The municipality shall establish classification plans for its employees. Classification plans approved for individual bargaining units under subsections B, C, D and E of this section will maintain traditional occupational relationships and career ladders. The purpose of these classification plans is twofold: to assist in determining the most effective means of work assignment and the position placement within the municipal organization and to relate the position to the pay plan of the bargaining unit to ensure internal equity in pay administration. Specific plans shall be maintained for:
A. 
Executive employees.
B. 
General classified employees.
C. 
Police employees.
D. 
Fire employees.
E. 
Craft employees.
(AO No. 79-195)
The classification plans provide a grouping into classes of all classified service positions sufficiently alike in duties and responsibilities to be called by the same descriptive title, to be assigned the same pay range, to be given the same examination and to require substantially the same qualifications on the part of applicants or incumbents.
Employees shall be compensated on the basis of the classification plans and their attendant pay plan schedule.
Public safety positions in the assistant fire chief, fire battalion chief, EMS battalion chief, battalion chief, police lieutenant and police captain classifications shall be compensated on the public safety pay plan.
Executive attorney positions in the municipal attorney, deputy municipal attorney, municipal attorney II, and municipal attorney I classifications shall be compensated on the executive attorney pay plan.
Executive positions shall be classified and compensated as provided in rule 17.
(AO No. 79-195; AO No. 83-11(S); AO No. 94-117, § 4, 7-26-1994; AO No. 2016-53, § 1, 7-4-2016/9-12-2016/1-1-2017[1]; AO No. 2023-9, § 1, passed 2-7-2023[2])
[1]
Editor's note — Section 3 of AO No. 2016-53 provided that the amendments in § 3.30.022 shall be effective 7-4-2016 for only the Police Lieutenant and Police Captain classifications; effective 9-12-2016 for the Assistant Chief classification when it will be added; and effective 1-1-2017 for the addition of the EMS Battalion Chief, Fire Battalion Chief, and Battalion Chief classifications.
[2]
Editor's note — Section 4 of AO No. 2023-9 provided that "This ordinance shall be effective the first day of the first full pay period after passage by the Anchorage Assembly."
The classification plans shall be set forth by separate ordinance.
A. 
Revisions. Revisions to a classification plan which affect all of the classes set forth in the plan require approval of the assembly and shall become effective on the date specified by the assembly. Revisions, including reclassification actions and the creation of new or abolition of existing classes, which affect individual classes or series shall become effective upon approval by the mayor.
B. 
Maintenance. The director shall be responsible for the maintenance of the classification and pay plans, including the allocation of new or changed positions, the determination of proper compensation rates within the provisions of the plans, maintenance of up-to-date class specifications, class lists and allocation records and the preparation of recommendations to the mayor or assembly, as appropriate, on revisions to the plan.
(AO No. 79-195)
A. 
Contents. The director, with the advice and assistance of agency heads, shall provide and maintain written class specifications for each class of positions. Each specification shall include:
1. 
An appropriate title.
2. 
A general statement of duties and responsibilities.
3. 
Distinguishing features of work.
4. 
Examples of duties.
5. 
A listing of minimum qualifications that must be met by the applicant for his or her application to be accepted for consideration.
Class specifications shall be considered only as descriptive guidelines and not as inclusive of all duties to be found in positions allocated to a particular class. To the extent possible, specifications shall be kept up-to-date so that positions existing at any time will be covered by current, published class specifications.
B. 
Position descriptions. It shall be the responsibility of agency heads to prepare and maintain accurate position descriptions which define the duties and qualifications required for each of their positions. Such position descriptions may be less inclusive than the specifications for the class the position is assigned but the standards and minimum qualifications may not exceed those required by the specifications.
C. 
Duties of employees. Any employee may be required by an agency head to perform any of the duties described in his or her class specification, any other duties which are of similar kind and quality, and any duties of lower classes in the same occupational series or in other series which have similar characteristics.
D. 
Qualifications statements. The qualifications statements in each class specification establish requirements that must be met by an individual before consideration for appointment or promotion to a position in the class. Common alternative combinations of education, training or experience are specified in the class specifications. However, other combinations may be qualifying, if deemed equivalent by the director. Personal suitability qualifications commonly required by any employee occupying a position in any class, such as good character, loyalty, honesty, demeanor, industry, amenability to supervision, and willingness to cooperate with associates shall be qualifications required for each class, even though such traits may not be specifically mentioned in the specifications.
(AO No. 79-195; AO No. 97-102, § 3, 8-19-1997)
A. 
Official class titles. Each of the titles specified in the classification plans is used to identify a class of positions and shall be used also as the official title to identify each individual position of the class. The class title shall be used to designate positions or employees in all budget estimates, payrolls, personnel records, reports and other official titles to identify each individual position of the class. The class titles only will be used on all official records required in administering this chapter.
B. 
Working titles. For the purposes of external relations, or other purposes not relating to personnel administration, any suitable working title may be used, provided that such title is not similar to, or may be confused with, any standard class title other than the one by which the position involved is officially designated.
C. 
