FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS (FAQ)
GENERAL POLICY
Q. What
determines why an employee (position) is non-state service?
A. Section 25-9-107 (c ),
Also included
are employees who have not completed the 12-month probationary period in a
state service position.
NOTE: Part-time positions are those where
the employee works less than 40 hours a week, 12 months a year.
Time-limited
positions are those that are typically funded through a federal grant and whose
length of employment has been determined to be time-limited in nature. They are subject to be deleted once the
funding is discontinued.
Q. What are the
differences between a state service employee and a non-state employee?
A. Non-state service employees do not have
a statutory property right to their positions and may be terminated with or
without cause by the appointing authority of their agency. A statutory property right to a state service
position entitles the employee to a right of continued employment in a state
service position of equal pay, and this entitlement may not be taken away or
adversely affected except through due process or Legislative action.
Employees hired into non-state service
positions are not required to be hired from a Certificate of Eligibles.
Those
employees designated non-state service because of their reporting relationship
to a key excluded official can be paid up to 25% above the starting salary of
their positions because of their non-state service designation.
LEAVE
Q. Can Personal
Leave and Major Medical Leave be transferred between State Agencies and the
in-state colleges?
A. Section 25-3-97(5), Mississippi Code
of 1972, Annotated, states that, “All accrued leave, both major medical and
personal leave, earned by employees shall be transferable between or among any
and all state agencies, junior colleges, and senior colleges”.
NOTE: Compensatory leave is not
transferable.
Q. Is there a
maximum amount of Leave a person can use in anticipation of retirement?
A. An Attorney General’s Opinion dated
September 2, 1992, states, “When an employee is no longer performing any work
for an agency and has no plan or intention to return to work but is merely
exhausting his personal leave before formally resigning his position,
termination of employment as used in Section 25-3-93 (4), Mississippi Code
of 1972, Annotated, has effectively occurred as of the date he last
worked. Such an employee would be
entitled to receive payment for not more than thirty (30) days of accumulated
leave. All other leave shall be counted
as creditable service for retirement purposes”.
Q. Is a Great
Grandparent considered an immediate family member in regard to the use of Major
Medical Leave?
A. Section
GRIEVANCE PROCESS
Q. Does an
employee have to take leave to participate in the Grievance Process?
A. No, however, an aggrieved employee must
continue to perform their assigned job duties while at work and the employee
must take personal leave for time spent offsite discussing the matter with
legal representation and/or representatives from other agencies.
Q. What do I do
if my immediate supervisor/second or third level manager/agency head doesn’t
respond to my grievance within the specified time limit?
A. If the supervisor, appointing authority,
or designee does not answer the grievance within the specified time limit, the employee
may elect to treat the grievance as denied at that step and immediately appeal
the grievance
to the next
step. Time limits on each step may be
extended by mutual written agreement of the parties involved.
HOLIDAYS
Q. How many paid Holidays do State
Employees receive each year?
A. State employees receive regular pay for
ten (10) legal holidays and for any other day proclaimed as a holiday by the
Governor or the President of the
Q. How should
paid Holidays be administered for individuals not scheduled to work on those
days?
A. Each state employee should receive
regular pay for eight (8) hours for ten (10) legal holidays and any other day
proclaimed as a holiday by the Governor or the President of United States. If an employee is scheduled to work on one of
the legal holidays, he should be allowed to take his holiday another day.
Q. How should
paid Holidays be administered for individuals in part-time positions?
A. Legal
holidays should be pro-rated for part-time employees.
Q. Does an
employee have to work the day before and/or the day after a holiday to get paid
for that holiday?
A. Employees who are in an active pay
status on a legal holiday shall be compensated for the holiday. Active pay status is defined as either
physically working or on paid leave the day of a legal holiday, the day
immediately preceding a legal holiday, or the day immediately following a legal
holiday.
DONATED LEAVE
Q. What types of
injuries/illnesses should be approved for Donated Leave?
A. Those certified by a physician to be
catastrophic as defined by state law (e.g. the illness must, among other
things, be life threatening).
Q. Is the 90 day
limit on Donated Leave 90 consecutive days or 90 work days?
A. 90 work days (or 720 work hours). The 90 days equals 720 hours which may be
used consecutively or intermittently.
Q. Does the 90
day limit apply to each employee or to each occurrence of catastrophic
illness/injury?
A. The
90 day limit refers to each catastrophic illness/injury.
Q. If I have a
certified life threatening injury or illness, who may donate leave to me?
A. Recipient employees of agencies with
more than 500 employees may receive donated leave only from donor employees
within the same agency. A recipient employee
in an agency with 500 or fewer employees may receive donated leave from any
donor employee.