SECTION 260:25-1-2. Definitions

  In addition to terms defined in OAC 455:10 1 2, the following words and terms, when used in the Merit Rules, shall have the following meaning, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise.

"Absence without leave" and "unauthorized absence" means any absence of an employee from duty without specific approval.

"Absolute preference veteran" means a veteran eligible for placement at the top of registers for appointment to the classified service because of a service-connected disability of 30% or more.

"Act" means the Oklahoma Personnel Act.

"Administrator" means the Director of the Office of Management and Enterprise Services. As the term is used in the Merit Rules, the term includes employees and the Administrator of the Human Capital Management Division of the Office of Management and Enterprise Services to whom the Administrator has lawfully delegated authority to act on his or her behalf. The term, as used in the Merit rules, may also include Appointing Authorities to whom the Administrator has delegated authority under a duly executed delegation agreement.

"Adverse impact" or "disparate impact" means a substantially different rate of selection in hiring, promotion, or other employment decision which works to the disadvantage of members of a race, sex, or ethnic group. A common yardstick for determining adverse impact is the "4/5ths rule" which indicates adverse impact if the selection rate for any protected group is less than 4/5ths (80%) of the selection rate of the group with the highest selection rate.

"Agency" means any office, department, board, commission or institution of the executive branch of state government [74:840 1.3].

"Allocation" or "Position allocation" means the process by which the Human Capital Management Division designates a position to an established job family. A position is allocated on the basis of duties, authority, responsibilities, classification guides, and other appropriate factors.

"Appointing authority" means the chief administrative officer of an agency [74:840 1.3]. As the term is used in the Merit Rules, the term includes employees of an agency to whom the Appointing Authority has lawfully delegated authority to act on his or her behalf.

"Assignment" or "Position assignment" in the context of position allocation means the process by which an Appointing Authority designates a position to an established job family level.

"Balanced and representative work force" means a work force whose composition at all levels approximates the composition of the relevant civilian labor force in terms of race, sex, and ethnicity.

"Base pay", "base rate", or "base salary" means the hourly rate or salary established for a job performed. It does not include shift differentials, benefits, overtime, incentives, longevity, or any other pay elements.

"Break in service" means a period of time in excess of thirty (30) days during which an employee is not present at work and is not in paid leave status or on approved leave without pay.

"Career progression" means a type of intra-agency promotion in which an employee is advanced from one level of a job family to a higher non-supervisory level in the same job family.

"Certification", in the context of initial classified appointments, means the submission of available names of eligibles from the appropriate register to an Appointing Authority. Such a list is called a "certificate" or "e-list". Individuals whose names appear on the certificate are said to be "certified". In the context of all other types of appointments, certification means the determination by the Office, or by an Appointing Authority to whom the Administrator has delegated authority, that a candidate possesses permanent classified status or is eligible for reinstatement to permanent classified status, and meets requirements for appointment to a specified job in the classified service.

"Classification" means:

(A)   the process of placing an employee into an appropriate job family and level within the job family, consistent with the allocation of the position to which the employee is assigned, or

(B)   an employee's job family and the level at which work is assigned [74:840 1.3].

"Classification plan" means the orderly arrangement of positions within an agency into separate and distinct job families so that each job family will contain those positions which involve similar or comparable skills, duties and responsibilities [74:840 1.3].

"Classified employee" means an employee in the classified service, or an employee currently on leave from the classified service in accordance with established Merit Rules governing leave.

"Classified service" means state employees and positions under the jurisdiction of the Oklahoma Merit System of Personnel Administration [74: 840 1.3].

"Commission" means the Oklahoma Merit Protection Commission [74:840 1.3].

"Compensation plan" means a schedule of salaries or hourly wages established for the jobs recognized in the agency classification plan so that all positions of a given job within an agency may be paid the same salary range established for the job.

"Consider" means a reasonable judgment based on job related criteria and on an individual's fitness for duties for initial or internal appointment.

