Department of Human Resources

§2-13     Definitions.

Unless otherwise indicated by the context, words used in these rules are understood to have the following special meanings:

“Administrative review” means a re-evaluation of an examination, classification or initial pricing action in accordance with the provisions set forth in these rules.

“Appointing authority” means a department head or designee having the power to make appointments, make changes in the status of employees, and take other actions as provided elsewhere in these rules.

“Basic compensation or basic rate of pay” means the hourly, daily, monthly, or annual rate of pay used to determine an employee’s lawful compensation in accordance with appropriate salary schedules and applicable rules. The rate of pay shall not include additional or extra compensation granted such as, but not limited to, overtime, stand-by duty, temporary hazard pay, and other temporary pay differentials.

“Calendar day or day” means a period that begins at midnight, Hawaii Standard Time and ends twenty-four hours later at midnight, Hawaii Standard Time.

“Calendar year” means the period beginning January 1 and ending December 31 of the same year.

“Certificate of eligibles” means the official document referring eligibles to the appointing authority for employment consideration.

“City” means the City and County of Honolulu.

“City service” means all offices and other positions in the public service of the city.

“Civil service” includes all positions in the city service not exempted by the provisions of sections 6-1103 and 6-1104 of the Revised City Charter or other law.

“Civil service appointment” means an appointment to a civil service position from an appropriate eligible list.

“Civil service employee” means an employee who has met all the requirements for regular civil service status under section 76-27 and 78-1 of the Hawaii Revised Statutes.

“Civil service law” means chapter 76, HRS, as amended, and Article VI, chapter 11 of the Revised City Charter, as deemed applicable. Unless the context clearly indicates otherwise, all terms used herein shall have the same meaning as in the civil service law and references to the “law” shall be taken to mean the civil service law.

“Civil service recruitment procedure” means the procedure for the competitive process by which an applicant is deemed qualified for civil service appointment.

“Civil service system” means the personnel system based on the merit principle specified in section 76-1, HRS.

“Class specification” means the official document, approved by the director, providing a formalized summary of the nature and scope of duties and responsibilities, level of difficulty and authority, and minimum qualification requirements of a class.

“Class or class of work” means a group of positions that reflect sufficiently similar duties and responsibilities such that the same title and the same pay range may apply to each position allocated to the class.

“Classification” means the process of establishing an occupational framework and grouping positions on the basis of the kind and level of work and knowledge, skills, abilities and qualifications required for performance of the work.

“Classification system” means a system in which classes of positions are arranged in a logical and systematic order.

“Commission” means the civil service commission of the City and County of Honolulu.

“Compensation plan” means the pay plan consisting of the assignment of classes in the classification systems to ranges in the appropriate salary schedules.

“Continuous recruitment and examination announcement” means an announcement of competitive examination without a closing date for which applications are received and examinations conducted on a continual basis.

“Critical-to-fill” means

(1) Positions so vital to the organization’s mission such that the work cannot be assigned or assumed by other positions, and the inability to fill would significantly and adversely affect the organization’s ability to accomplish its goals and objectives; or
(2) Positions providing direct services that must be performed because the health, safety, and welfare of the general public are involved.

“Demotion” means a movement of a regular employee from the position the employee last held permanent appointment to another position:

(1) Assigned to a class with a lower pay range in the same salary schedule; or

(2) Assigned to a class with a lower maximum rate of compensation in a another salary schedule and the dollar difference between the two maximum rates is more than the dollar difference between the minimum and second step of the former pay range; provided that, a rate of five per cent more than the minimum rate of the range shall be deemed to be equivalent to the second step in the EM schedule; provided further, that a rate of ninety-five per cent of the maximum rate of a range in a salary schedule with single rate pay ranges shall be deemed equivalent to the minimum or first step of the pay range.

“Department” means any department, board, commission or agency of the city.

“Director” means the director of human resources.

“Discharge” means an action taken by the appointing authority dismissing an employee for just cause.

“Discipline” means an action to reprimand, suspend, demote or discharge an employee or reallocate the employee’s position downward because of misconduct by the employee.

“Earned rating” means the rating attained as a result of an applicant’s qualification or performance or both in an examination, without credit for the points added through veteran’s preference.

“Eligible” means a person whose name is on an eligible list.

“Eligible list” means a list of persons who have qualified for appointment to positions in a particular class.

“Employee” means a person holding a civil service position in accordance with civil service law unless language clearly indicates otherwise.

“Examination” means an assessment method used to evaluate the knowledge, skills and abilities of applicants for employment.

“Exemptions from civil service” means those positions, persons in those positions, and personal services exempted from the civil service by the provisions of sections 6-1103 and 6-1104 of the Revised City Charter or other law.

“Holiday” means the day of the week that a legal holiday is observed pursuant to law.

“Initial allocation” means the action taken on a new position to place it in a specific class on the basis of its duties, responsibilities, and minimum qualification requirements.

“Initial appointment” means an appointment of an individual without regular status through an initial probationary, limited-term, provisional or short-term appointment.

