Employee Classification

Classification of University of Idaho staff employees depends on categorizations described by the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and the Idaho State Board of Education (SBOE) Human Resources Policies and Procedures (Section II). The FLSA describes employees as either “non-exempt” from overtime pay or “exempt” from overtime pay. The SBOE describes employees as either classified or exempt. U of I uses these two primary classifications for staff employees: All “classified” employees are eligible (“non-exempt”) for overtime pay, and all “exempt” employees are not eligible (“exempt”) for overtime pay. There are different HR policies for the two classifications.

All positions are assigned a classification code for HR management purposes. The classification code does not determine employee compensation.

Staff Classification Code Construction:

Staff classification codes are based on the Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) code used by the federal government to categorize jobs. Every position is assigned a SOC code by Human Resources.*

Classification codes consist of three elements that create a five-character code. Example: 5N436

1. The first number indicates AA/EEO Category. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has established ten categories of employees. Each SOC code is assigned to one of the ten AA/EEO categories by the BLS and EEOC.
   
   0. Executives/Senior Officers & Managers
   1. Middle Officers & Managers
   2. Professionals
   3. Technicians
   4. Sales Workers
   5. Administrative Support Workers
   6. Craft Workers
   7. Equipment Operators
   8. Laborers and Helpers
   9. Service Workers
2. The letter indicates Benefits Category. The university has three leave accrual packages for board-appointed employees.
   1. C - Sport Coaches governed by State Board of Education Policy II.H.6.
   2. E - Exempt Employees
   3. N - Non-Exempt/Classified Employees
3. The final three numbers indicate the SOC Code. The final three numbers in the classification code are the first three digits of the position's SOC code.

For example, the classification code 5N436 indicates 1) the position is considered an Administrative Support Worker by EEOC, 2) the position is classified and 3) the position's SOC code begins 436.

* The above coding structure does not apply to postdoctoral fellows. Regardless of discipline, all postdocs have a position classification code of 13700.

Human Resources is responsible for reviewing and determining FLSA status for all university employees in alignment with US Department of Labor, Wage and Hour Division requirements.

Administrative Support: Office/clerical/secretarial/customer service work, finance/accounting/budget work, program service support including some event planning/logistics, etc.

General Labor/Transport: Custodial/cleaning work, landscaping/general manual labor, dishwashing/kitchen cleanup, driving/delivery driving, general farm/field labor, etc.

Computer Technology: Network/desktop security/on-site computer service/technical support work, computer lab monitoring, on-call service, Web development/design, programming, database analysis work, Geographic Information Systems programming, etc.

Research Support: Laboratory/research/field work, Geographic Information Systems work, scientific/technical analyst work, non-scientific research and analysis work, etc.

Communications/Media: Publications work (online or print), reporting, promotions/marketing, editing (online, video, audio or print) work, fundraising, publishing, telephone interviewing, audio/video/print production work, etc.

Maintenance/Security: Semi-skilled to skilled labor/trades work, event set-up/security, painting, building/vehicle/motor pool maintenance work, parking attendant, HVAC/refrigeration/carpentry work, etc.

Academic/Student Support: Student advising, classroom assistance, tutors, models, activity leaders, student facilitators/advisers/chaperones/mentors, etc.

Human Services: Community or group education or advising, child care, water safety/CPR/first aid instructors, lifeguards, etc.

Retail/Sales: Ticket sales, retail sales, copy center sales, cashiers, etc.