Okaloosa County BOCC — April 1, 2014 — Various Policy Changes DRAFT

CHAPTER II – DEFINITIONS 17) Executive Pay Band – A pay grade on the salary schedule created October 1, 2012 that combined grades 83 and 84 into one pay grade (executive pay band). 17)18) Exempt Employees – Executive, Professional, Administrative and Computer employees, as defined in the Fair Labor Standards Act, who are exempt from overtime. 18)19) Full-Time Employee – An employee who works on a continuing basis 3230 hours or more per week. 19)20) Grievance – A dispute alleging a violation of a policy, rule or procedure contained in the Human Resources Policy Manual. 20)21) Human Resources Director – The official designated to administer the human resources system for the County. 21)22) Intern – A college referred, degree-seeking student, desiring a temporary, paid or unpaid, work assignment within Okaloosa County government in order to gain practical experience within a particular field of study. 22)23) Lay-Off (Reduction in Force) – An appointing authority may separate an employee due to, but not limited to, lack of work, lack of funds or abolishment of the position. 23)24) Liaison Commissioner – Board of County Commissioners member appointed by the Board to facilitate mutual understanding between the Board and the Liaison Commissioner’s designated County department(s) by: 1) maintaining and communicating knowledge of department’s overall mission and 2) supporting department’s attainment of goals and mission through an awareness of budget, operations, and special projects. The Liaison Commissioner is not authorized to act on behalf of the Board of County Commissioners and does not act in a decision making or direction capacity unless at a duly advertised public meeting of the Board of County Commissioners. 24)25) Merit Increase – An increase in pay, in the pay range or grade, based on an employee’s job performance. 25)26) Minimum Qualification – Those minimum requirements as to education and experience that qualify an applicant to be considered for appointment. Additional requirements may also be indicated when necessary, such as licenses, certificates and others. 26)27) Non-Exempt Employees – Employees covered by the provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act who are eligible for overtime. 27)28) On-Call Employees – Individuals who are hired for an indefinite period to meet staffing needs, but who normally work less than a 40 hour workweek. On-call employees are exempt from any benefit provisions except those prescribed by federal or state law, and their service is excluded from continuous service with the County. On-call employees are not eligible to apply for internal vacancies. 28)29) Overtime – Time in excess of 40 hours in a workweek except for certain correctional employees. 29)30) Part-Time Employee – An employee who works on a continuing basis, but less than 30 hours per week. 30)31) Performance Evaluation – A method of evaluating each employee on a periodic basis as to his/her performance on the job. 31)32) Position – An office or post in a department of the County involving duties requiring the services of one (1) person. It can be part-time, full-time, temporary or regular, occupied or vacant. 32)33) Probationary Employee (Initial) – An employee serving the first six (6) months of their appointment. They must pass this period of observation and evaluation successfully. The initial probationary period will be a six (6) month period based on any continuous employment, whether it is full-time or part-time. 33)34) Probationary Employee (Extended) – An employee placed in an extended probationary period due to a disciplinary action, or documented work performance deficiencies. This period may not exceed 90 days past the initial six (6) month probationary period. Any employee placed on an extended probationary period will not be eligible to use annual leave and will not be eligible to be paid any annual leave if termination occurs prior to the end of the extended probationary period. 34)35) Probationary Employee (Promoted, Demoted or Reclassified) – An employee placed in a probationary status, at the discretion of the department director, due to a change in their job title or classification and shall be entitled to use any benefits to which they were entitled prior to the change. 35)36) Promotion – A change of an employee from a position in one class to a position of another class, having a higher minimum salary and carrying a greater scope of discretion and responsibility. 36)37) Reclassification – The assignment of an existing position from one class to a different class due to a significant change in their duties or responsibilities. 37)38) Red-Circle Rate Concept – The concept used that allows an employee to retain their present salary, that is above the maximum pay range for the position, as revised October 1990. 38)39) Regular Employee – Satisfactory completion of the probationary period by an employee results in that employee achieving regular status. 39)40) Resignation – The termination of an employee at his/her request. 40)41) Series – A number of classes related to each other in terms of work within the same occupational field, e.g., Clerk I, Clerk II, and Clerk III would constitute a clerical series. 41)42) Sexual Harassment – Unwelcome sexual advances, request for sexual favors, and other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature constitute sexual harassment when:  a) Submission to such conduct is made either explicitly or implicitly a term or condition of an individual’s employment; or b) Submission to or rejection of such conduct by an individual is used as the basis for employment decisions affecting the individual; or c) Such conduct has the purpose of unreasonably interfering with an individual’s work performance or creating an intimidating, hostile or offensive working environment. 42)43) Suspension – An enforced leave of absence for either disciplinary purposes or pending investigation or charges against an employee. 43)44) Temporary Employee – An employee filling a temporary position for a special project or other work of a temporary nature that will not exist beyond six (6) consecutive calendar months and is not renewable. Upon approval of the County Administrator, temporary appointments may exceed six (6) months when needed to replace or supplement employees incapacitated by workers’ compensation injuries or fill lifeguard positions, on a seasonal basis. 44)45) Transfer (Lateral) – The movement of any one (1) employee from one (1) position to another having the same salary range and the same level of responsibility. 45)46) Vacancy – A position duly created and still existent but not occupied by an employee. CHAPTER IX – ATTENDANCE AND LEAVE Section Q – Compassionate Leave Pool 3) Participation/Maintenance l) The employee’s own illness does do not qualify for use of compassionate leave pool hours. Section R – Domestic Violence Leave 6) Written requests for domestic violence leave and biweekly timesheets or exception reports reflecting domestic violence leave are confidential and exempt from Statute 119.07 (1) and 24 (a), Article 1 of the State Constitution until one (1) year after the leave has been taken. This exemption may be repealed on October 2, 2013, unless reviewed and saved from repeal through reenactment by the Legislature. CHAPTER XXVII – UNIFORMS Section C – Taxation 1) Uniforms are non-taxable if they are: a) Required as a condition of employment; and b) Are not worn or adaptable to general usage as ordinary clothing.  c) Examples of non-taxable uniforms are: i) EMS and Correctional Officer uniforms with clearly identifying County logos; ii) Garments in ANSII approved colors for safety conditions (florescent orange or safety green/chartreuse); iii) Shirts for field employees with identifying features such as prominent County logos and department names; and iv) Steel toed work bootsSafety shoes or boots. 2) Uniforms are taxable if the items of clothing are general in nature and can be worn away from the employee’s place of work and would not identify the employee as a County worker. a) Examples of taxable uniforms are: blue jeans; and non-steel toed work bootssafety shoes or boots. b) The taxable value of uniform items shall be determined by the Purchasing DirectorManager. 3) Uniform taxation rules apply to taxable items whether purchased or leased by the county. The method of payment, including credit card purchases, does not affect whether the items are taxable or not under IRS regulations. 4) Upon issuance of uniform items, the employee and their department representative will complete and sign a Uniforms Issuance, Return and Fringe Benefit Acknowledgement Form and return it to the Human Resources Department. For taxable items, the County will calculate the fringe benefit valuation using IRS regulations and show such amount as gross taxable wages on the employee’s next biweekly pay check. Uniform purchases will be subject to audit by the Purchasing and Finance Departments to ensure compliance with taxing requirements.