[HISTORY: Adopted by the Suffolk County Legislature 10-4-1977 by Res. No.
919-77 as amended 1-24-1978 by Res. No. 52-78; 4-25-1978 by Res. No.
359-78; and 7-31-1981 by Res. No. 625-81 (Ch. 585 of the 1985
Code). Subsequent amendments noted where applicable.]
A.
Public service of a high quality is essential to the continued development
of Suffolk County. It is the principal means by which the County will
achieve its maximum potential. For this reason, it is necessary to
attract and retain persons of high qualifications and abilities to
the career service. One of the fundamental processes by which this
objective may be obtained is by sound administration of an adequate
position classification and salary plan.
B.
It is the purpose of these rules to establish as the policy of Suffolk
County a system which provides equal pay for equal work and increases
in pay in proper proportion to increase of ability, increase in output
and increase of quality of work.
As used in this chapter, the following terms shall have the
meanings indicated:
The assigning of classes to the appropriate salary grades.
The date of an employee's original employment date with
the County, from which date his personal leave and vacation accruals
are calculated.
One or more positions sufficiently similar with respect to
duties and responsibilities to be designated by a single descriptive
title and treated as a unit for the purpose of recruiting, establishing
salary ranges and administering other personnel functions.
The exempt class, the noncompetitive class, the labor class
and the competitive class as defined by the Civil Service Law.
The assigning of positions to an appropriate class.
The movement of an employee from one position to another
position in a class of a lower grade.
An administrative unit of the County government, whose administrative
head has been designated as an appointing authority.
The incumbent of a position holding the position in accordance
with the Suffolk County Civil Service Rules[1] and the Civil Service Law and whose titles are assigned
to Bargaining Unit Nos. 2 and 6 as defined by the Suffolk County Public
Employee Relations Board.
A negotiable item.
For purposes of these rules, those persons designated as
excluded from any bargaining unit.
An office or employment involving an aggregation of duties
to be performed and responsibilities to be exercised by one person.
A department of the County government.
The reassigning of a class of positions to a different salary
grade.
The redesignation of a position from one class to another
because of a permanent and material change of the duties of that position.
The Suffolk County Civil Service Rules.[3]
The schedule of salaries established for all classes of positions
in the classification plan.
A.
Purpose. The Classification Plan provides a complete inventory of
all positions in the County classified services and accurate descriptions
and specifications for each class of employment. The plan standardizes
titles, each of which is indicative of a definite range of duties
and responsibilities and has the same meaning throughout the classified
service.
B.
Composition of the Classification Plan. The Classification Plan consists
of:
(1)
A grouping into classes of positions which are of approximately equal
difficulty and responsibility, which require the same general qualifications
and which can be equitably compensated for within the same range of
pay under similar working conditions.
(2)
A class title, descriptive of the work of the class, which shall
identify each class.
(3)
Written class specifications for each class of positions containing
each of the following: a description of the nature of work and of
the relative responsibilities of the positions in the class; requirements
of work in terms of knowledge, skills and abilities necessary for
the performance of the work; and a statement of the minimum experience
and training for recruitment into the class.
C.
Class title. Class titles shall be used in all personnel, accounting,
budget, appropriation and financial records. No person shall be appointed
to, or employed in, a position in the classified service under a title
not included in the Classification Plan. Titles used in the course
of departmental routine to indicate authority, status in the organization
or administrative rank may continue to be used for such purposes.
D.
Class specifications. Specifications are to be interpreted in their
entirety and in relation to others in the Classification Plan. Particular
phrases or examples are not to be isolated and treated as a whole
definition of the class. Class specifications are deemed to be descriptive
and explanatory of the kind of work performed and not necessarily
inclusive of all duties performed.
E.
Uses of Classification Plan are as follows:
(1)
In preparing public announcements of examinations for vacancies.
(2)
As a guide in preparing examinations that will measure the qualifications
needed to perform the work of the class.
(3)
In determining lines of promotion and in developing employees'
training programs.
(4)
In determining personnel service items in the several departmental
budgets.
(5)
In determining salaries to be paid for various types of work.
(6)
In providing uniform job terminology understandable by all County
officials, employees and the general public.
F.
Maintenance of the Classification Plan.
