§ 2.60.100. Definitions.

The following definitions are an integral part of the Trinity County personnel ordinance and whenever used within the ordinance or in any personnel policy statement, memorandum, or correspondence, these terms shall be understood to have the following meanings:

1.

"Affirmative action" means a set of policies and procedures wherein Trinity County is committed to assure and promote equal employment opportunity.

2.

"Allocation or position allocation" means the assignment of a position to a classification pursuant to Section 2.60.360.

3.

"Allowance" means a fixed amount of money paid to personnel as reimbursement for equipment, supplies and/or services as designated by a memorandum of understanding and/or board resolution.

4.

"Anniversary date" means the date which corresponds with the monthly pay period from which probationary periods and/or step adjustments are measured. If an employee begins work as a new hire or as a promoted employee on any day other than the first day of the monthly pay period, the anniversary date shall be adjusted to the first day of the present pay period or the first day of the next following pay period, whichever is closest.

5.

"Appropriate unit(s)" means a unit of employee classes and/or positions, established pursuant to Article II of the county of Trinity's employer/employee relations policy.

6.

"Appeal" means the filing of a written request for consideration and reversal or modification of a disciplinary action imposed by the appointing authority. For purposes of this chapter, a written reprimand, verbal reprimand or employee performance evaluation issued by the appointing authority shall not constitute a disciplinary action.

7.

"Applicant" means a person who has filed an official county application form at the county administration and personnel office, or at such place as designated by the personnel officer, according to prescribed procedures.

8.

"Appointing authority" means a department head, a person, or board having constitutional or statutory authority to appoint candidates to positions, or a specified management employee having lawfully delegated authority to appoint candidates to positions in a department.

9.

"Appointment" means the final selection of a candidate by an appointing authority subject to the provisions of Article V of this chapter and subsequent acceptance of employment by a candidate.

10.

"Association" means an independent organization of employees.

11.

"Authorization card" means a statement signed by an employee designating an employee organization as authorized to act as his or her agent in collective bargaining. An employee signature on an authorized card does not necessarily mean that he or she is a member of or has applied for membership in the employee organization.

12.

"Bargaining unit" means an appropriate unit of employees sharing a community of interest which can be served through collective bargaining and formally recognized as such by the county.

13.

"Base salary" means the rate of pay as determined on a given hourly or monthly basis for non-overtime work.

14.

"Board" when used alone means the board of supervisors of the county.

15.

"Call back" means an instance when an employee has completed a normal work shift and is ordered back to work.

16.

"Candidate" means person given final selection consideration for appointment to a specific position vacancy at a particular point in time pursuant to Articles III, IV and V of this chapter.

17.

"Candidate group" means those eligibles from among which final selection consideration, for appointment to a specific position vacancy at a particular point in time, is given pursuant to Articles III, IV and V of this chapter.

18.

"Certificate or certificate of candidates" means a list of candidates prepared by the personnel officer from which final selection consideration for appointment to a specific position at a particular point in time may be given.

19.

"Challenged ballot" means a vote questioned by one of the parties to a representation election. Common practice to resolve the challenge is to open and count the challenged ballots if it is sufficient to affect the outcome of the election.

20.

"Challenging petition" means a formal request by an employee organization pursuant to Article II, Section 6 of the Trinity county employer/employee relations policy seeking consideration as a competing employee organization for acknowledgment as the exclusively recognized employee organization.

21.

"Class or classification" means a set of similar positions allocated pursuant to Section 2.60.360 and designated by a specific class title and salary range.

22.

"Classification plan" means an orderly arrangement of positions under separate and distinct classes so that each class will contain all those positions which are sufficiently similar in respect to duties and responsibilities that they will meet the requirements as established under the definition "class."

23.

"Classified service" means all those positions approved in the budget as permanent positions and filled by permanent employees.

24.

"Compensation" means the salary, wage, allowance, and all other forms of valuable consideration earned by or paid to an employee by reason of service in a position, but shall not include any allowances authorized and incurred as incidental to employment.

25.

"Compensation plan" means a schedule of salaries or salary ranges established hereby for the classification recognized in the classification plan.

26.

"Compensation range, salary range or pay range" means a designated set of pay rates having a specified minimum rate, maximum rate and intermediate rates.

27.

"Compensation rate, salary rate or pay rate" means a set dollar amount used as the basis for compensating an employee for working a given period of time.

28.

"Compensatory leave" means time which may be taken by an employee as authorized leave with pay for having worked overtime.

