GLOSSARY OF TERMS AND DEFINITIONS
American with Disabilities Act (ADA) - The ADA is a law enacted by Congress in 1990 that
prohibits employment discrimination against people with physical and mental disabilities. An
employer cannot discriminate against a qualified individual because of disability in regard to hiring,
discharging, compensating, promoting, and other terms, conditions, and privileges of employment
as long as he/she can do the essential functions of the job with or without reasonable
accomodation.
Autonomy - Describes the level of supervision required for the position and the amount of day-today direction that is required. It also indicates the latitude that the position has to perform work
and make decisions independently (without supervisor input and approval).
Benchmark Job - A job commonly found in the marketplace which is used as a reference point for
making pay comparisons. Benchmark jobs have well-know and stable contents.
Career Family - A broad meaningful grouping of jobs commonly clustered within a career
emphasis. Content of defined work within a job is key criteria in determining relationship to this
familial structure.
Compensation Philosophy - A set of principles that guide the design and administration of a
compensation system toward supporting the mission and business plan of an organization.
Career Ladder - A series of defined levels within a job family where the nature of work is similar
and the levels represent requirements for increased skill, knowledge and responsibility as an
employee moves through a career.
Career Path - Possible directions and career opportunities available in an organization; presenting
the steps in a possible career and plausible approaches to accomplishing them; lines of
advancement in an occupational field within an organization.
Career Streams - Possible directions and career opportunities availlable in multiple occupational
fields; creating related career streams where an employee can develop a set of job competencies
that are generic to multiple career streams, ie., Operations Management, Human Resources,
Engineering, Finance, etc. have core critical competency requirements in common and would lend
themselves to mobility across traditional functional lines.
Classification System - A framework organizations use to arrange jobs into groups based on
similarities of purpose, required skills, duties performed, accountability, work environment and
other common factors.
Compa-ratio - The ratio between current pay to the salary range midpoint assigned to the job. A
compa ratio is used to determine the relationship of an employee's pay to the midpoint or some
other control point of the salary range. It is also used to assess how an employee's pay is moving
through the assigned salary range.
Comparable Worth - A pay concept or policy that calls for comparable pay for jobs that require
comparable skills, effort and responsibility and have comparable working conditions, even if the job
content is different.
Duties - Is a summary of related tasks.
Consequence of Error - Describes the impact of errors made by the position. Does the work done
by the position have limited, moderate or significant impact on the department, unit or the
University?
Duties and Responsibilities - Describes the activities that must be accomplished in order to carry
out the purpose of the position (position summary). This section should include description of
duties. They might also include tasks, duties and responsibilities.
Compensatory Time - Is paid time off granted to an employee for working extra hours.
Competencies - Behaviors that contribute to and predict superior performance.
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) - A commission of the federal government
charged with enforcing the provisions of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Age Discrimination in
Employment Act, the Equal Pay Act of 1963, and other fair employment practices legislation.
Equal Pay Act of 1963 - An amendment to the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 prohibiting
gender-related pay differentials on jobs that are substantially equal in skill, effort, responsibility,
and working conditions unless the differences exist due to seniority, meritor production-based pay
system, or any other job-related factor other than gender.
Exempt Employee - In order to be exempt an employee must (a) be paid at least $23,660 per
year ($455 per week), (b) be paid on a salary basis, and (c) perform exempt duties. These
requirements are outlined in the FLSA regulations (promulgated by the U.S. Department of labor).
An exempt employee does not have to be paid overtime when they work more than 40 hours in a
workweek. The three exemptions relate to executives, administrative and professional. Some jobs
are classified as exempt by definition, such as sales jobs. Highly compensated jobs (earning more
than $100,000) are usualy exempt. Jobs have to meet the "salary level test" and a "duties test"
based on actual duties and responsibilities to be exempt.
External Equity - The comparison of a position's worth relative to the "going market rates" of its
competitors in the prevailing market outside the university.
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) - A federal law governing minimum wage, overtime pay, child
labor and record keeping requirements.
Human Resources Liaison - A department's assigned contact for Human Resources related
matters (i.e., compensation, classification, recruitment, etc.).
Internal Equity - The comparison of a position's worth relative to its value within the organization.
