(A) Purpose.
(1) POSITION CLASSIFICATION refers to the organizing of positions into groups of classes on the basis of their duties and qualification requirements. Position classification will facilitate proper employee compensation, selection, placement, promotion and training.
(2) The basic purpose of a personnel management system is to assist in hiring and retaining well-qualified employees. This means the development of fair and equitable recruitment, selection, promotion, pay and fringe benefit programs. Employees’ salaries will be based on the value of the services they render. All parts of an effective personnel management system work together toward these goals.
(B) Administration of the plan.
(1) A classification plan is not intended to fix positions permanently into classes. Instead, the plan must be reviewed continually to adapt to changing conditions. It is recommended that plan administration include responsibility for reviewing existing or new positions for purposes of classification, reclassification and pay level determinations. However, all changes are subject to the approval of the Fiscal Court.
(2) The county should normally conduct a comprehensive periodic review of the classification plan. Between comprehensive reviews, county officials responsible for personnel should conduct work audits of various positions to assure that the plan is current and corresponds with existing conditions.
(3) Three specific types of changes in the plan itself are possible:
(a) Abolition of a class. A class shall be abolished when all positions in a class are abolished or when positions are significantly changed in the nature of work, duties and responsibilities so that the class becomes inappropriate, inaccurate or irrelevant.
(b) Adjustment or revision of a class. A class specification shall be adjusted or revised to meet changing circumstances and needs. Minor rewriting of class specifications will suffice in most cases.
(c) Creation of a new class. A new class shall be created when new work situations arise that are not covered by the established class specifications. New classes must be justified, and reflect substantially permanent rather than temporary situations. All proposed changes shall be carefully scrutinized to maintain service morale, validity of class concepts and integrity of class relationships established in the classification and pay plans.
(C) Position classification plan.
(1) Definitions. For the purpose of this section, the following definitions shall apply unless the context clearly indicates or requires a different meaning.
CLASS. A position or group of positions that have similar duties and responsibilities, required qualifications and can be equitably compensated by the same wage range.
CLASS SERIES. Consists of two or more classes which are substantially similar as to the types of work involved and differ only in rank as determined by the importance of the duties, degree of responsibility, and amount of training and experience required. Titles usually are differentiated by I, II and the like.
CLASS SPECIFICATION. The official written description of a class and consists of a class title, a general statement of the duties and responsibilities and level of work, essential functions to be performed, required skills and abilities, acceptable experience and training and necessary special requirements, if any.
CLASSIFICATION PLAN. The official or approved system of grouping positions into appropriate classes and includes an index to the class specification, a list allocating each existing position to proposed or existing classes and rules for the administration of the plan.
EMPLOYEE. An individual legally employed to perform the duties and carry out the responsibilities of a position. For classification purposes, it is the duties and responsibilities of the position, not the employee, that must be considered.
POSITION. A group of currently assigned duties and responsibilities requiring the full or part-time employment of one person.
POSITION CLASSIFICATION.
1. A system of identifying and describing the different kinds of work in an organization and grouping together under common job titles those positions which are basically similar with respect to:
a. The nature of work;
b. The level of difficulty;
c. Degree of responsibility; and
d. Training and experience requirements.
2. POSITION CLASSIFICATION groups similar positions into the same class so they may receive common treatment in employment practices.
(2) Uses of position classification.
(a) Position classification is the foundation upon which are constructed all major phases of a personnel program. Each class specification contains an analysis of the nature and degree of difficulty and responsibility involved in the work of the class and provides a statement of the qualifications that are required for successfully performing its duties and responsibilities.
(b) For the administration, the position classification plan:
1. Forms the basis of an objective recruitment program;
2. May be used by each department head in perfecting or revising organizational structure, clarifying lines of authority, fixing responsibility and weighing personnel requirements;
3. Provides the background information for setting salary and wage plans to assure equal pay for equal work;
4. Serves as the basis for establishment of work-related written, oral, performance or other examinations; employee efficiency rating programs; employee training and counseling; regulations governing original employment, promotion, transfer, demotion, layoff and discharge; safety programs; and research studies;
5. Provides uniform job terminology for payroll activities and for the use of all persons concerned with personnel activities;
6. Facilitates the processes of budgeting and the most advantageous placement and use of personnel; and
7. Keeps management informed of personnel assignments at all times and helps locate duplication of functions, faulty organizations and bottlenecks in the flow of work; assists in planning for increases or decreases in work loads; and, generally, provides information necessary for practically all problems involving the management of personnel.
(c) For the employee, a well-developed position classification plan:
1. Gives the employee a better concept of the activities of his or her own department, of his or her own work assignment and of the county services as a whole;
2. Shows them avenues of advancement, which may serve as an incentive to improve their status through more intensive attention to duties and by securing additional training or education;
3. Allows them to see the position and its duties and responsibilities rather than the person occupying the position. An objective look at his or her own position and other positions may answer many questions that have affected an employee’s morale. The position classification plan shows the employee that classification and pay are based on the level of difficulty of assigned duties and responsibilities, not on how well the employee is performing his or her duties when the supervisor evaluates for purposes of salary increments or promotion; and
4. Assures the employee that his or her position has been reviewed objectively in relation to other positions and that political and other unrelated considerations have not been used as the basis of its classification and pay.
(Ord. 4-2014, passed 7-31-2014, § 3.64)