29.

"Confidential employee" means an employee who is privy to decisions of county management affecting employee relations.

30.

"Consult/consultation in good faith" means to communicate orally or in writing for the purpose of presenting and obtaining views or advising of intended actions; and, as distinguished from meeting and conferring in good faith regarding matters within the required scope of such meet and confer process, does not involve an exchange or proposals and counterproposals in an endeavor to reach agreement, nor is it subject to Article IV of the county of Trinity's Employer/Employee Relations Policy.

31.

"Continuous" means without a break due to separation.

32.

"Continuous recruitment" means acceptance and examination of applicants on an on-going basis not subject to specific final filing dates.

33.

"Continuous service" means the number of calendar days during which work was actually performed for the county which has not been interrupted by a separation, except as provided for in Sections 2.60.330 and 2.60.530.

34.

"County" means the county of Trinity in the state of California.

35.

"County service or service of the county" means all positions in all departments as defined which are subject to control and regulation by the board of supervisors.

36.

"Critical class" is defined as those individuals occupying the following classifications: certified nurses aide, emergency medical technician, licensed vocational nurse and registered nurse.

37.

"Day" means a calendar day unless otherwise specified.

38.

"Decertification petition" means a formal request by two or more employees or their representative or by an employee organization pursuant to Article II, Section 6 of the county Employer/Employee Relations Policy, alleging the Exclusively Recognized Employee Organization no longer represents a majority of the employees in the established appropriate unit.

39.

"Demotion" means a reduction in salary and/or reappointment to a lower classification for disciplinary or other reasons of both a voluntary or involuntary nature.

40.

"Department" includes "office" and "office" includes department.

41.

"Department head" means the head of an established office or department having supervision of such department and office, and also includes all elected officers.

42.

"Dismissal" means involuntary separation from county service.

43.

"Eligible" means an applicant who has passed all appropriate examinations and has been placed on a register for a class of positions pursuant to Articles III, IV and V of this chapter.

44.

"Eligibility list or eligibility register" means the same as referral register.

45.

"Emergency appointment" means an appointment made in response to an emergency threatening public health, safety, or welfare pursuant to Section 2.60.270.

46.

"Employee, regular" means a person in a permanent position working half time or more.

47.

"Employee organization" means any organization which includes employees of the county and which has as one of its primary purposes representing such employees in their relations with the county.

48.

"Employee relations officer" means the county administrative officer or his duly authorized representative.

49.

"Employee status" means a designation based on the most recent of the following types of appointments: probationary, permanent, extra help, emergency, provisional or student intern.

50.

"Emp1oyer/emp1oyee relations" means the relationship between the county and its employees and their employee organizations, or when used in a general sense, the relationship between management and employees or employee organizations.

51.

"Exclusive recognition" means formal acknowledgment by the county that a particular organization has the right to represent employees. Exclusive recognition is accorded an organization supported by a majority of employees in an appropriate bargaining unit and carries with it the sole right to represent all unit employees, members and nonmembers, in dealing with management.

52.

"Exclusively recognized employee organization" means an employee organization which has been formally acknowledged by the county as the sole employee organization that represents the employees in an appropriate representation unit pursuant to Article II of the county of Trinity's Employer/Employee Relations Policy.

53.

"Extra help" means those employees who are hired for seasonal work, nonrecurring work, vacation relief, or any other work of a short duration which does not require the duties of a permanent, full or part-time employee. This class of employee shall not be provided holiday leave, sick leave, vacation leave, group insurance, or other types of benefits provided permanent employees, nor shall they be covered by the provisions of the employer/employee resolution.

54.

"Examination or exam" means any process, procedure, rating, interview, test, evaluation, or assessment whether scored or unscored, formal or informal, which affects a person's eligibility for, or consideration for appointment.

55.

"Final selection examination or consideration" means an interview, background evaluation, or other examination of candidates used in making an appointment decision.

56.

"Geographical area" means an area surrounding a work location which includes those places within a distance from which an employee would reasonably be expected to commute to work and be able to respond to on-call or standby duty if required of the job classification.

57.

"Grant position" means a position which has been authorized by the board of supervisors as a direct result of grant funding (federal or state) or other outside subsidy becoming available to the county for the budgeting of additional county positions for a specific period of time. Grant employees in full-time and part-time grant positions shall have all the rights and privileges of employees in regular full-time and regular part-time positions. Provided however, the grant position shall terminate at the termination of grant funding.

