For the purpose of this chapter, the following definitions shall apply unless the context clearly indicates or requires a different meaning.
ABSENCE WITHOUT LEAVE. An unauthorized absence during which the employee will be placed on leave without pay and is subject to appropriate disciplinary action.
APPEAL. A request for a hearing before the City Personnel Board.
APPOINTING AUTHORITY. The person or persons in any department, or a designated representative, possessing the lawful authority to make appointment to or remove from positions of employment.
APPOINTMENT. The hiring of a person for a position in accordance with City Personnel Board rules.
BOARD. The City Personnel Board.
CALENDAR DAYS. Any period of consecutive days to include weekends and holidays.
CERTIFICATION. The act of asserting that the persons whose names are submitted to an appointing authority on a certified list are eligible for appointment.
CITY. The City of Raton, New Mexico, including duly authorized agents and representatives of city government.
CITY MANAGER. The chief administrative officer for the city as specified in NMSA § 3-14-14.
CLASS. All positions sufficiently similar in authority, responsibilities, duties, and minimum qualifications required, so that the same class specification is used.
CLASS SPECIFICATION. A written statement of the duties and responsibilities characteristic of a class, including class title; supervision exercised and received; typical guidelines available; examples of work performed; distinguishing characteristics; minimum qualifications or substitutions thereof which specify education, training, experience, knowledge, abilities, and skills required; physical requirements; and working conditions.
CLASSIFIED EMPLOYEE. A full- or part-time employee who has completed the probationary period, who shall be disciplined only for cause, and who is entitled to all the rights and benefits of the Raton Personnel Ordinance. A classified employee must be specifically designated on a personnel action form which will be made part of the employee’s personnel file.
COMPENSATION PLAN. A plan which establishes for each class in the classification plan a salary range which consists of minimum and maximum salaries.
COMPENSATORY TIME. Those hours granted in lieu of overtime pay to a nonexempt employee, as defined by the Fair Labor Standards Act, on the basis of 1 and ½ hours’ compensatory time for each hour of overtime worked in excess of 40 hours in 1 work week.
DEMOTION. The change of an employee who for disciplinary reasons was moved from 1 class to a lower paid class. Salary shall be reduced accordingly.
DEPARTMENT. Any city DEPARTMENT or administrative group which is under the same appointing authority.
EMPLOYEE ORGANIZATION. Any lawful association or labor organization, the primary purpose of which is to represent classified employees concerning matters within the scope of collective bargaining as set forth in this chapter, but it does not include any organization:
(1) Which advocates the overthrow of the constitutional form of government in the United States by other than lawful means;
(2) Which discriminates with regard to the terms or conditions of membership because of race, color, sex, creed, age, national origin, medical condition, religion, reprisal, handicap, or ancestry; or
(3) Which has a primary purpose other than representing employees in collective bargaining with their employer, or other than as an association or organization formed for the advancement of, or on behalf of, a specific profession or vocation.
EMPLOYEE PERFORMANCE EVALUATION. An objective, written appraisal of an employee’s performance of his or her assigned duties on a form approved by the City Manager.
EMPLOYMENT LIST OF CERTIFIED ELIGIBLES. A list of names, obtained from an eligible list from which an applicant can be appointed to fill a position.
EXAMINATION. Any formal method of determining an applicant’s suitability for a classified position, whether by written, oral, performance, or physical test; medical exam; background check; performance evaluation; or review of education, training, and experience; or any combination thereof.
EXEMPT EMPLOYEE. All executive, administrative, and professional employees as those terms are defined in the Department of Labor regulations relating to the Fair Labor Standards Act, and whose compensation is based on a fixed annual salary.
F.L.S.A. The Fair Labor Standards Act, including any amendments.
FULL-TIME EMPLOYEE. Any position with a work schedule of a 40-hour work week.
