When feasible, the County will offer work-out-of-class assignments to qualified, interested permanent employees prior to offering such assignments to extra-help employees. Departments will solicit interest in such assignments via bulletin board posting, internal memo, and/or email within the department or division as the department deems appropriate. If offered, it is the employee’s responsibility to inform management of their interest in work-out-of-class assignments. The intent of this section is to provide additional career development opportunities to permanent County employees when such assignments do not cause unreasonable disruptions to the work environment or work production.

When feasible, the County will offer to rotate interested, qualified employees in previously identified long-term (more than 20 days) work-out-of-class assignments in three month intervals. Work out of class assignments will not normally extend beyond one year. The intent of this section is to provide additional career development opportunities to permanent County employees when such assignments do not cause unreasonable disruptions to work environment or work production.

When an employee has been assigned in writing by the department head or designated representative to perform the work of a permanent position having a different classification and being paid at a higher rate, and if they have worked in such classification for five (5) consecutive workdays (or four consecutive workdays for employees on a 4 day workweek, or where due to a County holiday, the workweek is only 4 days), they shall be entitled to payment for the higher classification, as prescribed for promotions in subsection 5.5 of this Memorandum of Understanding, retroactive to the first (1st) workday and continuing during the period of temporary assignment, under the conditions specified below:

1) The assignment is caused by the temporary or permanent absence of the incumbent;

2) The employee performs the duties regularly performed by the absent incumbent, and these duties are clearly not included in the job description of their regular classification;

3) The temporary assignment to work-out-of-classification which extends beyond twenty (20) working days be approved by the Human Resources Director, a copy of the approval form to be given to the employee; and

4) A copy of the department head’s written approval must be submitted in advance to the Human Resources Director. If the Director determines that they will not approve pay for work in the higher classification which exceeds twenty (20) workdays, the employee will be so notified and have the opportunity to discuss this matter with the Human Resources Director whose decision shall be final.

When a work-out-of-classification assignment made in accordance with Section 34 for an individual employee extends beyond one year (or one full year equivalent for part-time employees), that employee’s salary shall be raised to the next step in the classification in which the employee is working out of classification, except that the increase shall not exceed the maximum salary of the higher classification.