A Classification Report
A Classification Compliance Audit Report on Information Technology Positions at Selected Public Safety and Criminal Justice Agencies
October 2020
Summary Analysis
For the selected public safety and criminal justice agencies within Article V of the General Appropriations Act (86th Legislature), 522 employees were identified as performing information technology work. Of those, 397 (76.1 percent) employees were correctly classified in accordance with the State’s Position Classification Plan. Employees from the following five public safety and criminal justice agencies were included in testing:
- Alcoholic Beverage Commission (Commission). The Commission correctly classified 11 (84.6 percent) of the 13 employees classified in the Information Technology occupational category.
- Department of Criminal Justice (Department). The Department correctly classified 114 (65.1 percent) of the 175 employees classified in the Information Technology occupational category.
- Juvenile Justice Department (Department). The Department correctly classified 9 (34.6 percent) of the 26 employees classified in the Information Technology occupational category.
- Military Department (Department). The Department correctly classified 17 (63.0 percent) of the 27 employees classified in the Information Technology occupational category.
- Department of Public Safety (Department). The Department correctly classified 246 (87.5 percent) of the 281 employees classified in the Information Technology occupational category.
The agencies have taken or asserted they will take action to address the 125 total misclassifications.
Information technology careers at state agencies cover a broad range of jobs. Employees who work in the information technology field perform duties such as analyzing and maintaining computer systems, computer programming, database administration, software development, preventing and detecting cybersecurity threats, and designing and maintaining websites.
A total of 397 (76.1 percent) of the 522 employees tested at 5 public safety and criminal justice agencies (Article V of the General Appropriations Act, 86th Legislature) were correctly classified in accordance with the State’s Position Classification Plan. The agencies reported that of those 522 employees tested:
- 513 were in a job classification series that fell within the Information Technology occupational category.
- 9 were performing information technology-related work but were in a job classification series located within another occupational category.
The Alcoholic Beverage Commission (Commission) identified 13 employees who were classified in the Information Technology occupational category; 11 (84.6 percent) of those employees were correctly classified in accordance with the State’s Position Classification Plan. The two misclassified employees were performing duties that did not align with their current job classification series. For example, an employee classified as a Systems Support Specialist was performing the job duties consistent with those of a Programmer.
The Department of Criminal Justice (Department) identified 175 employees who were classified within the Information Technology occupational category or performing information technology-related work. Of the 175 employees, 114 (65.1 percent) were correctly classified in accordance with the State’s Position Classification Plan. However, for the 61 misclassified employees, the following was noted:
- The majority (72.1 percent) of the 61 misclassified employees were in an incorrect job classification series, including 10 employees who were also in an incorrect occupational category. For example, two employees will be reclassified from Computer Operations Specialist to Accounting Technician. The Accounting Technician job classification series is in the Accounting, Auditing, and Finance occupational category and not the Information Technology occupational category.
- 34.4 percent of the misclassified employees will receive salary increases totaling $144,752 annually, to bring their salaries up to at least the minimum of the new salary group.
The Juvenile Justice Department (Department) identified 26 employees who were classified within the Information Technology occupational category. Of the 26 employees, 9 (34.6 percent) were correctly classified in accordance with the State’s Position Classification Plan. Of the 17 misclassified employees, the following was noted:
- Sixteen (94.1 percent) of the 17 misclassified employees were in an incorrect job classification series, including one employee who was also in an incorrect occupational category. That employee will be reclassified from a Network Specialist to a Manager. The Manager job classification series is in the Program Management occupational category and not in the Information Technology occupational category.
- Two (11.8 percent) of the misclassified employees will require salary increases, totaling $13,496 annually, to bring their salaries up to at least the minimum of the new salary group.
The Military Department (Department) identified 27 employees who were classified in the Information Technology occupational category or performing information technology-related work; 17 (63.0 percent) of the 27 employees tested at the Department were correctly classified. Of the 10 misclassified employees, the following was noted:
- Half (50.0 percent) of the misclassified employees were in an incorrect job classification series, including two employees who were also in an incorrect occupational category. For example, one employee will be reclassified from a Program Supervisor to a Management Analyst. The Management Analyst job classification series is in the Information and Communication occupational category and not in the Information Technology occupational category.
- Although all of the misclassified employees’ existing salaries were within the ranges of their new salary groups, the agency reported increases to some of the employees’ salaries to maintain equity and competitiveness.
The Department of Public Safety (Department) identified 281 employees who were classified within the Information Technology occupational category. A total of 246 (87.5 percent) of the 281 employees tested at the Department were correctly classified.
The majority (91.4 percent) of the 35 misclassified employees were performing duties that did not align with their current classification series, including 6 employees who were also in an incorrect occupational category. For example, an employee classified as a Data Base Administrator was performing job duties consistent with that of a Data Analyst. The Data Analyst job classification series is in the Planning, Research, and Statistics occupational category and not the Information Technology occupational category.
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