These definitions apply throughout these rules unless otherwise specified.
- APPOINTING AUTHORITY OR POWER: A person having the lawful power to make appointments or to remove persons from positions in the County service.
- APPOINTMENT: The designation of a person by an appointing authority to fill a vacant position, and the acceptance by such person of the position.
- BAND: A scoring method used to group test scores into a specific range. Candidates whose scores fall within the same range are then grouped together and are considered to have the same score.
- CONTINUOUS SERVICE: Uninterrupted employment in the County service, except by authorized absence.
- DAY, WEEK, MONTH, YEAR: Calendar day, week, month, or year.
- DEMOTION: A change in classification of an employee from a position in one classification to a position in another classification which has a lower salary or salary range, either on a voluntary or involuntary basis.
- DIRECTOR: The Director of Human Resources or his/her designee.
- ELIGIBLE LIST: An official list of names of candidates who have successfully passed an examination for a classification, or who have been laid off, and whose names are arranged in order of rank for certification to positions in a specific classification.
- FLEXIBLE STAFFING: A series of two or more related classifications created in the salary ordinance as a single classification, with the appointing authority allowed a choice from any of the listed alternatives in filling a vacancy. In those flexible staffing series where the entry level is a training level, employees hired at that entry level are not expected to remain trainees on a permanent basis.
- LIMITED FLEXIBLE STAFFING: A series of two or more related classifications treated as a single classification in the salary ordinance, but with a limit to the number of positions at any one level. Where this exists the classification that is limited can only be filled through competitive examination.
- PROMOTION: Changing an employee from one classification to another classification having a higher range of compensation.
- REDUCTION IN STEP: A reduction in step is movement to the next lower salary step in the range for a classification for a period not to exceed six months.
- SUSPENSION: An involuntary absence of an employee from his position for a specified period of time without pay imposed by an appointing authority for disciplinary reasons or pending the investigation of charges made against an employee.
- TRAINEE CLASSIFICATION: A classification in which positions are filled as a result of examination, but for which the minimum qualifications require no specific prior experience and in which an employee is being trained or gaining experience to perform at the experienced level in that series of classifications. Employees shall not have the right to revert to their former trainee classifications if they exhibit unsatisfactory performance at the journey level.