overtime hours that accrue at straight time only when an
employee's actual hours worked, plus additional hours paid, exceed an
employee's normal work period.
(45)
"Employee's Family Member" means an employee's relative or household member as
defined in Section 52-3-1 but also including, stepsiblings, stepparents, and
stepchildren.
(46) "Fitness For
Duty Evaluation" means evaluation, assessment, or study by a licensed
professional to determine if an individual can meet the performance or conduct
standards required by the position held, or is a direct threat to the safety of
self or others.
(47) "FLSA Exempt"
means employees who are exempt from the overtime and minimum wage provisions of
the Fair Labor Standards Act.
(48)
"FLSA Non-Exempt" means employees who are not exempt from the overtime and
minimum wage provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act.
(49) "Follow Up Drug or Alcohol Test" means
unannounced drug or alcohol tests conducted for up to five years on an employee
who has previously tested positive or who has successfully completed a
voluntary or required substance abuse treatment program.
(50) "Furlough" means a temporary leave of
absence from duty without pay for budgetary reasons or lack of work.
(51) "GOPB" means Governor's Office of
Planning and Budget.
(52)
"Grievance" means a career service employee's claim or charge of the existence
of injustice or oppression, including dismissal from employment resulting from
an act, occurrence, omission, condition, discriminatory practice or unfair
employment practice not including position classification or schedule
assignment, or a complaint by a reporting employee as defined in Section
67-19a-101.
(53) "Grievance
Procedures" means the statutory process of grievances and appeals as set forth
in Title 67, Chapter 19a, Grievance Procedures, and the rules promulgated by
the Career Service Review Office.
(54) "Gross Compensation" means an employee's
total earnings, taxable and nontaxable, as shown on the employee's pay
statement.
(55) "Highly Sensitive
Position" means a position approved by DHRM that includes the performance of:
(a) safety-sensitive functions:
(i) requiring an employee to operate a
commercial motor vehicle under 49 CFR 383 ;
(ii) directly related to law
enforcement;
(iii) involving direct
access or having control over direct access to controlled substances;
(iv) directly impacting the safety or welfare
of the general public; or
(v)
requiring an employee to carry or have access to firearms; or
(b) data sensitive functions
permitting or requiring an employee to access an individual's highly sensitive,
personally identifiable, private information, including:
(i) financial assets, liabilities, and
account information;
(ii) social
security numbers;
(iii) wage
information;
(iv) medical
history;
(v) public assistance
benefits; or
(vi) driver
license.
(56)
"Hiring List" means a list of qualified and interested applicants who are
eligible to be considered for appointment or conditional appointment to a
specific position created in the DHRM approved recruitment and selection
system.
(57) "Incompetence" means
inadequacy or unsuitability in performance of assigned duties and
responsibilities.
(58)
"Inefficiency" means wastefulness of government resources including time,
energy, money, or staff resources or failure to maintain the required level of
performance.
(59) "Intern" means an
individual in a college degree or certification program assigned to work in an
activity where on the job training or community service experience is
accepted.
(60) "Job" means a group
of positions similar in duties performed, in degree of supervision exercised or
required, in requirements of training, experience, or skill and other
characteristics. The same salary range is applied to each position in the
group.
(61) "Job Description" means
a document containing the duties, distinguishing characteristics, knowledge,
skills, and other requirements for a job.
(62) "Job Family" means a group of jobs that
have related or common work content, that share common skills,
responsibilities, and requirements, and that normally represents a general
occupation area.
(63) "Job
Requirements" means skill requirements defined at the job level.
(64) "Job Series" means two or more jobs in
the same functional area having the same job title, but distinguished and
defined by increasingly difficult levels of skills, responsibilities,
knowledge, and requirements; or two or more jobs with different titles working
in the same functional area that have licensure, certification, or other
requirements with increasingly difficult levels of skills, responsibilities,
knowledge, and requirements.
(65)
"Leave Benefit" means a benefit provided to an employee that includes: Annual
leave, sick leave, converted sick leave, and holiday leave. These benefits are
not provided to non-benefited employees.
(66) "Legislative Salary Adjustment" means a
legislatively approved salary increase for a specific category of employees
based on criteria determined by the Legislature.
(67) "Malfeasance" means intentional
wrongdoing, deliberate violation of law or standard, or mismanagement of
responsibilities.
(68) "Management"
means the agency head and any other officers or employees who have
responsibility and authority to establish, implement, and manage agency
policies and programs.