58.

"Grievance" means a dispute between an employee or the employee's bargaining unit and management as to the interpretation, application or violation of any terms or provisions granted to employees by agreement, personnel ordinance, or state and federal statute. For purposes of this chapter, appeals from disciplinary actions shall not be interpreted as grievances.

59.

"Impasse" means when the representatives of the county and an exclusively recognized employee organization have reached a point in their meeting and conferring in good faith where their differences on matters to be included in a memorandum of understanding, and concerning which they are required to meet and confer, remain so substantial and prolonged that further meeting and conferring would be futile.

60.

"Involuntary reappointment" means an unsought appointment of a probationary or permanent employee, by the employee's department head, due to a shortage of work or funds, abolishment of a position or a critical situation adversely affecting the accomplishment of program goals. Such appointments are made to a position in a different classification having the same or lower salary range than the class of the employee's previous position.

61.

"Layoff" means termination of service of an employee for nondisciplinary reasons but rather because of lack of work or funds, or for other reasons not related to employee job performance.

62.

"Leave" means an authorized absence from work during normally scheduled working hours.

63.

"Limited appointment" an emergency, provisional, temporary, extra help or student intern appointment made for a confined duration which must be terminated within some restricted time period.

64.

"Management" means a department head, supervisor or other employee having the authority to exercise management rights, develop management policies or to effectively recommend the exercise of such rights or the development of such policies, where such recommendations or exercise requires the use of independent 'judgment and is not of a routine nature.

65.

"Mediation" means effort by an impartial third party to assist in reconciling an impasse regarding wages, hours and other terms and conditions of employment between representatives of the county and exclusively recognized employee organization through interpretation, suggestion and advice in order that a voluntary resolution can be achieved by the parties .

66.

"Meet and confer in good faith" means the mutual obligation personally to meet and confer promptly upon request by either party, continue for a reasonable period of time in order to exchange information, opinions and proposals , and to endeavor to reach agreement on matters within the scope of representation.

67.

"Memorandum of understanding (MOU)" means a written memorandum jointly prepared by the parties incorporating matters on which agreement is reached through meeting and conferring between the county's management representatives and representatives of exclusively recognized employee organization. The memorandum shall be presented to the board of supervisors for final approval.

68.

"Minimum qualifications" means standards which designate the typical.types of, and minimum levels of, training and/or experience through which one would be expected to acquire the knowledge, skills, and other requirements necessary for satisfactory performance upon entry to a class, or a description of the knowledge, skills and other necessary requirements.

69.

"Month" means the calendar month, unless otherwise specified.

70.

"Nepotism" means the hiring of relatives of current county employees. First and second degree relationships by blood or marriage are as follows: parents, children, siblings, father-in-law, mother-in-law, son-in-law, daughter-in-law, spouse, grandchildren, brother, sister, grandparents, grandfather-in-law, grandmother-in-law, sister-in-law, brother-in-law, grandson-in-law, grand-daughter-in-law.

71.

"Open recruitment or open examination" means a position or employment test open to the public and not limited to applicants currently in county service.

72.

"Payroll deduction" means arrangement under which the county deducts from salary of employees sums of money for various purposes including association and/or union dues .

73.

"Performance evaluation" means a formal review of an employee's work activities and job performance over a particular period of time.

74.

"Permanent position" means a budgeted position as defined by a specific classification and excluding extra help positions and student intern appointments.

75.

"Permanent status" means when an employee assigned to a permanent position satisfactorily completes a probationary period.

76.

"Personnel officer" means the county administrative officer or his duly authorized representative.

77.

"Position" means a specific office, employment, or job calling for the performance of certain tasks, duties and responsibilities.

78.

"Probationary period" means the time limited period of paid service established to review an employee' s job performance as an extension of the examination process required before an employee gains permanent status.

79.

"Proof of employee support" means (1) an authorization card recently signed and personally dated by an employee, or (2) a verified authorization petition or petitions recently signed and personally dated by an employee, or (3) employee dues deduction authorization, using the payroll register for the period immediately prior to the date a petition is filed hereunder, except that dues deduction authorizations for more than one employee organization for the account of any one employee shall not be considered as proof of employee support hereunder. Valid proof of authorization as defined in the three categories listed above shall be the authorization last signed by an employee. The words "recently signed" shall mean within ninety days prior to the filing of a petition.

80.