INJURY LEAVE/STATUS. Employees injured in the performance of their duties and who, as a result of the injuries, receive benefits under the Workman’s Compensation Act of New Mexico and are certified by a physician to be incapable of performing their job shall be placed on injury status. Injury pay shall be charged against accrued sick or annual leave and will be provided for each regular work shift occurring during the first 7 calendar days following the injury. After the first 7 days, employees may use accrued sick leave annual leave to supplement their workman’s compensation up to their normal pay. While on injury status, no employee benefits, including, but not limited to, seniority, paid holidays, sick leave, P.E.R.A. retirement, social security, and annual leave shall be accrued. In addition, any clothing allowance, longevity pay, meal allowance, or any other fringe benefits will not be paid for the time on INJURY LEAVE/STATUS. The employee must pay monthly the proportionate share of the group health and life insurance premium in order to remain in the group while on injury status. The position of employees on injury status in excess of 130 working days, including holidays, in any given 12-month period will be placed in medical layoff status and their previous position may be filled.
INSUBORDINATION. Refusal to perform a reasonable directive from a supervisor.
LAYOFF. The abolishment of a position by approved authorization change, and the subsequent dismissal from the service, without fault on the part of the employee, due to reorganization, lack of work, or lack of funds.
LEAVE. An authorized absence, with or without pay, during regularly scheduled work hours which is approved by proper authority.
LENGTH OF SERVICE. The total time an individual has served in the city classified service.
MEDICAL LAYOFF/STATUS. Employees laid off after being on injury leave/status in excess of 130 working days, including holidays, in any given 12-month period. Medically-laid off employees shall receive no employee benefits, as any other laid off employee, but may remain in the group health insurance plan upon prompt monthly payment of 100% of the premium. Nonpayment will be considered a voluntary withdrawal from the group health insurance plan. Medically-laid off employees shall receive priority for re-employment for future vacant positions for which the former employee is qualified. The former employee must make written application and request re-employment and must be certified as fit for the job without risk of re-injury by the former employee’s health care provider.
NONEXEMPT EMPLOYEE. All employees who are not exempt employees as defined in Department of Labor regulations relating to the Fair Labor Standards Act. NONEXEMPT EMPLOYEES shall receive overtime pay or compensatory time off for actual hours worked in excess of 40 hours per work week.
OFFICER OF A POLITICAL ORGANIZATION. Any official of recognized or legally constituted organization, on file at the Secretary of State’s office, including, but not limited to, member of the state or county central committee of any political party; officials of the campaign committee of any candidate for partisan political office, precinct, or division officers. (For classified city employees, an election official, election judge, or clerk are not considered to be OFFICERS OF A POLITICAL PARTY.)
OPEN-COMPETITIVE EXAMINATION. An examination for which all applicants meeting the minimum requirements for admission are eligible to compete.
OVERTIME. Shall be paid only when OVERTIME work is authorized by the department head, and only to nonexempt employees. The rate shall be 1½ times regular pay for each hour of OVERTIME and the payment shall be made only in cases when a nonexempt employee works over 40 “actual work hours” in a normal work week. Holiday, vacation, sick, and other leave hours shall not be considered actual working hours. Fair Labor Standards Act-exempt employees shall not receive OVERTIME pay.
PART-TIME EMPLOYEE. A position in which the employee works between 20 hours and 39 hours per week. Part-time classified employees will receive their benefits on a pro rata basis.
POLITICAL OFFICE. A political position to which an individual may be elected within the state, including, but not limited to, state, county, and municipal elected positions, even if conducted along nonpartisan lines. For purposes of the city personnel ordinance, being a member of a local school board or an election official shall not be construed to be holding a POLITICAL OFFICE.
POLITICAL ORGANIZATION. A group of individuals who have organized primarily for the purpose of influencing the outcome of an election to support candidates on the local, state, or national level.
POSITION. A combination of duties regularly assigned to be performed by 1 person.
PROBATIONARY EMPLOYEE. Upon initial employment, all employees hired for nontemporary positions shall be probationary for a period not to exceed 6 months. The employee shall be evaluated by the respective department head and a recommendation made to the City Manager as to nonprobationary status or to continue the probation. The City Manager may extend the probationary period for 1 additional 6-month period beyond the initial 6-month probationary period. A PROBATIONARY EMPLOYEE is terminable at will and receives no employee benefits, but does accrue sick leave and annual leave, paid holidays, and is entitled to grieve personnel action up to the level of the City Manager. Leave may be taken only after successful completion of the probationary period. All PROBATIONARY EMPLOYEES, without exception, shall be entitled to enroll in the city health insurance plan after completion of the initial 6-month period, even if probation is extended for an additional 6 months.