"Demotion" means the reclassification of a classified employee to a different job with a lower pay band assignment or to a lower level within the same job family. Demotion may be voluntary or involuntary.

"Direct reclassification" means a change made in a classified employee's classification by an Appointing Authority as a result of the adoption of a new or revised job family descriptor.

"Discharge" is defined in 455:10 11 3.

"Displacement" or "displace" means the process of an employee accepting an offer of employment to an occupied or funded vacant position [74:840-2.27B].

"EEO Job Categories", as used in the context of affirmative action/equal employment opportunity, means the following occupational categories:

(A)   Officials and Administrators: Occupations in which employees set broad policies, exercise overall responsibility for execution of these policies, or direct individual departments or special phases of the agency's operations, or provide specialized consultation on a regional, district, or area basis.

(B)   Professionals: Occupations which require specialized and theoretical knowledge which is usually acquired through college training or through work experience and other training which provides comparable knowledge.

(C)   Technicians: Occupations which require a combination of basic scientific or technical knowledge and manual skill which can be obtained through specialized post-secondary school education or through equivalent on-the-job training.

(D)   Protective Service Workers: Occupations in which workers are entrusted with public safety, security and protection from destructive forces.

(E)   Paraprofessionals: Occupations in which workers perform some of the duties of a professional or technician in a supportive role, which usually require less formal training and/or experience normally required for professional or technical status.

(F)   Administrative Support (Including Clerical and Sales): Occupations in which workers are responsible for internal and external communication, recording and retrieval of data and/or information and other paperwork required in an office.

(G)   Skilled Craft Workers: Occupations in which workers perform jobs which require special manual skill and a thorough and comprehensive knowledge of the processes involved in the work which is acquired through on-the-job training and experience or through apprenticeship or other formal training programs.

(H)   Service-Maintenance: Occupations in which workers perform duties which result in or contribute to the comfort, convenience, hygiene or safety of the general public or which contribute to the upkeep and care of buildings, facilities or grounds of public property.

"Eligible" means a person who has met all requirements for appointment to a given job.

"Employee" or "state employee" means an elected or appointed officer or employee of an agency unless otherwise indicated [74:840 1.3].

"Entrance examination" means any employment test used by the Office of Management and Enterprise Services to rank the names of applicants who possess the minimum requirements of education, experience, or licensure for a job or group of similar jobs on a register of eligibles established by the Office of Management and Enterprise Services [74:840-1.3].

"Executive Director" means the appointing authority of the Oklahoma Merit Protection Commission [74:840 1.3].

"FLSA" means the federal Fair Labor Standards Act.

"FLSA exempt" means employees performing work which is considered to be exempt from the overtime payment provisions of the FLSA.

"FLSA non-exempt" means employees performing work which is considered to be under the overtime payment provisions of the FLSA.

"Hiring range" means a range within a pay band within which an Appointing Authority may establish the initial rate of pay for a given job.

"Hiring rate" means the initial rate of pay for a given job within the pay band assigned to the job family level.

"Hiring rule" refers to the names of the top 10 available eligibles certified to an Appointing Authority by the Administrator.

"Human Capital Management Division" as used within the Merit Rules means the Human Capital Management Division of the Office of Management and Enterprise Services.

"Initial appointment" or "original appointment" means the act of an Appointing Authority hiring a person, usually from a certificate, for a probationary period. Contrast the meaning of these terms with "internal action" and "internal appointment" which are also defined in this Section.

"Interagency transfer" means an action in which an employee leaves employment with one agency and enters employment with another agency while continuously employed with the state [74:840 1.3].

"Internal action" or "Internal appointment" means the reclassification of a current employee or the reinstatement, recall or reemployment from a Priority Reemployment Consideration Roster of a former employee.

"Intra-agency transfer" means moving an employee from one position to another position with the same agency either with or without reclassification [74:840 1.3].

"Job" means a position or job family level in a job family [74:840-1.3].