“Initial pricing” means the determination of the appropriate pay range and pay relationships for a new class based on appropriate factors.

“Initial probationary period” means a probationary period required of a person entering the city civil service to fill a permanent position.

“Internal departmental competitive examination” means a competitive examination conducted by an appointing authority resulting in the promotion of a regular employee of the department without using a civil service eligible list.

“Inter-departmental promotional examination announcement” means a recruiting notice announcing the receipt of applications for participation in an examination for positions in a particular class, admission to which is limited to regular employees in the city service.

“Inter-governmental movement” means the movement of employees between civil service positions of the State government, the Judiciary, the Hawaii Health Systems Corporation, or any county government in the State.

“Intra-departmental promotional examination announcement” means a recruiting notice announcing the receipt of applications for participation in an examination for positions in a particular class, limited to regular employees of a particular city department or agency.

“Involuntary demotion” means a demotion action taken by an appointing authority due to the employee’s inability to perform the duties and responsibilities of the employee’s position (other than for a disability), or due to the employee’s failure to meet qualification requirements for the position.

“Labor Registration classes” means classes of positions for which the major emphasis in terms of minimum qualification requirements is willingness to perform physical tasks and the ability to follow written instructions.

“Layoff” means the release of an employee due to lack of work, lack of funds, or other legitimate reasons.

“Leave of absence without pay or leave without pay” means a temporary non-pay status and absence from duty.

“Limited-term appointment” means an appointment with a limitation date that is made from an eligible list or through a civil service recruitment procedure.

“Limited-term promotion” means a promotion to a temporary position or to a temporary vacancy in a permanent position for a specified period of time.

“Minimum qualification requirements” means the minimum education, experience, knowledge, skills, abilities, licensing, and other special requirements essential for performance in a class of work or a position.

“New probationary period” means a probationary period served by a regular employee as part of the examination process to determine the employee’s fitness and ability for the new position.

“Non-regular employee” means an employee in a civil service position, not having regular status, including but not limited to those having short-term appointments, provisional appointments, limited-term appointments and initial probationary appointments.

“Normal workweek” means a week in which an employee, other than a fire fighter, is normally required to perform five 8-hour days of service.

“Open competitive examination” means a competitive examination conducted by the department of human resources or designated appointing authority that is open to all qualified employees of the civil service and qualified applicants from the general public.

“Open-competitive examination announcement” means a recruiting notice announcing the receipt of applications from the general public for participation in an examination for positions in a particular class.

“Open-competitive list” means a list of persons who have been found qualified by an open-competitive examination for appointment in a particular class.

“Pay differential” means any additional compensation, in addition to the basic rate of pay, including but not limited to overtime, stand-by duty, compression differentials, lump sum pay, bonuses, recruitment and other financial incentives, awards, and other temporary differentials.

“Pay range” means the group of salary rates from minimum to maximum to which a class may be assigned as set forth in the salary schedules. Pay ranges among the different salary schedules are considered to be higher or lower than, or the same as the others on the basis of the maximum salary rate. In a salary schedule with single rate pay ranges, the single rate is considered the maximum rate of the range.

“Permanent position” means a position without time limitation.

“Position” means a specific job, whether occupied or vacant, consisting of all the current duties and responsibilities assigned or delegated by competent authority, requiring the fulltime or part-time employment of one person.

“Position description” means an official written description, approved by the appointing authority, of the duties and responsibilities assigned to and required of a specific position.

“Pricing” means the process of assigning classes to pay ranges based on appropriate factors.

“Probationary appointment” means an appointment to fill a permanent position

“Probationary period” means a specified period which serves as the final test of an employee’s qualifications for the position.

“Promotion” means a movement of a regular employee from the position the employee last held permanent appointment to another position:

(1) Assigned to a class with a higher pay range in the same salary schedule; or

(2) Assigned to a class with a higher maximum rate of compensation in a another salary schedule and the dollar difference between the two maximum rates is more than the dollar difference between the minimum and second steps of the former pay range; provided that, a rate of five per cent more than the minimum rate of the range shall be deemed to be equivalent to the second step in the EM schedule; provided further, that a rate of ninety-five per cent of the maximum rate of a range in a salary schedule with single rate pay ranges shall be deemed equivalent to the minimum or first step of the pay range.

“Promotional examination” means a competitive examination conducted by the department of human resources or designated appointing authority and is limited to qualified regular employees in the civil service. This examination may be interdepartmental or intradepartmental.

“Promotional list” means a list of regular employees who have been found qualified by a promotional examination for appointment in a particular class.

“Provisional appointment” means an appointment made pending establishment of an appropriate eligible list, but only as necessary to prevent stoppage of essential public business.

“Rating” means the score or measure of performance of an applicant in an examination.

“Reallocation” means the movement of a position from one class to another class.