"Promotion or promotional appointment" means an appointment of aji employee candidate having permanent or probationary status to a position in a different class having a higher pay range than the pay range of the class of the employee's previous position.

81.

"Provisional appointment" means an appointment of an applicant not on the register pursuant to Section 2.60.250.

82.

"Qualifying examination" means an examination which is scored on a pass or fail basis; the scores of which do not indicate relative levels of suitability among those who are determined to be qualified.

83.

"Ranking examination" means an examination, the scores of which are appropriate for indicating relative levels of suitability among those who pass.

84.

"Reclassification or reallocation of a position" means the changing of a position from one classification to another classification based on the duties assigned pursuant to Sections 2.60.360, 2.60.370 and 2 . 60 .420 .

85.

"Recognition petition" means a formal request for an employee organization pursuant to Article II, Section 2 of the county Employer/Employee Relations Policy seeking authorization to represent a unit appropriate for collective bargaining.

86.

"Recruitment" means acceptance and examination of applicants to be considered for employment with the county.

87.

"Reduction in force" means involuntary transfer, demotion, or separation due to lack of work, lack of funds, or other economic reasons, or because the necessity for a position, work unit, or department no longer exists, or elimination of services performed by any or all positions within a department.

88.

"Referral or referral register" means a list of eligible candidates prepared by the personnel department from which final selection consideration for appointment to a specific position at a particular point in time may be given pursuant to Article V of this chapter.

89.

"Reinstatement" means the re-employment or restoration of a former employee to a class in which permanent status was held.

90.

"Resignation" means voluntary separation from county service.

91.

"Runoff election" means second election conducted when the first fails to show a majority for any choice presented. The top two vote-getters appear in the runoff election.

92.

"Score" means an index, indication, description or designation of examination results.

93.

"Seniority" means the length of continuous county service without a break due to separation.

94.

"Separation" means a break in service resulting from resignation, termination, retirement, dismissal, reduction in force or death, provided in Article VI of this chapter.

95.

"Standby" means when an employee is required to remain available for immediate call to work and requiring the employee to be ready to respond to calls immediately; be available by radio or telephone, remain within a reasonable distance in order to respond to calls; refrain from activities which might impair ability to perform assigned duties.

96.

"Step" means a pay rate, expressed in hourly, biweekly, semimonthly, or monthly rates, designated in terms of its relationship with other compensation rates in a compensation range.

97.

"Step date" means the date upon which an employee is eligible to receive a salary increase based on satisfactory performance and the provisions outlined in Section 2.60.400.

98.

"Student intern appointment" means a time-limited appointment of a student where such employment constitutes a recognized phase of the student's educational or training program.

99.

"Supervisor" means an employee having statutory or properly delegated authority to appoint, suspend, transfer, promote, dismiss, layoff, demote, assign work, direct or discipline other employees, or effectively recommend such action if the exercise of such authority is not of a merely routine or administrative nature, but requires the use of independent judgment.

100.

"Suspension" means an involuntary imposed leave for disciplinary purposes or during investigatory or judicial proceedings.

101.

"Temporary assignment" means an employee who fills in for a vacated position for a short period of time.

102.

"Termination" means a voluntary or involuntary separation of an employee.

103.

"Transfer" means the appointment of an employee from one position to another position within the same classification .

104.

"Unclassified service" means positions exempted from the classified service as outlined in the salary resolution or contracted positions unless designated classified by the board. This class of employee shall not be provided holiday leave, sick leave, vacation leave, group insurance or other types of benefits provided permanent positions, nor shall they be covered by the provisions of the employer/employee resolution.

105.

"Valid election" means an election certified by the Employee Relations Officer in which one employee organization has been determined to represent a majority of the votes cast.

106.

"Valid votes" means those ballots filed by permanent employees of the appropriate unit within the prescribed time period and meeting other such requirements as established by the entity conducting such election.

107.

"Voluntary reappointment" means an appointment of a permanent or probationary employee candidate voluntarily seeking an appointment to a position in a class having the same or lower compensation range than that of the class previously occupied.

108.

"Work unit" means a work system composed of positions organized about a single purpose or program.

109.

"Year" means calendar year unless otherwise specified.

110.

"Y-rate" means freezing of an incumbent' s salary-rate which is determined to be the salary range assigned a classification as a result of a reclassification action, pursuant to Section 2.60.420C.

(Ord. 1151 §l(part), 1991; Ord. 1143 §l(part), 1990; Ord. 1087 §l(part), 1986)