(1)
The Personnel Officer is charged with responsibility for the proper
and continuous maintenance of the Classification Plan so that it will
reflect on a current basis the duties being performed by each employee
in the County classified service. The Personnel Officer shall make
amendments to the Classification Plan in the form of new classes,
revisions of existing classes and the abolition of classes no longer
required in the plan. The Personnel Officer shall specify the effective
date of the change in classification.
(2)
Reclassification of positions within the approved Classification
Plan shall be made as follows:
(a)
The Personnel Officer shall make or cause to have made a study
of the duties and responsibilities of each new position before it
is created and, on the basis of this study, assign the position to
the appropriate class within the Classification Plan.
(b)
Changes in the duties and responsibilities of a position involving
either the addition of new assignments or the deletion or modifying
of existing assignments shall be reported to the Personnel Officer
by department heads. If these are determined to be permanent and more
than minor changes, which justify the reclassification to a different
class, the Personnel Officer shall reclassify each position to its
appropriate class.
(c)
The Personnel Officer shall periodically review the classification
of positions and, upon the basis of his investigation, effect the
appropriate changes in the Classification Plan.
(3)
Status of employees upon reclassification. No employee whose position
is reclassified shall be promoted, demoted, transferred, suspended
or reinstated except in accordance with the Civil Service Law and
Rules of the Suffolk County Department of Human Resources, Personnel
and Civil Service.[1] Salary upon promotion resulting from reclassification shall be calculated in the manner set forth in § 888-4.[2]
(4)
Effect of reclassification of positions to more descriptive titles.
G.
Reclassification of provisional and temporary employees. A provisional
or temporary employee in a competitive class position which is reclassified
cannot acquire permanent status without examination.
H.
Claims against the County. No employee whose salary is increased
as a result of reclassification shall have a claim against the County
for the difference between his former salary and that which he received
as a result of the change for the period prior to the effective date
of the change.
I.
Appeal of classification. Any employee or department head affected
by the classification or reclassification of a position in the Classification
Plan shall, if he believes the action to be improper, have a reasonable
opportunity to be heard upon filing a written statement with the Personnel
Officer. The Personnel Officer, after having taken into consideration
the facts in the case, shall render his decision, and such decision
shall be reported to the employee or department head in writing.
A.
B.
Development and maintenance of salary grades. Salary grades shall be established by recommendation of the Director of Personnel and Labor Relations for the County Executive and the President of the Suffolk Chapter of the CSEA and approved by the County Legislature and amended by the Classification and Salary Appeals Board as outlined in Rule V, § 888-5, unless agreed to with the recommendation of the Civil Service Employees Association Chapter President for the union and the Director of Personnel and Labor Relations for the County Executive and approved by the County Legislature, and shall be linked directly to the plan of position classification. They shall be determined with due regard to the following considerations:
(1)
Rates of pay for other classes.
(2)
Relative difficulty and responsibility of positions in the class.
(3)
Availability of qualified employees in particular occupational categories.
(4)
Prevailing rates of pay for similar employment in private establishments.
(5)
Rates of pay in other public jurisdictions.
(6)
Cost-of-living factors, the financial policies of the County and
other economic conditions.
C.
Salary grades.
(1)
The salary grades are intended to establish and maintain rates of
pay appropriate to the varying levels of responsibility of positions
in the classified service and to meet recruitment requirements as
recommended by the County Executive.
(2)
Salary increases within appropriate grades shall be based on seniority and shall be from one step to the next higher step. Employees (other than management employees) shall receive salary increases in accordance with labor contracts between the County and the appropriate bargaining agency. Salary increases or decreases resulting from the adjustment of salary grades, in accordance with § 888-2, shall not prevent within-range increases in accordance with this section.
(3)
For the purpose of this rule, employees with provisional status shall
be treated in the same manner as employees with permanent status.
D.
Starting salary.
