In this chapter:
(1) ADMINISTRATIVE TERMINATION means termination because of death, disability, service retirement, or end of a temporary assignment.
(2) APPOINTMENT means:
(A) initial city employment; or
(B) placement into a position of department director, assistant department director, or other managerial personnel designated by the city council in accordance with Section 11, Chapter XVI of the city charter, regardless of whether the placement was through a competitive or noncompetitive selection process.
(3) ASSIGNMENT PAY means additional compensation for specialized duties as established by the salary and classification schedule.
(4) AUTHORIZED POSITION means an individual position described by a specific classification title and approved by the city council. Any change to an authorized position requires city council approval.
(5) BASE HOURLY RATE OF PAY means the hourly rate of an employee's base salary as established in the salary and classification schedule for nonexempt employees.
(6) BENEFIT means an employer-sponsored program that includes, but is not limited to, paid leave and health and life insurance benefits, but does not include wages, merit increases, service credit, or seniority.
(7) BREAK IN SERVICE means termination for one or more work days as a result of:
(A) administrative termination, resignation, reduction in force, or discharge, followed by reappointment; or
(B) leave of absence without pay for more than six consecutive calendar weeks, except to the extent that the leave without pay is authorized by federal or state law.
(8) CITY means the city of Dallas, Texas.
(9) CIVIL SERVICE BOARD means the civil service board of the city.
(10) CLASSIFICATION means all positions, regardless of departmental location, that are sufficiently alike in duties and responsibilities to:
(A) be called by the same descriptive title;
(B) be accorded the same pay scale under like conditions; and
(C) require substantially the same education, experience, and skills.
(11) CLASSIFICATION CHANGE means revision of a position title that may include an adjustment of pay range.
(12) CLASSIFIED POSITION means a position that is subject to civil service rules and regulations as designated by the city charter.
(13) DEMOTION means a demotion as defined in Section 34-12(a) of this chapter.
(14) DISCHARGE means involuntary termination.
(15) EMPLOYEE means a person employed and paid a salary or wages by the city, whether under civil service or not, and includes a person on a part-time basis, but does not include an independent contractor or city council member.
(16) EMPLOYEES’ RETIREMENT FUND BOARD means the board of trustees of the employees’ retirement fund of the city of Dallas.
(17) EXEMPT EMPLOYEE means an exempt employee as defined by the Fair Labor Standards Act, as amended.
(18) FAMILY AND MEDICAL LEAVE ACT means the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 (29 U.S.C.A. §§ 2601 et seq.), as amended.
(19) FAMILY LEAVE means authorized leave as provided for in the Family and Medical Leave Act.
(20) FIRE DEPARTMENT means the fire-rescue department of the city.
(21) Reserved.
(22) FURLOUGH LEAVE means time off from work when employees are placed in a temporary non- duty, non-pay status for required budgetary reasons.
(23) GENDER IDENTITY AND EXPRESSION means an individual's real or perceived gender identity as male, female, both, or neither.
(24) GRADE means a division of a salary and classification schedule with specified rates or ranges of pay.
(25) GRIEVANCE means an employee’s formal, written complaint regarding work conditions that the employee claims have been adversely affected by a violation, misinterpretation, or misapplication of a specific law, ordinance, resolution, policy, rule, or regulation.
(26) IMMEDIATE FAMILY MEMBER means:
(A) a husband, wife, father, mother, father-in-law, mother-in-law, son, daughter, foster child, brother, or sister of an employee; or
(B) any person related to an employee by blood or marriage and who resides in the same household as the employee.
(27) INTERNAL APPEAL means an administrative appeal to which an employee may be entitled under this chapter, this code, the city charter, or departmental regulations.
(28) LEAVE WITHOUT PAY means an authorized temporary absence without pay.
(29) MANDATORY CITY LEAVE means paid leave that is provided to employees by the city as a result of budget-related pay reductions.
(30) MERIT INCREASE means a discretionary increase in salary based on performance.
(31) MILITARY LEAVE means authorized leave to perform duties in the military service as provided for in:
(A) the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act;
(B) Chapter 431 of the Texas Government Code, as amended; and
(C) Chapter 613 of the Texas Government Code, as amended.
(32) MILITARY SERVICE means:
(A) the uniformed services, as defined in the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act;
(B) the state militia, as defined in Chapter 431 of the Texas Government Code, as amended; and
(C) the military service, as defined in Chapter 613 of the Texas Government Code, as amended.