"Job family" means:

(A)   jobs which require similar core skills and involve similar work, and

(B)   a logical progression of roles in a specific type of occupation in which the differences between roles are related to the depth and breadth of experience at various levels within the job family and which are sufficiently similar in duties and requirements of the work to warrant similar treatment as to title, typical functions, knowledge, skills and abilities required, and education and experience requirements [74:840-1.3].

"Job family descriptor" means a written document that:

(A)   describes a job family, including, but not limited to, the basic purpose, typical functions performed, various levels within the job family, and the knowledge, skills, abilities, education, and experience required for each level, and

(B)   identifies the pay band assigned for each level [74:840-1.3].

"Job family level" or "level" means a role in a job family having distinguishable characteristics such as knowledge, skills, abilities, education, and experience [74:840-1.3].

"Job-related organization" means a membership association which collects annual dues, conducts annual meetings and provides job-related education for its members and which includes state employees, including any association for which payroll deductions for membership dues are authorized pursuant to paragraph 5 of subsection B of Section 7.10 of Title 62 of the Oklahoma Statutes [74:840 1.3].

"Lateral transfer" means the reassignment of an employee to another state job with the same pay band assignment as the job family level in which the employee was classified prior to the lateral transfer [74:840 1.3].

"Leave of absence without pay" means leave or time off from duty granted by the Appointing Authority, for which period the employee receives no pay.

"Manifest imbalance" means representation of females, Blacks, Hispanics, Asian/Pacific Islanders and American Indians/Alaskan natives in specific job groups or EEO job categories within the agency's work force that is substantially below its representation in the appropriate civilian labor force.

"Merit Rules" or "Merit Rules for Employment" or "Merit System of Personnel Administration Rules" means rules adopted by the Director of the Office of Management and Enterprise Services or the Oklahoma Merit Protection Commission pursuant to the Oklahoma Personnel Act [74:840 1.3]. Merit Rules adopted by the Administrator are in OAC 260:25, and Merit Rules adopted by the Commission are in OAC 455:10.

"Merit System" means the Oklahoma Merit System of Personnel Administration [74:840 1.3].

"Minimum qualifications" means the requirements of education, training, experience and other basic qualifications for a job.

"Minority" means a person who appears to belong, identify with, or is regarded in the community as belonging to one of the following racial or ethnic groups:

(A)   "Black", meaning all persons having origins in any of the Black racial groups of Africa;

(B)   "Hispanic", meaning all persons of Mexican, Puerto Rican, Cuban, Central or South American, or other Spanish culture or origin, regardless of race;

(C)   "Asian or Pacific Islander", meaning all persons having origins in any of the original peoples of the Far East, Southeast Asia, the Indian Subcontinent, or the Pacific Islands. This area includes, for example, China, Japan, Korea, the Philippine Islands, and Samoa.

(D)   "American Indian or Alaskan Native", meaning all persons having origins in any of the original peoples of North America, and who maintain cultural identification through tribal affiliation or community recognition. For affirmative action purposes, persons who are reported as American Indian shall verify tribal affiliation by providing a certificate of Degree of Indian Blood from the U.S. Department of Interior, Bureau of Indian Affairs, or by providing the name and address of tribal officials who can verify tribal affiliation [74:840 2.1].

"New position" means a position not previously existing.

"Noncompetitive appointment" means the appointment of a person to a noncompetitive job level within a job family [74:840 1.3].

"Noncompetitive job" means an unskilled or semiskilled job designated by the Office of Management and Enterprise Services as noncompetitive. Noncompetitive jobs do not require written examinations for placement on registers of eligibles [74:840 1.3].

"Office" means the Office of Management and Enterprise Services [74:840 1.3].

"Office of Management and Enterprise Services" as used within the Merit Rules, includes the Human Capital Management Division of the Office of Management and Enterprise Services.

"Oklahoma Personnel Act" means Sections 840 1.1 et seq. of Title 74 of the Oklahoma Statutes, creating the Merit System of Personnel Administration and any amendments or supplements.

"Part-time employee" means an employee who works less than full time.

