General Provisions
Position Classification Act Administration

Position Classification Plan

The Texas Position Classification Plan (“the plan”) was established under the Position Classification Act (PCA) in 1961 and provides generic job descriptions and a salary structure for certain state employments. The salary structure organizes state job titles into specific classifications (job classes), which are then assigned to specific salary schedules.

The plan applies to all hourly, part-time, temporary and regular full-time salaried employments in the state departments, agencies or judicial entities that receive appropriated funds, even if the agency’s funds are held outside of the state treasury.

Agencies covered under the PCA must adhere to established standards for employing positions, including the classes of work described in the position classification plan, the job titles authorized by the plan, and the salary rates and provisions in the General Appropriations Act.

Exceptions

The Position Classification Plan does not apply to:

• Constitutional officers or officials.
• Elected officers or officials.
• Officers appointed by the governor.
• The chief executive of a state agency.
• Teachers in public schools, special schools of the state or state institutions of higher education.
• Personnel in state institutions of higher education.
• Professionals compensated for services on a fee basis.
  – or –
• Any employments excluded from the plan:
  • By executive order of the governor.
    – or –
  • At the direction of the Legislature.

State Auditor’s Office Responsibilities

The State Auditor’s office (SAO) is responsible for maintaining and updating the plan as well as ensuring compliance with the plan. SAO notifies the Governor, the Comptroller, the Legislative Audit Committee and the chief executive of an agency when a classification compliance audit reveals inconsistencies with the plan or the prescribed salary ranges.

If the SAO finds an inconsistency with the plan, the chief executive is allowed a reasonable opportunity to resolve the problem by reclassifying the employee to a position title (job class) consistent with the work performed, changing the employee’s duties to conform to the assigned class, or obtaining a new class description of work and salary range.

Classified Salary Rates

Article IX of the General Appropriations Act (GAA) regulates how the state classifies and pays its employees. It also provides information on the position classification plan, including the established salary schedules. The position classification plan assigns covered positions to one of three different schedules: Salary Schedule A, B or C.

The GAA includes a chart of all classified positions for the associated biennium; an A, B or C in the Salary Group column indicates the salary schedule for the position. The numbers listed after the A, B or C specify the salary group for that position. Each schedule is divided into multiple salary groups, with salary ranges further defining the groups. The salary ranges indicate the minimum and maximum salary that can be paid for positions assigned to a certain salary group. See the salary schedules at the SAO.

Agencies are responsible for determining appropriate salary rates at the time an employee is hired. An employee’s education, experience, training, skills and abilities, as well as the agency’s budget, all play a role in determining the salary level at which to hire an employee. Of course, the agency must also adhere to the guidelines in the GAA relating to the minimum and maximum salary for the employee’s position.

To hire someone to fill a vacant position, an agency must follow the guidelines for the position’s job classification. For example, a maintenance specialist II can be found in Article IX of the GAA under job classification 9042 with a pay group A12. The salary schedule shows that an employee in this position must be paid at least $2,570.00 per month, but not more than $3,899.83 per month. Using the salary range for the position along with information about the agency budget and the employee's education, experience, etc., the agency can determine the appropriate salary.

Salary Schedule A

Salary Schedule A is used for jobs involving administrative support, maintenance, technical and paraprofessional jobs. An example would be a maintenance specialist job class series, which has five levels.

Salary Schedule B

Salary Schedule B is used for professional and managerial jobs. An example of a job in this schedule is the manager job series I-VII.

Salary Schedule C

Salary Schedule C is used for law enforcement jobs. This salary schedule differs from the A and B schedules in that it allows for automatic increases based on years of service.

The agencies using this schedule maintain the criteria for these career ladders; each agency has the authority to determine the specific criteria required for an employee to move from one level to another.

For example, the trooper series at the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) starts at the DPS Academy as a trooper-trainee at a C1 pay group with an annual salary of $48,255, then at graduation and commission moves to a probationary trooper I at a C2 pay group with an annual salary of $52,441. The C3 pay group establishes salary increases for troopers based on years of service as defined by the agency. The annual salary range for a C3 is $62,715 – $93,414.

Bona Fide New Positions

The governor may exempt positions from the position classification plan. If appropriated funds are to be used for a position exempted under this provision, the position must be considered a bona fide new position. A bona fide new position is one that is established to accomplish duties related to programs or functions that were not anticipated, and therefore not specifically funded or listed under the current GAA.

The governor’s exemption of a position from the position classification plan must contain a certification that the exemption is for a bona fide new position. The governor may not create a new position for the sole purpose of adjusting the salary of an existing position. The comptroller may not pay compensation for the position until formal notification of the governor’s action to exempt the position is filed with the classification officer and the Legislative Budget Board.

A position exempted by the governor in the first year of a fiscal biennium may continue into the second year. The salary rate established for the position may only be adjusted for the second year of the biennium if the salary schedule for classified positions in the GAA is adjusted from the first to the second year of the biennium. Any adjustment to the second year salary rate may not exceed the amount by which the salary schedule was adjusted.

A bona fide new position is only valid for the biennium in which it was created. In order for a bona fide position to continue beyond that biennium, the position must be added to the plan.

Unless the position falls within an established exception to the PCA, it will be subject to the salary guidelines as established in the GAA.

Sources

Texas Government Code, Sections 654.002, 654.011, 654.012, 654.0125, 654.014, 654.038; General Appropriations Act, Article IX.