HUMAN RESOURCES PROCEDURES MANUAL - Delaware

1 HUMAN RESOURCES PROCEDURES MANUAL HUMAN resource Management Initial Issue March 2005 Last Update May 2013 OMB/HRM revised 2 HUMAN RESOURCES PROCEDURES MANUAL Preface and disclaimer This MANUAL is designed to: - Provide a basic overview and summary of the HUMAN resource PROCEDURES of the State of Delaware . - Serve as a first source of information as questions arise. We encourage you to use the MANUAL often. This MANUAL is formatted by topic and sections. Section 1 contains interpretations of Merit Rules with hyper-links to relevant, existing policy, PROCEDURES , and other interpretative guidance. Section 2 contains update(s) to the HUMAN resource PROCEDURES MANUAL FY 2007 Section 3 contains relevant FY 08 Budget Epilogue references. Disclaimer This MANUAL is not an employment contract. It does not confer rights or privileges upon employees.

2 employment with the State of Delaware is at will. This means that the State reserves the right, subject only to the express terms of applicable labor law agreement, statute, or merit rules, to terminate an individual s employment at any time. Except where express terms or collective bargaining agreements apply, the State of Delaware policies and PROCEDURES , rules, orders, directives and orders shall be controlling in regard to eligibility for employee benefits. The State s rules, policies and PROCEDURES , orders, and directives may be changed from time to time and at the sole discretion of the State of Delaware . In the case of any discrepancy between this MANUAL and any State law, regulation, policy, rule, order, directive, or collective bargaining agreement, the latter will prevail. OMB/HRM revised 3 SECTION 1 OMB/HRM revised 4 Table of Contents Topic (Listed by Merit Rule) Civil Unions The Civil Union and Equality Act of 2011 Merit Rule #1 Introduction Merit Rule #2 Non-Discrimination Merit Rule #3 Classification of Positions & Other relevant De.

3 Code Merit Rule #4 Pay Plan Merit Rule #5 Employee Benefits Merit Rule #6 Recruitment and Application Policies Merit Rule #7 Examinations and Registers Merit Rule #8 Certification Merit Rule #9 Probation Merit Rule #10 Other Appointments Merit Rule #11 Layoff PROCEDURES Merit Rule #12 Employee Accountability Merit Rule #13 Performance Review Merit Rule #14 Employee Development and Communications Merit Rule #15 Employee Responsibilities Merit Rule #16 HUMAN resource Records Merit Rule #17 Payroll Merit Rule #18 The Grievance Procedure Merit Rule #19 Definitions Section 2 Updates All updates added to this procedure during FY 11 Section 3 FY 11 Budget Epilogue Language Impacting HUMAN RESOURCES OMB/HRM revised 5 The Civil Union and Equality Act of 2011 The Civil Union and Equality Act of 2011 creates a legal relationship of civil unions between same sex couples in the State of Delaware .

4 The Act further recognizes legal unions between two persons of the same sex entered into jurisdictions outside of Delaware provided that such unions and the parties thereto meet Delaware eligibility requirements to enter into a civil union in the State of Delaware . Persons who enter into a lawful civil union in Delaware on or after January 1, 2012 or whose legal union is recognized under Delaware law on or after January 1, 2012, will have the same rights, benefits, protections, and responsibilities as married persons under Delaware law. Employees who are party to a lawful civil union as defined in the preceding paragraph shall be included in any definition or use of the terms "dependent", "family", "husband and wife", "immediate family", "next of kin", "spouse", "stepparent", and other terms, whether or not gender-specific, that denote a spousal relationship or a person in a spousal relationship as they appear in the Merit Rules, Family and Medical Leave Act, State Policies, PROCEDURES and Guidelines.

5 The same proof of relation required of "dependent", "family", "husband and wife", "immediate family", "next of kin", "spouse" and "stepparent" will be required of employees who are party to a civil union. INTRODUCTION Merit Rule Chapter 1 As per Merit Rule , the Director of the Office of Management and Budget is authorized to provide rule interpretation and application guidelines consistent with the Merit Rules. This MANUAL is designed to consolidate PROCEDURES and interpretations of the Merit Rules and policy. The document is designed so that this information can easily be located in one document. You should read, understand, and comply with all provisions of this MANUAL . It describes many of your responsibilities as an employee and provides rule interpretation and application guidelines consistent with the Merit Rules. One of our objectives is to provide a work environment that is conducive to both personal and professional growth.

