Glossary of Terms
Learn more about commonly used human resources terms. If you have any questions about the information below, email People Excellence.
Administrative and Professional Employee (A&P)
An A&P employee serves at the pleasure of the President, or their designee, and is considered an at-will employee. The employee must meet one of the criteria listed below:
Has primary responsibility for the management of multiple departments or operating units with the primary focus on strategic and tactical business planning and development.
OR
Has responsibility for the management and operation of a department or unit within a department and performs one or more of the following: development and administration of policies, programs and internal procedures; development and maintenance of fiscal systems and operations; strategic and tactical business planning and development; facilities planning; recruitment, supervision, and development of professional and support staff.
OR
Performs duties solely or predominantly of a recognized profession and/or State-licensed profession requiring an advanced degree such as lawyers, physicians, veterinarians, scientists and engineers.
OR
Has primary responsibility for the creation, development, implementation and maintenance of programs relating to various significant institutional endeavors.
OR
Holds a position such as that of professional librarian, which is excluded by law from the Classified Service.
Benefits Eligible Employee
An employee who is hired to work at least 20 hours per week for four and one-half (4.5) months or longer.
Classified Employee
An employee appointed to a position in the classified service under one of the official titles in the Classified salary range with an established minimum and maximum salary. The first six months of employment for a classified employee at UTSA is probationary.
Exempt Employee
A job that is not subject to the overtime or minimum wage provisions of the Fair Labor Standard Act (FLSA) based on the salary and responsibilities of the position.
Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (FLSA)
The federal legislation that establishes the federal minimum wage, overtime pay, equal pay, record keeping and child labor standards for employees who are covered by the act and are not exempt from specific provisions.
Full-Time Employment
Employment of an individual for 40 hours per week.
HOP
Handbook of Operating Procedures.
Incumbent
The individual who is currently appointed (employed) in a position.
Job Audit (Job Analysis)
Job Audit/Job analysis (also known as Job Evaluation) is a systematic process for gathering information to evaluate the duties, responsibilities, scope and complexity of a position description to determine job title, job code and salary grade that most appropriately matches the job specifications.
Job Classification
The assignment of a job title and pay grade to work that can be performed by one or more employees within the organization that have similar job responsibilities, minimum qualification, and knowledge, skills and abilities (KSA's).
Job Description
A summary of the duties attributed to a job classification and the knowledge, skills and abilities required to perform satisfactorily in any position which is similarly classified.
Non-Exempt Employee
An employee who, because of their position duties, is not exempt from the overtime provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). Non-exempt employees must receive compensatory time off or overtime pay at a rate of time and one-half for any time worked in excess of 40 hours in a work week.
Non-Regular Employee
An employee whose appointment is:
- for less than 4 1/2 months regardless of the hours appointed to work per week
OR- for 4 1/2 months or longer and hours appointed to work is 19 hours or less per week
Part-Time Employment
Employment of an individual for less than 40 hours per week.
Pay Plan
An established set of salary grades and pay ranges that are used to pay classified jobs. The pay plan includes the job title, pay grade, pay range and FLSA classification.
Position
A group of duties and responsibilities that require the full or part-time employment of one person.
A written description for an individual position that provides a job detail summary specific to the position. Position descriptions are specific to the responsibilities in each individual position. Job descriptions (see above definition) are more generic in nature to provide for potential differences in work between individual positions within the classification.
Posting
The process of making job vacancies known to interested job applicants.
Promotion
A change in which an employee moves from his/her current position to another position requiring more extensive education and/or experience and paying a higher salary. Generally, such a change requires that the higher-level position be formally posted and that the employee apply and be chosen as the most qualified candidate.
Reclassification
A change in the classification of a job due to the result of a job audit that identified a significant and permanent change in job duties. A reclassification always involves a change of title, but does not necessarily require a change of salary or salary pay grade.
Regular Employee
An employee who is appointed for at least twenty hours per week for four and one-half months or more. Regular employees are eligible for UT group insurance benefits.
Replacement Position
A replacement position is a vacated position that had been previously filled.
State service credit
Earned for the actual days, months, and years of service with the university or other state of Texas agencies or higher education institutions, as long as employment at the other state agency or institution is not concurrent with employment at the university. Each full month an employee is on active payroll counts as one month of state service credit, regardless of the number of hours worked in a month. Only the actual days worked during partial months at the beginning and ending of employment count as state service credit. Each thirty days of employment converts into one month of state service credit. Employees do not accrue state service credit while on leave without pay. Employees called to active duty during a national emergency by a reserve branch of the U.S. Armed Forces of the United States accrue state service credit. State service credit is used to determine vacation accrual rates, longevity pay and hazardous duty pay; it is not used to determine retirement benefits. [Rev. 12-6-07]
Student Employee
An employee appointed into a position requiring student status as a condition of employment. Student employees must be enrolled in a recognized educational institution on a half-time or greater basis during the current or next scheduled semester.
Transfer
The permanent lateral movement of an employee from their current position to another position assigned within the same pay grade.
Vacancy
A budgeted position in which no employee is currently appointed.
