Compilation of Rules and Regulations of the State of Georgia
Department 478 - RULES OF THE STATE PERSONNEL BOARD
Chapter 478-1 - RULES OF THE STATE PERSONNEL BOARD
Rule 478-1-.02 - Terms and Definitions

(1) "Agency" and "Department" are used interchangeably to mean an Executive Branch employer, local department of Public Health, or Community Service Board. This term excludes the Board of Regents, authorities, and public corporations.

(2) "Agency Head" and "Department Head" are used interchangeably to mean the highest ranking official within a State entity.

(3) "Allocation" means the establishment of a new position and its assignment to the appropriate job title and job code within the classification plan.

(4) "Applicant" means an individual who meets all of the following criteria:

(5) "Appointing Authority" means the person or groups of persons authorized by law or delegated authority to make appointments to fill positions. The "Appointing Authority" for an agency is the agency head and all staff delegated such authority by the agency head or designee.

(6) "Board" and "State Personnel Board" are used interchangeably to mean the body appointed by the Governor to provide direction for State human resources policy administration and which may be vested with such additional powers and duties as provided by law.

(7) "Break in Service" means separation from continuous State employment for at least one workday.

(8) "Classification Plan" means a statewide plan established by the Department of Administrative Services (DOAS) and approved by the State Personnel Board to identify and describe jobs performed in State agencies. The classification plan includes job information such as job title, job summary, responsibilities, and entry qualifications.

(9) "Classified Employee" means an employee with procedural appeal rights set forth in O.C.G.A. §§ 45-20-8 and 45-20-9 who was in a classified position on June 30, 1996, and who has remained in a classified position without a break in service since that date.

(10) "Classified Position" means a position that existed on June 30, 1996, held classified status on that date, and has not been occupied by an unclassified employee since that date.

(11) "Commissioner" means the Governor-appointed head of the Department of Administrative Services.

(12) "Compensation Plan" means a statewide system of pay ranges and pay supplement addenda established by the Department of Administrative Services, adopted by the State Personnel Board, and approved by the Director of the Governor's Office of Planning and Budget.

(13) "Demotion" means the movement of a qualified employee to a job on a lower pay grade within the same compensation plan. When moving between two different pay plans, a pay grade is deemed lower when its market average or midpoint salary is 5% or more below the market average or midpoint of another pay grade.

(14) "Employee" means an individual hired by an agency to provide services for wages and excludes independent contractors, volunteers, unpaid interns, and board members paid on a per diem basis.

(15) "Employment-at-Will" means an employment relationship in which either party to the relationship may sever the relationship at any time for any reason other than an unlawful reason.

(16) "Full-time" means a work schedule of at least 40 hours per workweek, unless otherwise defined in law for purposes of participation in benefit programs.

(17) "Furlough" and "Temporary Reduction-in-Force" are used interchangeably to mean a temporary period of mandatory time off work without pay for budgetary reasons.

(18) "Hourly Employment" means an employment arrangement in which a State employer pays an employee wages on an hourly basis for actual hours worked. Hourly-paid employees are excluded from certain benefits.

(19) "In pay status" means hours during a pay period for which an employee is entitled to pay. It includes time worked, paid holidays, all forms of paid leave, compensatory time, and suspension with pay.

(20) "Job" means a broadly defined collection of duties and responsibilities that is assigned a job title, job code, and pay grade within the State's classification plan. Each State position is assigned to a job. State positions that are sufficiently similar in nature, scope, complexity, and minimum qualifying requirements are assigned to the same job.

(21) "Job Code" means a unique alphabetic or numeric identifier associated with a job.

(22) "Part-time" means a work schedule of fewer than 40 hours per workweek, unless otherwise defined in law for purposes of participation in benefit programs.

(23) "Pay grade" means a range of pay within a minimum and maximum annual base salary to which one or more jobs are assigned.

(24) "Period of armed conflict" means any period of armed military intervention beyond the limits of the United States as well as any confrontation of the armed forces of the United States with foreign nationals in which actual hostilities erupt.

(25) "Permanent Status Employee" and "Employee with Permanent Status" are used interchangeably to mean an employee in the classified service who has successfully completed a working test period in the job in which employed.

(26) "Position" means a set of duties and responsibilities typically assigned to one employee. Each position has a unique numeric identifier and is used to organize and assign work and to manage available head count.

(27) "Promotion" means the movement of a qualified employee to a job on a higher pay grade within the same compensation plan. When moving between two different pay plans, a pay grade is deemed higher when its market average or midpoint salary is at least 5% greater than the market average or midpoint of another pay grade.

(28) "Reallocation" means the change of a position from one job title and job code to a different job title and job code.

(29) "Reassignment" means a structural change in the Classification Plan to move a job from one pay grade to another as a result of action by the DOAS Commissioner.

(30) "Reduction-in-Force" means the separation from a job, the reduction in pay, or the furlough of one or more employees as the result of a shortage of work or funds or a change in organization. The reduction may involve classified employees, unclassified employees, or both.

(31) "Regular Employment" means assignment to a budgeted position with no established end date that is compensated on a salaried basis.

(32) "Salaried Employment" means employment compensated by an established interval amount, such as a semi-monthly or monthly rate, as opposed to being compensated on an hourly basis only for time worked.

(33) "State Personnel Board Rules," "Rules," and "Merit System" are used interchangeably to mean the statewide policies adopted by the State Personnel Board and approved by the Governor that govern human resources in the State.

(34) "Temporary employee" means an employee hired for a time-limited assignment of less than nine (9) months. Temporary employees may be eligible for healthcare benefits depending on the length of assignment and anticipated work hours.

(35) "Time-limited Employee with Benefits" means an employee hired for a time-limited assignment of nine (9) months or longer who is scheduled for a sufficient number of hours to be eligible for employment benefits.

(36) "Transfer" within an agency means the internal movement of an employee from one position to another position on the same or equivalent pay grade without a break in service. Pay grades are considered "equivalent" when there is less than 5% difference between their respective market average or midpoint salaries. "Transfer" between State agencies involves movement of an employee from a position in one State agency to a position in another State agency without a break in service. The two positions may be on either the same or different pay grades.

(37) "Unclassified Employee" means an employee who was hired after June 30, 1996, or who has occupied an unclassified position at any time since July 1, 1996. Unclassified employees have employment-at-will status, with limited exception for employees with more than 18 years of service who established Employees' Retirement System (ERS) membership before April 1, 1972.

(38) "Unclassified Position" means a position created on or after July 1, 1996, or occupied by an unclassified employee on or after this date.

(39) "Working Test" or "Working Test Period" means a probationary period of employment in a classified position during which the employee must demonstrate to the satisfaction of the appointing authority the knowledge, ability, aptitude, and other necessary qualities to perform satisfactorily the duties of the position in which employed.