6 Policies and PROCEDURES are principles adopted to chart a course of action. They tell what is wanted and may also include why and how much. They are broad enough to indicate a line of action to be taken in meeting a number of day to day problems; they need to be narrow enough to give clear guidance. Policy and procedure development is a dynamic, ongoing process. Therefore, no MANUAL can anticipate every circumstance or question about policy and procedure. New problems, issues, and needs give rise to the continuing need to develop new policies and PROCEDURES or to revise existing ones. As the need may arise, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) reserves the right to revise, supplement, or rescind any policies or PROCEDURES and to revise portions of the MANUAL that may be impacted by policy and procedure changes from time to time as it deems appropriate.

7 Notification of such changes to the MANUAL will be made as changes occur. Any substantial changes will be in posted on the OMB Website and distributed to each organization s HUMAN RESOURCES representative and included in Section 2 during the OMB/HRM revised 6 fiscal year that the change takes place. Subsequently the changes will be incorporated into the body of the MANUAL in the appropriate section. NON-DISCRIMINATION - Merit Rule Chapter 2 The State of Delaware is committed to providing equal employment opportunities to all Delawareans and State employees. The State continues to strive for a workforce that reflects the diversity of the State s population and labor market. Executive Order Number 8 provides for diversity. Executive Order 8 CLASSIFICATION Merit Rule Chapter 3 Job title verses Working title --The job title and/or code shall be used to designate positions of the class or to identify incumbents in all budget estimates, payrolls, HUMAN resource records, reports and other official records, and in correspondence or other communications relative to HUMAN RESOURCES administrative processes.

8 For purposes of external relations or other purposes not relating to HUMAN RESOURCES administration, any suitable organizational title or working title may be used provided the working title is not similar to or confused with any standard class title and is approved by the individual s supervisor. (Ref. ) PROCEDURES for Establishing Positions (Ref. ) 1. Authorization to establish all classified positions will be based on the Budget Act (processed through the regular budgetary process) or Clearinghouse approval. No establishments in excess of authorized full time equivalencies (FTEs/number of authorized positions) will be approved. 2. The agency completes the principal accountabilities section, knowledge, skills and abilities section of the Job Analysis Questionnaire (JAQ) and the Position Establishment Form, and identifies positions by job title, job code, corresponding pay grade and other pertinent data.

9 The agency HR representative, prior to submitting these documents to OMB, will establish the position in PHRST. The position number, automatically assigned by PHRST when the transaction is saved, needs to be documented on the Position Establishment Form prior to canceling out of the record. When the position is added in PHRST the position status field on the Description panel will be in PROPOSED status and will be grayed out. There is an edit in the PHRST system that prevents an employee from being hired into a position while it is in proposed status. Once the established position is saved and is assigned a position number by the system, record that position number on the JAQ and the Position Establishment Form and submit both documents to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). Upon approval of the position establishment by the Director of HUMAN resource Management staff will go into PHRST and change the position status from PROPOSED to APPROVED.

10 In the event the final classification approved is different from the agency proposed classification, HUMAN resource Management (HRM) will change the classification information before changing the status from proposed to approved. OMB/HRM revised 7 HRM will notify the agency via e -mail that the position establishment has been approved and the position status changed to approved. Note: Seasonal positions require only the Position Establishment Form. Job Analysis Questionnaire, Instructions, Answer Sheet, and Position Establishment Form can be found on the On the Classifications/Compensation webpage at Delaware Office of Management and Budget, HUMAN resource Management - Classification and Compensation Reclassifications The job title and/or code shall be used to designate positions of the class or to identify incumbents in all budget estimates, payrolls, HUMAN resource records, reports and other official records, and in correspondence or other communications relative to HUMAN RESOURCES administrative processes.