Utah Admin. Code 477-1-1

Current through Bulletin 2024-19, October 1, 2024

Section 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.

Utah Admin. Code R477-1-1

Amended by Utah State Bulletin Number 2015-14, effective 7/1/2015

Amended by Utah State Bulletin Number 2016-14, effective 7/1/2016

Amended by Utah State Bulletin Number 2017-2, effective 1/1/2017

Amended by Utah State Bulletin Number 2017-14, effective 7/1/2017

Amended by Utah State Bulletin Number 2017-18, effective 8/30/2017

Amended by Utah State Bulletin Number 2018-14, effective 7/1/2018

Amended by Utah State Bulletin Number 2019-14, effective 7/1/2019

Amended by Utah State Bulletin Number 2020-13, effective 7/1/2020

Amended by Utah State Bulletin Number 2021-14, effective 7/1/2021

Amended by Utah State Bulletin Number 2022-13, effective 7/1/2022

Amended by Utah State Bulletin Number 2023-13, effective 7/1/2023

Amended by Utah State Bulletin Number 2024-14, effective 7/3/2024