“Reallocation downward” means the reallocation of a position:

(1) To a class assigned to a lower pay range in the same salary schedule; or

(2) To a class in another salary schedule with a lower maximum rate of compensation and the dollar difference between the two maximum rates is more than the dollar difference between the minimum and second steps of the former pay range; provided that, a rate of five per cent more than the minimum rate of the range shall be deemed to be equivalent to the second step in the EM schedule; provided further, that a rate of ninety-five per cent of the maximum rate of a range in a salary schedule with single rate pay ranges shall be deemed equivalent to the minimum or first step of the pay range.

“Reallocation upward” means the reallocation of a position:

(1) To a class assigned to a higher pay range in the same salary schedule; or

(2) To a class assigned to another salary schedule with a higher maximum rate of compensation and the dollar difference between the two maximum rates is more than the dollar difference between the minimum and second steps of the former pay range; provided that, a rate of five per cent more than the minimum rate of the range shall be deemed to be equivalent to the second step in the EM schedule; provided further, that a rate of ninety-five per cent of the maximum rate of a range in a salary schedule with a single rate pay range shall be deemed equivalent to the minimum or first step of the pay range.

“Recall List” means a list of regular employees who have been laid off.

“Recruitment” means the process of locating applicants for employment.

“Re-employment list” means a list of eligibles comprised of former or current regular employees or both who meet requirements or conditions prescribed in these rules. 

“Regular employee” means an employee who has been appointed to a permanent position in the civil service in accordance with law and who has successfully completed the initial probationary period, or as otherwise provided by statute.

“Regular status” means the status and rights enjoyed by an employee upon satisfactory completion of the employee’s initial probationary period, or as provided by statute.

“Related class” means a class which requires substantially similar knowledge, skills, and abilities as another class.

“Related series” means a series of classes which requires substantially similar knowledge, skills, and abilities as another series.

“Repricing” means the reassignment of classes from one pay range to another in the same salary schedule based on appropriate factors.

“Resignation” means an action by an employee severing the employee’s employment relationship.

“Revised city charter” means the REVISED CHARTER OF THE CITY AND COUNTY OF HONOLULU, as amended.

“Salary or pay schedule” means a table of pay rates and ranges as established through collective bargaining, by executive order, or as otherwise authorized by law.

“Selective certification” means the process of certification that is limited to those persons possessing distinctive or unique knowledge, skills, abilities and other characteristics deemed critical to the successful performance of the work of a specific position.

“Series of classes” means two or more classes of positions within an occupational group that are similar to the extent that they represent the same work specialty, require the same essential knowledge, skills, and abilities for the performance of work in the specialty, but differ in relative levels of difficulty and responsibility.

“Short-term appointment” means an appointment that does not exceed ten working days and is made to fill a position in a serious emergency when it is not practicable to ascertain whether there is an eligible list from which to make a selection.

“Sick leave” means a leave of absence with pay as authorized by law, because of illness or injury.

“Sick leave allowance” means the total number of working hours of sick leave to which an employee is entitled by law and under these rules.

“Temporary assignment” means the assignment by a competent authority and the assumption, without a formal change in position, of all or a major portion of the significant duties and responsibilities of another position.

“Temporary reallocation” means the reallocation of a position because of emergency, or unusual, or unique work situations for a period not to exceed six months, but may be extended for good reason for additional six-month periods with the prior approval of the director.

“Termination of services” means complete severance of an employee from the service of the city, not including resignation or discharge.

“Transfer” means a movement of an initial probationary or regular employee from the position the employee last held a permanent appointment to another position that is:

(1) In the same class;

(2) In a different class assigned to the same pay range in the same salary schedule;

(3) In a different salary schedule and in a class assigned to a pay range whose highest pay step is the same as the highest pay step of the pay range of the class from which the employee is transferring; or

(4) In a different salary schedule and in a class assigned to a pay range whose highest pay step is less than or exceeds the highest pay step of the class from which the employee is transferring by no more than the dollar difference between the first and second steps of the pay range of the class from which the employee is transferring; provided that a rate of five per cent more than the minimum rate of the range shall be deemed to be equivalent to the second step in the EM schedule; provided further, that a rate of ninety-five per cent of the maximum rate of a range in a salary schedule with single rate pay ranges shall be deemed equivalent to the minimum or first step of the pay range.

“Vacation” means a leave of absence with pay as authorized by law, granted at the request of an employee for the purpose of rest and relaxation or for the personal convenience of the employee and calculated as required by law and these rules.

“Vacation allowance” means the total number of working hours of vacation an employee is entitled to by law and under these rules.

“Voluntary demotion” means a demotion requested by an employee and approved by the director and by the appointing authorities concerned.

“Week” means a period of seven consecutive calendar days, beginning on Sunday and ending seven days later on Saturday.

“Workday or shift” means, normally, a period of eight hours during which a full-time employee is scheduled to perform such employee’s normal day’s work. For full-time employees who work more than eight hours in a day on a straight time basis, the workday shall be the number of hours the employee is scheduled to perform the employee’s normal work beginning from the time the employee reports to work and ends when the employee leaves work. For scheduling purposes, a workday or shift may begin on one day and end on the next day.   [Eff Jan 20 2012] (Auth: HRS §76-17) (Imp: HRS §§76-12, 76-13, 78-1)