(69) "Market
Based Bonus" means a one-time lump sum monies given to a new hire or a current
employee to encourage employment with the state.
(70) "Market Comparability Adjustment" means
a legislatively approved adjustment to a salary range that is based upon salary
data and other relevant information from comparable jobs in the market that is
collected by DHRM or from DHRM approved justifiable sources. The Market
Comparability Adjustment may also change incumbent pay resulting in a budgetary
impact for an agency.
(71)
"Misconduct" means wrongful, improper, unacceptable, or unlawful conduct or
behavior that is inconsistent with prevailing agency practices or the best
interest of the agency.
(72)
"Misfeasance" means the improper or unlawful performance of an act that is
lawful or proper.
(73)
"Nonfeasance" means failure to perform either an official duty or legal
requirement.
(74) "Performance
Evaluation" means a formal, periodic evaluation of an employee's work
performance.
(75) "Performance
Improvement Plan" means a documented administrative action to address
substandard performance of an employee under Section R477-10-2.
(76) "Performance Management" means the
ongoing process of communication between the direct supervisor and the employee
which defines work standards and expectations, and assesses performance leading
to a formal annual performance evaluation.
(77) "Performance Plan" means a written
summary of the standards and expectations required for the successful
performance of each job duty or task. These standards normally include
completion dates and qualitative and quantitative levels of performance
expectations.
(78) "Performance
Standard" means specific, measurable, observable and attainable objectives that
represent the level of performance to which an employee and direct supervisor
are committed during an evaluation period.
(79) "Personnel Adjudicatory Proceedings"
means the informal appeals procedure contained in Title 63G, Chapter 4,
Administrative Procedures Act for human resource policies and practices not
covered by the state employee's grievance procedure promulgated by the Career
Service Review Office, or the classification appeals procedure.
(80) "Phased Retirement" means employment on
a half-time basis of a retiree with the same participating employer immediately
following the retiree's retirement date where the retiree will receive a
reduced retirement allowance.
(81)
"Position" means a unique set of duties and responsibilities identified by DHRM
authorized job and position management numbers.
(82) "Position Description" means a document
that describes the detailed tasks performed, as well as the knowledge, skills,
abilities, and other requirements of a specific position.
(83) "Position Identification Number" means a
unique number assigned to a position for FTE management.
(84) "Post Accident Drug or Alcohol Test"
means a drug or alcohol test conducted on an employee who is involved in a
vehicle accident while on duty or driving a state vehicle:
(a) the employee was performing
safety-sensitive functions with respect to the vehicle the employee was
operating and the accident involves the loss of human life;
(b) the driver receives a citation under
state or local law for a moving traffic violation arising from the accident and
the accident involved:
(i) the loss of human
life or bodily injury to any person who, as a result of the injury, immediately
receives medical treatment away from the scene of the accident; or
(ii) one or more motor vehicles incurring
disabling damage as a result of the accident, requiring the motor vehicle to be
transported away from the scene by a tow truck or other vehicle; or
(c) where there is reasonable
suspicion that the employee had been driving while under the influence of
alcohol or a controlled substance.
(85) "Pre-employment Drug Test" means a drug
test conducted on:
(a) final applicants who
are not current employees;
(b)
final candidates for a highly sensitive position;
(c) employees who are final candidates for
transfer or promotion from a non-highly sensitive position to a highly
sensitive position; or
(d)
employees who transfer or are promoted from one highly sensitive position to
another highly sensitive position.
(86) "Probationary Employee" means an
employee hired into a career service position who has not completed the
required probationary period for that position.
(87) "Probationary Period" means a period for
management to evaluate an employee's ability to perform assigned duties and
responsibilities and to determine if career service status should be granted to
the employee. The length of the period is identified at the job level and the
period is considered part of the selection process.
(88) "Proficiency" means an employee's
overall quality of work, productivity, skills demonstrated through work
performance and other factors that relate to employee performance or
conduct.
(89) "Promotion" means an
action moving an employee from a position in one job to a position in another
job having a higher salary range maximum.
(90) "Protected Activity" means opposition to
discrimination or participation in proceedings covered by the
antidiscrimination statutes or the Utah State Grievance and Appeal Procedure.
Harassment based on protected activity can constitute unlawful
retaliation.