Class levels. The class titles are generally indicative of the work of the class and of the level of its importance and responsibility. Where Roman numerals are affixed at the end of a title to indicate level within an occupation subseries, the higher numbers represent the higher levels. The Roman numerals affixed to titles in one subseries have no relation to those in titles of another subseries, and different titles with the same Roman numeral may properly be at different grade levels.
(AO No. 79-195)
The mayor shall have authority to allocate and reallocate positions. The director shall recommend to the mayor, with the advice and assistance of agency heads, allocation of new positions and reallocations of existing positions to classes he or she finds appropriate by comparison with class specifications and position descriptions, and consideration of other factors affecting classification such as organizational location of positions and relationships to other positions. The agency heads' recommendations will accompany that of the director.
A. 
Classification actions. Classification actions are of the following types:
1. 
Reclassifications are reallocations of positions from one class to another as a result of changed duties, responsibilities or authority of a position either through direct reassignment by management or through structured development as in flex staffing.
2. 
Range changes are an adjustment affecting all positions in a class and result from reasons such as amendment of the pay plan, necessity to provide for internal equity, or continuing recruitment difficulty where it is necessary to maintain the competitive posture of the municipality in attracting and retaining well-qualified persons.
3. 
Title changes result solely from the adjustment of the title for a class of positions to meet the requirements of section 3.30.025 and do not necessarily require any change in the qualifications or range assigned to the class.
B. 
Organizational changes. The agency head, with approval of the mayor, may establish, abolish or change organizational units within the agency in the interests of economy and efficiency in accordance with sound administrative practice and principles. Any personnel action resulting may be requested only after appropriate allocation or reallocation action has been approved by the mayor. Reorganizations requiring ordinance changes will be submitted to the assembly for approval.
C. 
Change in type of position. There exist four separate types of positions: executive, regular full-time, regular part-time, and temporary. Requests to change the allocation of a position from one of the four types defined in section 3.30.065 to another shall be accomplished by the deletion of the position in the old type and creation of a position in the new type. An employee who occupies a position which is deleted in accordance with this section shall have the benefit of the reemployment preference and displacement rights as provided in section 3.30.112B.
(AO No. 79-195; AO No. 86-207(S-1))
A. 
Periodic review. The director shall provide for a systematic and periodic review of positions in the classified service for the purpose of reallocating positions when duties and responsibilities and authority have changed substantially, or when current allocations are found to be in error.
B. 
Employee requests. Employees shall have the right to the consideration of requests they may have regarding the application of the classification and pay plans to their position. The employee shall make his or her request through his or her agency head, who shall forward the request with his or her comments and recommendations concerning the appropriate allocation to the director for his or her review. The employee and the agency head will be advised in writing on the disposition of the request.
(AO No. 79-195)
A. 
Generally. No person may be appointed, reappointed, reinstated, rehired, transferred, demoted or promoted except to an established position for which a classification, position control number, salary range and minimum qualifications have been assigned. A position shall be established:
1. 
By direct approval of the mayor through allocation action recommended by the director after certification that funds are available.
2. 
By assembly approval of the new position in the budget and subsequent allocation of that position by the mayor.
3. 
By the director for a period not to exceed 60 days pursuant to written certification by the agency head that such a position is necessary and that funds are available and a finding by the director that a classification already exists to which such a position may be allocated.
B. 
Allocation and reallocation requests. Agency heads shall submit requests for allocation and reallocation actions to the director. This request shall be accompanied by a position description which shall set forth duties, responsibilities and other essential information and also an organization chart which shall clearly identify the affected position and its relationship to other positions.
C. 
Official position description. The position description and agency request for action as a cover sheet, with the approved class, class code, range, position control number and effective date, shall constitute the official position description. Copies of all position descriptions shall be retained in the personnel office and agency concerned. A copy shall be given to the incumbent of the position.
D. 
Effective date of allocation or reallocation action. Allocation actions which officially establish positions become effective on the date designated by the mayor. Reallocation actions which change the classification, range assignment or title of a position become effective on the date designated by the mayor. Copies of the official position description will be furnished to the agency following approval.
1. 
When a position which has been reallocated is vacant on the effective date of such reallocation, recruitment action may then be initiated in accordance with rule 3.
2. 
If a position which has been reallocated is filled, and the incumbent meets the minimum qualifications for the newly allocated classification, the incumbent will remain in the position and be paid in accordance with rule 12.
(AO No. 79-195; AO No. 86-207(S-1); AO No. 94-117, § 5, 7-26-1994; AO No. 97-102, § 4, 8-19-1997)
Positions may be established outside the classification plans referenced in AMC Section 3.30.021 and outside the collective bargaining units established in AMC Section 3.70.190 in response to the need to use the municipal payroll system to compensate individuals for work performed for organizations outside the executive organization described in chapter 3.20, as a result of agreements reached between the municipality and those organizations. Positions in grant funded programs which provide services to other governmental organizations are an example of exempted positions. Incumbents in exempted positions are not hired in accordance with this chapter and are not entitled to any benefits or credited service under this chapter.
(AO No. 96-128, § 2, 10-1-1996)