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of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania

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    Classification

    The commonwealth is committed to providing equitable salaries and wages to all employees, within the limits of accountability and fiscal responsibility. To achieve these goals, the commonwealth uses a position classification system to ensure pay equity. There are official pay rules that govern salary placement and compensation actions for employees and officers under the Governor’s jurisdiction.  

    Classification System

    For the majority of commonwealth employees, pay is determined based on the level and complexity of the work assigned to their positions.  Most positions are allocated to a job classification, which is assigned to a pay scale group on an appropriate pay scale type (pay schedule). 

    All job titles currently in use by agencies under the Governor’s jurisdiction and their corresponding pay scale groups and types, bargaining units, and other coding at the job level are available through the online version of the classification and pay plan. Changes to the plan occur on a regular basis through Executive Board amendments to ensure that the jobs in the plan accurately describe the work performed as well as the qualifications of the individuals’ managers need to perform the work. 

    Recommendations for revisions to the classification and pay plan should be sent to the director of the Bureau of Organization Management in accordance with Management Directive 520.7 Development and Validation of Job Standards.  

    Classifying Positions

    It is likely that your agency or HR delivery center has decentralized classification authority — with enterprise OA oversight— for the majority of jobs in the classification and pay plan. The remainder of jobs require approval from OA-Organization Management, which reviews those requests in accordance with Management Directive 520.5 Centralized Job Control System and Management Directive 520.6 Processing of Reclassification Actions.

    An evaluation of a position’s classification can be initiated by the employee in the position, managers in the agency, the agency HR office, OA, or the union, if applicable.  

    Position Descriptions

    Position descriptions also serve as the basis for creating vacancy-based job postings and developing experience and training examinations for civil service positions.

    Training

    OA offers the following classes throughout the year, as well as regularly scheduled ongoing learning courses:

    • Introduction to Classification & Pay for Classifiers
    • Classification Grievance Training
    • Hay Evaluation Training
    • Job Specification Development

    Employees may self-enroll for training classes in My Learning.