Job Analysis - The systematic process of collecting information used to make decisions about jobs.
Job analysis identifies the tasks, duties, and responsibilities of a particular job.
Job Classification - A hierarchical structure of jobs, usually arranged into classes or pay grades
according to some form of job evaluation.
Job Family - Jobs involving work of the same nature, but requiring different skill and responsibility
levels. For example, Accountant is a job family: Accountant III is a job within that family.
Job Summary - A brief general statement that identifies the primary function of the position. It is a
concise summary telling the reader why the position exists. The easiest way to write a job summary
is to answer the question "why this position exist?" It summarizes the primary purpose of the
position without going into specifics duties and qualifications.
Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009 - Amends the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to declare that an
unlawful employment practice occurs when: (1) a discriminatory compensation decision or other
practice is adopted; (2) an individual becomes subject to the decision or practice; or (3) an
individual is affected by application of the decision or practice, including each time wages, benefits,
or other compensation is paid. Allows liability to accrue, and allows an aggrieved person to obtain
relief, including recovery of back pay, for up to two years preceding the filing of the charge, where
the unlawful employment practices that have occurred during the charge filing period are similar or
related to practices that occurred outside the time for filing a charge. Applies the preceding
provisions to claims of compensation discrimination under the Americans with Disabilities Act of
1990 and the Rehabilitation Act of 1973.
Amends the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 to declare that an unlawful practice
occurs when a discriminatory compensation decision or other practice is adopted, when a person
becomes subject to the decision or other practice, or when a person is affected by the decision or
practice, including each time wages, benefits, or other compensation is paid.
Marginal Functions ( as defined by the ADA) - Marginal or non essential functions are those
that could be redesigned or reassigned to other employees, if necessary. Whether of not a particular
duty is considered marginal will depend on: the importance of the duty to the department's
operation, the frequency in which the duties are performed, and on whether the duty can be
redesigned or performed in another way.
Market Pricing - A process that sets the rates (values) to be paid for a job to the organization's
best estimate of the current value for that job in the external marketplace.
Merit Increase - An adjustment to an individual's pay that is based on performance as measured
through a performance appraisal.
Nonexempt Employee - An employee entitled to minimum wage and overtime pay under the Fair
Labor Standards Act at a rate of one and one-half the employee's regular rate of pay for each hour
worked in excess of 40 hours per week. For public institutions such as FIU, compensatory time may
be granted in lieu of overtime at the rate of 1 ½ hours for each hour of overtime worked.
Overtime Pay - The practice of paying non-exempt ( or hourly) employees time and one-half their
regular rate of pay for hours worked over 40 in one week.
Pay Grade - One of the classes, levels, or groups into which positions of the same or similar value
are grouped for compensation purposes.
Position Analysis - The formal study of the duties and responsibilities that comprise a position,
taking into consideration the nature and level of work performed and the specifications required for
an incumbent to perform the job competently.
Position Description - A written document that identifies, describes, and defines a job in terms of
its duties, responsibilities, working conditions, and specifications that serves as the basis for
determining title, salary and exemption status.
Position Evaluation - A formal process to determine the relative value to be placed on various
positions within the organization. The end result of position evaluation consists of an assignment of
positions to a hierarchy of grades.
Position Title - Label used to describe a set of specific activities, responsibilities, duties and tasks.
Reclassification - Assignment to a new position classification when job duties of a former position
significantly change and are re-evaluated.
Responsibilities - Is a summary of related duties. Normally administrative jobs are defined in
terms of responsibilities assigned.
Salary Range - The range of pay rates, from minimum to maximum, set for a pay grade. Used as a
basis for setting individual employee pay or salary rates.
Salary Structure - The structure of pay grades and pay ranges established within an organization.
Span of Control - Describes the problem solving complexity and span of control required of the
position. For management positions the number of subordinates reporting directly to the position.
Tasks - Is the simplest and most basic element of the job. Normally staff level jobs are defined in
terms of tasks performed.
Total Compensation - The complete pay package awarded employees on an annual basis,
including all forms of money, benefits, services and in-kind payments.
Wage and Salary Surveys - Salary information collected to compare internal salaries to those in
the same geographical, industry or other specific area in which an organization competes for labor.