Personnel Definitions
The following definitions apply to all Salt Lake Community College People and Workplace Culture Policies and Procedures. Questions regarding People and Workplace Culture (PWC) Policies and Procedures should be referred to the PWC Office. If an employee wants to appeal the interpretation of a personnel definition, the associate vice president of PWC may be consulted for a final decision.
Adjunct Faculty: employees hired on a term-to-term basis with no future expectation or obligation for employment. Adjunct faculty may be terminated at will.
Administrative Employee: individuals whose primary responsibilities include management and general business operations, including the president and the president's designees.
Advisor: a person a party chosen to assist the party during the grievance process. An advisor may be, but is not required to be, an attorney.
At-will Employment: employment can be terminated at any time, without notice or formality, for no reason or any reason that is not prohibited by law.
Background Check: a formal inquiry into an individual's criminal history conducted by People and Workplace Culture.
Calendar Days: all days in a month, including weekends and holidays. If a deadline falls on a weekend, college holiday, college break, or college closure, the deadline moves to the next college business day. Without a reference to calendar or business days, it will be a calendar day.
Child: a person under 18 years old who receives at least half of their financial support from an employee, or a person of any age who receives at least half of their financial support due to the inability to care for themselves because of mental or physical disability.
Compensatory Leave Time: time provided to full-time non-exempt employees who have worked in excess of 40 hours during a work week. The rate for compensatory time is one and one-half times the excess hours worked.
Complainant: the individual who allegedly experienced discrimination, sexual harassment, and/or workplace bullying in violation of college policy.
Confidential Employee: any employee who is a licensed medical, clinical, or mental health professional, and their staff when that person is acting in their professional capacity.
Conviction: a finding of guilt for a crime by a court of competent jurisdiction, including a "No Contest" plea or "Plea in Abeyance.”
Corrective Action: employment action taken by a supervisor with the goal of correcting unacceptable employee performance or conduct.
Demotion: decreased to a position, with or without cause, of less responsibility and may include a reduced salary.
Dependents for Tuition Waiver: the natural or legally adopted children under the age of twenty-six, including the children of an employee’s spouse or domestic partner, and the children for whom the employee has legal guardianship.
Discrimination: treating someone differently based on a person’s protected class when such conduct adversely affects the term, condition, or privilege of an individual’s employment or participation in a college program or activity.
Domestic Partner: a person at least 18 years old who is in a nonmarital, committed, lawful relationship regardless of gender, and has lived with an employee for at least six months.
Early Retirement: voluntary termination of employment by an employee who meets retirement eligibility criteria and is approved for the College's Early Retirement Plan.
Employees: any individual hired by the college into a full- or part-time position.
Exempt Employee: exempt employees are paid an established monthly or annual salary and are expected to fulfill the duties of their positions regardless of the hours worked. This does not include eligibility for overtime pay.
Final Written Warning: a document issued to an employee by the employee's supervisor that addresses reoccurring, unsatisfactory, or significantly disruptive work performance or conduct.
Financial Exigency: an existing or imminent financial circumstance that, if left uncorrected, would threaten the College's financial stability.
Full-time Employees: employees who work 75% full-time equivalency (FTE) of a 40-hour work week or greater and are eligible for full-time benefits.
Full-time Faculty: employees holding a full-time teaching or academic appointment from the college.
Full-time Staff: non-faculty employees in full-time positions who are paid a salary or wage for the work they perform.
Grievance Hearing Committee: the committee appointed by the associate vice president of People & Workplace Culture or designee from the Standing Grievance Committee, which is charged with determining the merits of a grievance and making recommended determinations.
Grievant: a college employee who has filed a formal grievance.
Ineligible for Re-employment Designation: employment status declaring that persons who have engaged in egregious behavior are ineligible to work at the College for at least three years.
Job Abandonment: an employee’s failure to come to work for three consecutive work days or shifts and failing to notify their supervisor resulting in termination of employment.
Military Leave: leave granted to an employee who is a member of the armed services so that the employee can attend the required military service.
Non-Exempt Employee: employees who are entitled to minimum wage and overtime pay when they work more than 40 hours per work week.
Not Responsible: a finding that a respondent has not committed the alleged conduct.
Notice: delivery of a written statement to an employee either personally, emailing it to the employee's most recent email address, or mailing it to the employee's last known address. Service by mail or electronic means is complete upon sending.
Paid Administrative Leave: non-punitive leave paid at an employee's regular pay rate.
Parent: a person who provides or provided more than half of a child's support.
Participant: any person who is taking part in, seeking to take part in, or benefiting from any program, service, or activity sponsored by the college.
Part-time Employees: employees who work 125 hours or less in a month and are eligible only for part-time benefits. Part-time employees may be terminated at will.
Payment in Lieu of Notice: a payment made to full-time employees placed on layoff status for reasons other than cause and without timely notice of a layoff.
People and Workplace Culture: the office responsible for oversight of the administration of personnel matters.
Personal Leave: leave granted to an employee when personal circumstances require an employee's absence, up to 90 days.
Personnel File: an employee's official college record.
Preponderance of the Evidence: a legal standard meaning more likely than not a policy was violated or an incident occurred.
Protected Class: personal characteristics such as race, color, religion, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, age, disability, veteran status; pregnancy, childbirth, or pregnancy-related conditions; genetic information, or other bases protected by law.
Regular Employees: a full-time faculty or staff member whose employment is continuous and initially funded for a non-temporary period who has successfully completed the probationary period.
Relatives: parent, sibling, spouse, child, grandparent, grandchild, domestic partner, aunt, uncle, niece, nephew, first cousin, mother-in-law, father-in-law, sister-in-law, brother-in-law, daughter-in-law, son-in-law, and any step-relatives of the same degree.
Respondent: the person who is alleged to have engaged in prohibited or wrongful conduct.
Responsible: a finding that a respondent has violated a policy through their conduct.
Restricted Funds: money received by the College that may be only used following the requirements established by the external donor or agency.
Retaliation: any material sanction, action, or treatment that is intended to restrain, or does restrain, a person from engaging in any college function because that person made a complaint or participated in an investigation related to discrimination, harassment, or workplace bullying.
Search Committee: a group of people who help search for, screen, interview, and recommend applicants for hire.
Soft-Funded Positions: positions funded from grants, contracts, student fees, auxiliaries, or other non-state appropriated funds.
Spouse: the person you are married to as recognized by Utah State law.
Staff Probation: initial six month period of a new position for full-time staff.
Student Employee: a student employee is enrolled in at least one (1) course and is employed part-time by Salt Lake Community College, working twenty (20) hours a week or less. Student Employees include students who qualify and are participating in federal Work Study opportunities or are employed through the Campus Internship Program.
Substance Abuse Professional (SAP): a licensed or certified health care provider, social worker, employee assistance professional, or addiction counselor with knowledge of the diagnosis and treatment of alcohol and drug disorders.
Supportive Measures: nonpunitive individualized measures designed to restore or preserve access to the college's programs or activities, protect the safety of all parties, provide support, and deter sexual misconduct or any form of harassment. Supportive measures may include counseling, course-related adjustments, modified employment conditions, increased security, and other interventions.
Suspension without pay: a temporary interruption of an employee’s wages and work requirement.
Temporary Employees: an individual who is employed part- or full-time for up to one year or with short-term funding.
Workplace: any location where work is performed related to college employment.
Written Warning: a document addressing unacceptable behavior and performance expectations issued to an employee by their supervisor.