(33) NON-CIVIL SERVICE EMPLOYEE means an employee who fills a position that is exempt from the provisions applicable to the civil service, as designated by the city charter. Non-civil service employees include:
(A) employees of the legal department, the city manager’s office, the city auditor’s office, the city secretary’s office, the library department, the park and recreation department, and the radio department (WRR);
(B) municipal court judges; and
(C) city council office staff.
(34) NONEXEMPT EMPLOYEE means a nonexempt employee as defined by the Fair Labor Standards Act, as amended.
(35) PAID LEAVE means sick leave, vacation leave, holiday leave, court leave, death-in-family leave, no more than 21 days of military leave each fiscal year as required by state law, parental leave, quarantine leave, mental health leave, compassionate leave, and mandatory city leave.
(35.1) PERMANENT EMPLOYEE means an employee who is not a temporary employee. A permanent employee's employment with the city may be terminated based on a reduction-in-force, for cause, or for any reason not prohibited by this chapter, the city charter, or federal, state, or local law.
(36) POLICE AND FIRE PENSION BOARD means the board of trustees of the police and fire pension system of the city of Dallas.
(37) POSITION means a collection of tasks, duties, and responsibilities regularly assigned to and performed by an individual.
(38) PROBATION:
(A) Probation means a minimum six-month period:
(i) after initial appointment, during which an employee can be terminated without right of appeal; or
(ii) after promotion, during which an employee can be:
(aa) returned to the previous position, if a retreat right to the previous position exists; or
(bb) terminated without right of appeal, if no retreat right exists.
(B) Probation may be extended to allow:
(i) six months on-the-job work performance; or
(ii) completion of any written prerequisites to employment.
(C) Probation does not apply to positions in departments exempt from civil service, and employees in those positions do not serve a probationary period.
(D) The service of a probationary period or the successful completion of a probationary period does not convey upon, imply, or intend to imply that an employee has a property interest in continued employment or a contract of employment with the city.
(39) PROMOTION means an increase in grade with a resulting increase in salary due to placement in a position as a result of a competitive or noncompetitive selection process.
(39.1) PRORATED SALARY RATE means a proportionate salary rate based on the annual salary divided by the employee's standard annual work hours for exempt employees.
(40) REAPPOINTMENT means re-employment of a former city employee.
(41) REASSIGNMENT means a change of an employee to an equivalent position (same grade) within the same department.
(42) REDUCTION IN FORCE means a reduction in the number of budgeted positions due to a change in work or funds.
(43) REGULAR RATE OF PAY means a nonexempt employee's base hourly rate of pay or a prorated salary rate for exempt employees plus additional payments as established in the salary and classification schedule.
(44) RESIGNATION means a voluntary termination.
(45) SALARY AND CLASSIFICATION SCHEDULE means a city council-approved resolution that establishes all position classifications for city employment and the corresponding pay rates.
(46) SERVICE CREDIT means the total duration of city employment, less any adjustments for breaks in service.
(47) SEXUAL ORIENTATION means the actual or perceived status of an individual with respect to the individual’s sexuality. Heterosexual, homosexual, and bisexual are examples of sexual orientation.
(48) SHIFT DIFFERENTIAL PAY means additional compensation for regularly scheduled work hours outside of the city’s normal business hours, as specifically described in administrative directives of the city.
(49) STEP means one salary increment within a grade for a sworn police or fire department employee.
(50) SUSPENSION means unpaid disciplinary leave for a specified period of time.
(51) SWORN EMPLOYEES OF THE POLICE DEPARTMENT means:
(A) police officers and all related classifications, including trainee police officers; and
(B) park rangers and all classifications above park ranger in the same classification family.
(52) TASKING means release from duty upon completion of assigned work before the scheduled end of the work day.
(52.1) TEMPORARY EMPLOYEE means an employee who has been designated as temporary pursuant to Section 34-8.
(53) TERMINATION means cessation of employment with the city.
(54) TRANSFER means the change of an employee from a position in one department to an equivalent position (same grade) in another department, but that does not result in either promotion or demotion.
(55) UNCLASSIFIED POSITION means an unclassified civil service position as designated by Section 3, Chapter XVI of the city charter.
(56) UNIFORMED SERVICES EMPLOYMENT AND REEMPLOYMENT RIGHTS ACT means the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act of 1994 (38 U.S.C.A. §§ 4301 et seq.), as amended.
(57) WORK WEEK means the seven- day period from Wednesday through Tuesday.