PROBATIONARY PERIOD/STATUS. The trial working period of 6 months following a probationary appointment, during which time the work performance and conduct of the individual is evaluated to determine if classified status is merited. The City Manager may extend probation by an additional 6-month period.
PROFESSIONAL EMPLOYEE/PROFESSIONAL POSITION. Any city employee or position engaged in work:
(1) Which is predominately intellectual and varied in character as opposed to routine manual, mechanical, or physical work;
(2) Which involves the consistent exercise of discretion and judgment in its performance;
(3) Which is of a character that the output produced or the result accomplished cannot be standardized in relation to a given time period; and/or
(4) Which requires knowledge of an advanced type in a field of science or learning customarily acquired by a prolonged course of specialized intellectual instruction and study in an institution of higher learning or hospital, as distinguished from an apprenticeship or from training in the performance or routine mental, manual, or physical processes.
PROMOTION. The change of an employee from 1 class to a higher paid class. The employee’s salary will be increased accordingly.
PROMOTIONAL PERIOD. A period of 3 months following a promotion during which time an employee’s work performance and conduct is evaluated to determine performance in the higher classification. An employee in this status may be placed back to the previous class if performance is unsatisfactory.
RANGE. The minimum and maximum salaries established for a class.
RATING. A formal evaluation of training and experience.
RECLASSIFICATION. Reassignment of a classified position to another classification.
RE-EMPLOYMENT LIST. List of names eligible for mandatory reinstatement due to layoff or termination due to work-related injury.
REINSTATEMENT. The appointment of a former employee to a position in a class in which he or she had previously attained permanent status, or to an equivalent or lower class. REINSTATEMENT is in probationary status.
RESIGNATION. A voluntary separation of an employee from his or her position in the city service.
RETIREMENT. The separation of an employee from his or her position in the city service in accordance with the provisions of the Public Employees Retirement Act.
SELECTION. Choosing an applicant for appointment from a certified employment list.
STRIKE. The willful failure to report for duty, the willful absence from one’s position, the stoppage of work, or the abstinence of the duties of employment by a city employee or a group of employees for the purpose of inducing, influencing, or coercing a change in the conditions, or the rights, privileges, or obligations of employment.
SUPERVISOR/SUPERVISORY POSITION. Any nonelected individual having authority in interest of the city as employer to hire, transfer, suspend, lay off, recall, promote, discharge, assign, or discipline other employees, or to adjust their grievances, or effectively recommend any of the aforementioned action; if in connection with the foregoing, the exercise of the authority is not of a merely routine or clerical nature, but requires the use of independent judgment.
SUSPENSION. An enforced leave of absence without pay for a period not to exceed 30 calendar days for disciplinary reasons or pending investigation of charges made against an employee.
TEMPORARY EMPLOYEE. An employee who temporarily fills a position vacant due to the temporary absence of an employee or other requirement. Temporary employment will not normally exceed a 6-month period. The City Manager may extend this period by 2 months. TEMPORARY EMPLOYEES include seasonal employees. All TEMPORARY EMPLOYEES are terminable at will, do not accrue leave, pay retirement premiums, or receive employee benefits.
TERM EMPLOYEE. Any employee hired for a specific time period of a duration limited by an employment agreement. Employee benefits and conditions of employment will be as set out in each specific employment agreement.
TRANSFER. The movement of an employee from 1 city department to a position in another city department in a different class from which minimum qualifications are met having the same salary range.
UNCLASSIFIED EMPLOYEE. Unclassified employees include: the City Manager, supervisors, professionals, department heads, and 1 administrative assistant to each of the above; and temporary, term, and probationary employees; and government-funded employees.
(1981 Code, § 20-17) (Ord. 823, passed 1-22-1991)