"Pay band" means the pay range assigned to a job family level.

"Payline" means the relationship between a job's pay, its job evaluation points, and market survey data.

"Permanent employee" means a classified employee who has acquired permanent status in the classified service according to the Act and the Merit Rules.

"Position" means a group of specific duties, tasks and responsibilities assigned by the Appointing Authority to be performed by one person; a position may be part time or full time, temporary or permanent, occupied or vacant.

"Priority reemployment consideration" means the requirement that Appointing Authorities consider eligible former state employees who were separated as a result of a reduction-in-force whose names appear on Priority Reemployment Consideration Rosters before any vacant position is filled by any eligible initially appointed from an employment register.

"Probationary employee" means a classified employee who has not acquired permanent status in the classified service in accordance with the Act and the Merit Rules.

"Probationary period" means a working test period during which a classified employee is required to demonstrate fitness for the job to which appointed by the satisfactory performance of the duties and responsibilities of the job.

"Promotion" means the reclassification of a classified employee to a different job with a higher pay band assignment or to a higher level within the same job family.

"Promotional examination" means any employment test designated by the Human Capital Management Division to determine further the qualifications of a permanent classified employee of a state agency for employment in a different job for which the employee possesses the minimum qualifications of education, experience, or licensure within that agency [74:840 1.3].

"Reallocation" or "Position reallocation" means the process of reassigning an established position, occupied or vacant, from one job family to another.

"Recall right" means the entitlement of an eligible person to be offered reappointment to the job family level from which removed by a reduction-in-force before any other person may be appointed, except by recall.

"Reclassification" means the process of changing a classified employee from one job family to another job family or from one job family level to another job family level in the same job family, resulting in a change in the employee's assigned job code [74:840 1.3].

"Register" means a list of eligibles for original probationary appointment to a job.

"Regular and consistent" means, in connection with an employee's work assignments, the employee's usual and normal work assignments, excluding incidental, casual, occasional tasks, and activities the employee assumes without direction to do so. Temporary work assignments of less than 60 days in any 12 month period are not considered regular and consistent.

"Regular unclassified service employee" means an unclassified service employee who is not on a temporary or other time-limited appointment [74:840-1.3].

"Reinstatement" means the reappointment of a former permanent classified employee as provided in the Merit Rules or the replacing of an eligible's name on a register.

"Resignation" means an employee's voluntary termination of his or her employment with the state. In the case of a classified employee, it includes the forfeiture of status in the classified service.

"Salary administration plan" means the plan adopted by an Appointing Authority and submitted to the Administrator for approval which establishes hiring ranges for positions. Components of a salary administration plan may include but are not limited to conditions for hiring above the midpoint of a pay range, skill-based pay programs, and other pay movement mechanisms authorized by Section 840-2.17 of the Oklahoma Personnel Act.

"Senior EEO Investigator" means a person who has been designated by the Administrator to provide advice and support to persons completing the training requirements for discrimination complaints investigators as described in 260:25 3 22.

"Successor job family level" means a job family level that takes the place of another job family level.

"Supervisor" means a classified or unclassified employee [within the executive branch, excluding employees within The Oklahoma State System of Higher Education 74:840 3.1] who has been assigned authority and responsibility for evaluating the performance of [other state employees] 74:840 1.3].

"Trial period" means a working test period after promotion, voluntary demotion, or intra-agency lateral transfer during which a classified employee is required to demonstrate satisfactory performance in the job to which promoted, voluntarily demoted, or transferred before acquiring permanent status in the job.

"Unclassified service" or "exempt service" means employees and positions excluded from coverage of the Oklahoma Merit System of Personnel Administration [74:840 1.3]. Such employees and positions are subject to various provisions of the Oklahoma Personnel Act and the Merit Rules.

"Veteran" means a person who has been honorably discharged from the Armed Forces of the United States and who has been a resident of Oklahoma for at least 1 year before the date of examination [74:840 1.3].

[Source: Added at 31 Ok Reg 1346, eff 9-12-14]