(91) "Random Drug or
Alcohol Test" means unannounced drug or alcohol testing of a sample of an
employee in a highly sensitive position done in accordance with federal
regulations or state rules, policies, and procedures, and conducted in a manner
such that each highly sensitive employee has an equal chance of being selected
for testing.
(92) "Reappointment"
means return to work of an individual from the reappointment register after
separation from employment.
(93)
"Reappointment Register" means a register of individuals who have, before March
2, 2009:
(a) held career service status and
been separated in a reduction in force;
(b) held career service status and accepted
career service exempt positions without a break in service and were not
retained, unless discharged for cause; or
(c) by Career Service Review Board decision,
been placed on the reappointment register.
(94) "Reasonable Suspicion Drug or Alcohol
Test" means a drug or alcohol test conducted on an employee based on specific,
contemporaneous, articulated observations concerning the appearance, behavior,
speech, or body odors of the employee.
(95) "Reassignment" means an action mandated
by management moving an employee from one job or position to a different job or
position with an equal or lesser salary range maximum for administrative
reasons. A reassignment may not include a decrease in actual wage except as
provided in federal or state law.
(96) "Reclassification" means a DHRM
reallocation of a single position or multiple positions from one job to another
job to reflect management initiated changes in duties and
responsibilities.
(97) "Reduction
in Force (RIF)" means abolishment of positions resulting in the termination of
career service employment. RIFs can occur due to inadequate funds, a change of
workload, or a lack of work.
(98)
"Reemployment" means return to work of an employee who resigned or took
military leave of absence from state employment to serve in the uniformed
services covered under USERRA.
(99)
"Salary Range" means established minimum and maximum wage rates assigned to a
job.
(100) "Schedule" means the
designation of a position as career service (schedule B) or career service
exempt (schedule A) under Title 63A, Chapter 17, Utah State Personnel
Management Act.
(101) "Separation"
means an employee's voluntary or involuntary departure from state
employment.
(102) "Settling Period"
means a sufficient amount of time, determined by agency management, for an
employee to fully assume new or higher level duties required of a
position.
(103) "Structure
Adjustment" means a DHRM approved adjustment to a salary range that is based
upon salary data and other relevant information from comparable jobs in the
market that is collected by DHRM or from DHRM approved justifiable
sources.
(104) "Tangible Employment
Action" means a significant change in employment status, such as dismissal,
demotion, failure to promote, work reassignment, or a decision which changes
benefits.
(105) "Transfer" means an
action not mandated by management moving an employee from one job or position
to another job or position with an equal or lesser salary range maximum for
which the employee qualifies. A transfer may include a decrease in actual
wage.
(106) "Uniformed Services"
means the United States Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, Coast Guard;
Reserve units of the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, or Coast Guard; Army
National Guard or Air National Guard; Commissioned Corps of Public Health
Service, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), National
Disaster Medical Systems (NDMS) and any other category of persons designated by
the President in time of war or emergency. Service in uniformed services
includes: voluntary or involuntary duty, including active duty; active duty for
training; initial active duty for training; inactive duty training; full time
National Guard duty; or absence from work for an examination to determine
fitness for any of the types of duty listed in this subsection.
(107) "Unlawful Discrimination" means an
action against an employee or applicant based on race, religion, national
origin, color, sex, age, disability, pregnancy, sexual orientation, gender
identity, protected activity under the antidiscrimination statutes, political
affiliation, military status or affiliation, or any other factor, as prohibited
by law.
(108) "USERRA" means the
Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act of 1994, 38 U.S.C.
4301, et seq. requires state governments to re-employ eligible veterans who
resigned or took a military leave of absence from state employment to serve in
the uniformed services and who return to work within a specified time period
after military discharge.
(109)
"Veteran" means the same as that term is defined in Section
68-3-12.5.
(110) "Veteran
Employment Opportunity Program (VEOP)" means a program designed to appoint a
qualified veteran through an on the job examination period.
(111) "Volunteer" means any person who
donates services to the state or its subdivisions without pay or other
compensation except actual and reasonable expenses incurred, as approved by the
supervising agency.
(112) "Wage"
means the fixed hourly rate paid to an employee.
(113) "Work Period" means the maximum number
of hours an employee may work before accruing overtime or compensatory hours
based on variable payroll cycles outlined in Section 63A-17-502 and 29 CFR 553.230.
Notes
State regulations are updated quarterly; we currently have two versions available. Below is a comparison between our most recent version and the prior quarterly release. More comparison features will be added as we have more versions to compare.
No prior version found.