(1)
The
minimum rate of pay for a class will normally be paid to any person
on his original appointment to a position; however, the department
head may submit in writing to the Division of Personnel and Labor
Relations a statement of the difficulty in recruitment of certain
positions which warrants employment at a higher rate in the salary
grade. The Division of Personnel and Labor Relations shall make a
recommendation to the County Executive, who shall approve or disapprove
the hiring of County employees or officers at a rate higher than the
minimum rate of a salary range or grade. These employees hired in-step
shall proceed through the salary steps of that grade in the same manner
as other employees. Employees hired in-step must be on the payroll
continuously for at least three months before they are entitled to
an increment, i.e., an employee hired in-step in August 1980 would
be entitled to an increment in January 1981; any employee hired in-step
on or about October 1, 1979, would not be entitled to an increment
until January 1, 1981, or the next Countywide increment negotiated
for that title by the appropriate bargaining unit. The only exception
to this rule is an employee who is hired in-step and that step is
deleted from the Salary Plan prior to his entitlement to his increment,
and in this case the employee would automatically go to the next step
at the time his step is dropped from the Salary Plan.
(2)
The
Department shall pay a rate higher than the minimum rate of the grade
for the class, if one of the following conditions exists:
(a)
An employee who is promoted to a position in a higher salary
grade will be advanced to the minimum of the new grade, or if his/her
current salary is at or higher than the new minimum, he/she shall
be advanced to the next higher step than his/her current salary, provided
that his/her increase amounts to not less than 4%. Employees hired
in-step shall be promoted in the same manner. Those employees promoted
or demoted or who have been moved in salary grade and/or step between
January 1, 1981, and the adoption of this amendment shall have their
salary recalculated by the Office of Personnel and Labor Relations
to determine their proper salary and step in the new Salary Plan in
accordance with the Civil Service Employees Association collective
bargaining agreement for the contract year 1981. Decisions by the
Office of Personnel and Labor Relations regarding these calculations
shall be final and binding.
(b)
A permanent employee who had at least one year of service with
Suffolk County reinstated within one year to his former position or
to another position in the same class shall be paid at the rate within
the salary grade he would normally have attained in conformance with
the collective bargaining agreement had he not been the subject of
layoff or other separation not reflecting discredit upon the employee.
A permanent employee who has been subject to a demotion due to layoff
who is then reinstated within one year to a salary grade equal to
or greater than his former position shall receive the step of the
new salary grade based upon the rate within his former salary grade
that he normally would have attained had he not been the subject of
layoff. A permanent employee reinstated after one year and within
four years in a position in the same class due to layoff or demotion
due to layoff shall be paid at that rate within the salary grade which
is at least equal to the salary rate that he was receiving at the
time of his layoff or demotion due to layoff. Any exceptions to this
rule must be approved by the County Executive.
(c)
If a permanent employee has accepted a provisional promotional
appointment and returns to his original position, he shall be placed
in the salary step he would normally have attained had he not accepted
the provisional appointment.
(d)
When an employee is appointed to a position in a salary grade
lower than the grade in which he is currently employed, his salary
will be calculated as if he had been at the lower grade on a continuous
basis. Should the employee's new grade fall between his present
grade and a lower grade which he had held previously, his salary shall
be calculated as though he was promoted from his previously held grade
to his new grade at the time of his previous promotion.
(e)
When an employee resigns from a position in a salary plan of
one bargaining unit to accept a position in a salary plan of another
bargaining unit of the County, he will be advanced to the minimum
of the proper grade for the salary plan of the new bargaining unit;
and if his current salary is at or higher than the new minimum, he
shall be advanced to the next higher step than his current salary.
(f)
No appointing authority shall demote and then promote an employee
for the sole purpose of granting the employee an increase in pay.
It shall be presumed that any demotion and promotion within 30 days
shall be in violation of this rule.
E.
Departmental transfers. An employee transferred from one department
to another in the same class and/or grade shall receive no salary
increase.
F.
Effective date of salary changes. The effective date of salary increases
and decreases shall be the first day of the pay period following the
transaction of other than service-wide salary increases resulting
from collective bargaining agreements. However, employees receiving
a promotion shall receive the new pay rate effective on the date the
employee is appointed to the higher grade.
G.
Certification of payrolls. Prior to the payment of any salary, wage
or other compensation for personnel services, the Personnel Officer
shall certify that each person named on the payroll has been employed
in accordance with the appointment and classification procedures of
the Civil Service Law and Rules and that salary rates for all positions
are those authorized by the Salary Plan.
H.
Method of revising the Salary Plan. Upon amendment of the Salary
Plan, the following adjustments shall be made:
(1)
An employee occupying a position in a class allocated to a pay grade
which is revised upward shall be moved from the step he is occupying
at the time of reallocation to the corresponding step in the new salary
grade. Such reallocation shall not prevent the employee from receiving
service-wide salary increases as provided in collective bargaining
agreements.
