273 Neb. Admin. Code, ch. 2, § 001

Current through September 17, 2024

Section 273-2-001 - DEFINITIONS

For the purpose of these rules and regulations, the following definitions apply.

001.01ADJUSTED SERVICE DATE. See Service Date.

001.02AGENCY. Any legally constituted board, commission, department or other branch of state government in which all positions are under the same appointing authority.

001.03AGENCY HEAD. The administrative head of an agency, such as Agency Director, Executive Director, Commissioner, Executive Secretary, etc., reporting directly to the Governor, a commission or board.

001.04CATASTROPHIC EVENT. A serious illness or injury resulting in a prolonged absence of at least 30 work days during a six-month period.

001.05CATASTROPHIC LEAVE. Vacation leave and/or compensatory time donated by one employee to another for the purpose of providing paid leave during an absence relating to a catastrophic event when the receiving employee has exhausted sick leave.

001.06CLASS. One or more positions similar enough as to duties performed, degree of supervision exercised or received, knowledge, skills and abilities needed, and other characteristics so that the same title and pay range assignment may be applied to each position in the group.

001.07CLASS SPECIFICATION. The formal description of the work of a class, which defines the class and lists typical examples of work performed and the knowledge, skills and abilities associated with performing the work.

001.08CLASSIFIED SYSTEM. All state agencies and positions covered by the State Classified Personnel System.

001.09CLASSIFY. To assign a position to a specific class based upon duties, responsibilities and knowledge, skills, and abilities.

001.010COMPENSATORY TIME. Time off granted by an agency head to an employee in lieu of payment for overtime or holiday hours worked.

001.011DIRECTOR. Unless otherwise annotated, "Director" refers to the Director of Personnel, DAS-State Personnel Division.

001.012DISABLED VETERAN. A disabled veteran is defined by Neb. Rev. Stat. § 48-225.

001.013DISCIPLINARY DEMOTION. Reassignment of an employee from one class to another class at a lower pay range as a result of disciplinary action requiring a reduction in salary.

001.014DISCIPLINARY PROBATION. A special employment status imposed for disciplinary reasons; the period of time for such probation may not exceed one year.

001.015DISMISSAL. Involuntary separation of an employee, excluding layoffs.

001.016EMPLOYEE. Any person, except those excluded by statute, who works in any state agency in the State Classified Personnel System. For the purposes of these rules, employee refers to classified employees only.

001.017EXEMPT. A class which is not covered by the time and one-half overtime provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act and state law.

001.018FAMILY MEMBER. A family member, as defined in Neb. Rev. Stat. § 49-1499.07(1)(a). For the purposes of sick leave, family member means spouse, child, and parent.

001.019FULL-TIME. Employees who work a minimum of 40 hours per week or 80 hours in a two-week period on an ongoing and continuous basis.

001.020FTE. Full time equivalent; 2080 work hours in a year, averaging 40 hours per week, equals 1.0 FTE. To calculate the percentage of FTE for part-time employees divide the average number of hours worked per week by 40.

001.021FURLOUGH. A temporary non-duty, non-pay status because of lack of funds. This is an alternative to layoff that provides for the continuation of critical work and retention of valuable human resources.

001.022HIRING RATE. Minimum rate of a pay range.

001.023INTERN. A student who is formally enrolled at a secondary or post-secondary institution and is working on either a paid or unpaid basis via agreement with an individual agency and receiving academic credit or fulfilling a recognized requirement for a specific work training experience.

001.024LAYOFF. Involuntary employee separation or reduction of hours because of economic reasons, elimination of funds, reduction in workload or reorganization of the agency.

001.025LEAVE OF ABSENCE. Unpaid time off from work requested by the employee and granted by the agency head or appointing authority.

001.026MAXIMUM RATE. Highest rate of a pay range.

001.027MINIMUM PERMANENT RATE. The lowest pay rate of an employee who has satisfactorily completed their original probationary period.

001.028NON-CLASSIFIED SYSTEM. All state agencies and positions not covered by the State Classified Personnel System.

001.029NON-EXEMPT. A position which is covered by the time and one-half overtime provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act and state law.

001.030OCCUPATIONAL GROUP. A broad set of classes recognized as a field of employment.

001.031ORIGINAL PROBATION. Evaluation period during which the employee is assessed for their ability to satisfactorily perform assigned duties.

001.032PART-TIME. Employees who work an average of less than 40 hours per week on an ongoing and continuous basis. Work schedules may fluctuate by week, month, or season.

001.033PAY FOR PERFORMANCE INCREASES. Percentage or flat dollar increase which is added to the base rate, given in recognition of job performance.

001.034PAY RANGE. A range of pay for each classification with a Hiring Rate and a Maximum Rate.

001.035PAY STATUS. A condition whereby an employee is receiving pay from the employing agency.

001.036PERMANENT POSITION. A full-time or part-time position worked on an ongoing and continuous basis.

001.037POSITION. A group of specific duties and responsibilities to be performed by one or more employees and which may be part-time, full-time, permanent, temporary, seasonal, filled or vacant.

001.038POSITION DESCRIPTION QUESTIONNAIRE (PDQ). Questionnaire used when requesting reclassification of a specific position or creation of a new position in an existing classification.

001.039PROMOTION. Movement of an employee from one class to another class at a higher pay range with increased duties and responsibilities.

001.040REASSIGNMENT. Involuntary movement of an employee from one position to another for business reasons.

001.041REDUCTION IN FORCE. The elimination of occupied positions.

001.042REINSTATEMENT. Act of rehiring a former employee who has been subject to a reduction in force.

001.043RELOCATION. A reassignment requiring a move of more than 50 miles from the employee's place of residence.

001.044SELECTION CRITERIA. The competencies, knowledge, skills, abilities, personal characteristics, job elements, experience, education, or other measurable qualities used in employee selection procedures; what a selection device measures.

001.045SELECTION DEVICE. A valid, job-related instrument used to obtain an indication of the possession of the relative competencies, knowledge, skills, abilities, personal characteristics or other criteria that make a difference in job performance and are needed at entry to a particular job (e.g., Training and Experience Rating Scale, Interview Questions, Supplemental Questionnaire).

001.046SERIES. Two or more classes similar in duties, but differing primarily in level of difficulty, responsibility, knowledge, abilities and skills needed and supervision exercised or received. The Director determines what classes constitute a series.

001.047SERVICE DATE. Date from which an employee's vacation and sick leave entitlement is computed. This is the date of hire minus the number of calendar days of unauthorized leaves of longer than one day, suspensions without pay, leaves of absences exceeding 14 calendar days (except military leaves) and/or any breaks in service as allowed by Chapter 9.

001.048STATE PERSONNEL SYSTEM. All state agencies and positions not excluded by Neb. Rev. Stat. § 81-1316 or subsequent legal decisions.

001.049SUSPENSION. An involuntary leave of absence with or without pay.

001.050TEMPORARY EMPLOYEE. An employee hired for a limited period of time in one of three categories:

(1) for less than six months;

(2) for six to 12 months or 2080 hours; or

(3) term for grant funded positions or special projects.

001.051TEMPORARY POSITION. A full-time or part-time position is not worked on an ongoing and continuous basis.

001.052TRANSFER OF EMPLOYEE. The voluntary movement of an employee from one position to another position within an agency or to another agency without a break in service

273 Neb. Admin. Code, ch. 2, § 001

Adopted effective 12/21/2021

Amended effective 6/14/2023