(2)
A permanent employee occupying a position in a class which has been
reallocated downward shall retain his current salary if it is within
the new salary grade and have normal advancement in accordance with
the collective bargaining agreement.
(3)
The salary of a permanent incumbent shall not be reduced by reason
of reallocation of the salary grade of his title. A permanent employee
whose present salary is above the maximum rate for his class will
remain at his present salary, which shall be construed as a step in
the salary grade for this individual as long as the incumbent is in
this position.
I.
Claims against the County. No employee whose salary is increased
as a result of reallocation shall have a claim against the County
for the difference between his former salary and that which he received
as a result of the change, for the period prior to the effective date
of the change.
J.
Notwithstanding any other section of the rules for the administration
of the Salary Plan to the contrary, for officers and employees excluded
from bargaining units pursuant to Resolution No. 667 of 1967, as the
same has been and may be from time to time amended (excluding those
officers whose salaries can only be increased by local law), the County
Executive and the Presiding Officer shall annually determine the step
within the grade set by the County Legislature within the Suffolk
County Salary Plan at which such officers and employees shall be paid,
to be effective on the first day of the first full pay period of each
fiscal year.
K.
The Division of Personnel and Labor Relations of the County Executive's
office shall be responsible for reviewing all salary rates and making
such changes as may be necessary to ensure that employees of the County
are paid not less than the minimum wage.
A.
There shall be a Classification and Salary Appeals Board which shall
consist of five members: two representatives appointed by the County
Executive's office, two members representing the employees designated
by the Suffolk County Association of Municipal Employees (Association)
to serve a term of one year beginning on the first day of July of
each year, and one member representing the Legislature who shall be
mutually agreed upon by the County Executive and the Association President
from three names submitted by the Presiding Officer. Said Classification
and Salary Appeals Board members shall serve without salary. The County
Personnel Officer or his designee shall serve as Secretary to the
Board.
[Amended 9-8-1987 by Res. No. 797-1987[1]]
[1]
Editor's Note: This resolution was adopted by the Legislature
after disapproval by the County Executive.
B.
Procedures and functions of the Board.
(1)
All appeals in writing from an employee or a department head on behalf
of an employee or group of employees shall be processed within two
weeks after being submitted. Appeals made on behalf of groups of employees
are limited to a maximum of 50 employees per appeal.
(2)
The Board shall hold an informal hearing giving ample opportunity
for the employee, department head and/or employee representative to
be heard.
(3)
Decisions of the Board shall be by a majority vote of the members
of the Board.
(4)
The decisions of the Appeals Board in matters of salary allocations
are final and may include one or more of the following actions:
(a)
An automatic reallocation limited to two grades or two steps
within a grade for all positions in the affected class or classes
and further limited to $100,000 for all decisions for each fiscal
year, except that the limit shall be $1,434,237 for fiscal year 1987.
The decisions of said Board shall be final and binding on the County.
[Amended 9-8-1987 by Res. No. 797-1987[2]]
[2]
Editor's Note: This resolution was adopted by the Legislature
after disapproval by the County Executive.
(b)
A recommendation to the County Executive for a reallocation
for a class or group of classes beyond two grades or where the fund
of $100,000 is insufficient to cover the proposed increase.
(c)
No change in the present allocation of a class or group of classes.
(5)
There shall be a twelve-month waiting period between appeals presented
to this Board by an individual or a group, unless substantial evidence
is submitted in writing to support an immediate review. Such evidence
must be over and above that which had been previously heard by the
Board.
(6)
The Classification and Salary Appeals Board shall be the only party
that may reallocate a grade or grades or a step or steps of all titles
covered by the Civil Service Employees Association collective bargaining
agreement, unless such reallocation is agreed to and recommended by
the Civil Service Employees Association Chapter President for the
union and the Director of Personnel and Labor Relations for the County
Executive and approved by the County Legislature.
C.
The powers, duties and functions hereinabove granted to the Classification
and Salary Appeals Board shall not extend to determinations in connection
with officers and employees excluded from bargaining units. In the
case of such officers and employees, the powers and duties of the
Classification and Salary Appeals Board be and they hereby are vested
in the County Executive and the Presiding Officer of the County Legislature.
