ADVANCE STEP APPOINTMENTS PROCEDURE

General

Section 124.15 (E) of the Ohio Revised Code permits new employees to be hired at an advance step rate at the discretion of the Director of the Department of Administrative Services under two (2) conditions:

1. The employee has qualifications that are beyond the minimum qualifications required for the position and such qualifications are determined to be exceptional by the Director of the Department of Administrative Services.
2. There is a serious labor market shortage in the classification being filled which makes it extremely difficult to recruit employees at the minimum rate for the classification.

It is the policy of the State of Ohio to permit advance step appointments pursuant to section 124.15(E) of the Ohio Revised Code in a fair and consistent manner.

Procedure

• All requests for advance step appointments should include:
  • A letter from the appointing authority specifying the following:
    • the name of the person to be hired;
    • the PCN and classification;
    • the step of the pay range requested;
    • applicant's prior experience with specific reference to any prior state service.
  • A brief explanation of the reason for the request including either:
    • If the request is based on the exceptional qualifications of the applicant:
      • a description of the applicant's qualifications for the classification under direct consideration. Such rationale should support the conclusion that those job-related qualifications are exceptional (e.g., above the minimum qualifications listed on the state specification);
      • a copy of the applicant's resume, notarized state job application, and copy of the applicable position description.

Or

• If the request is based on recruitment difficulties:
  • whether the scope of request is statewide, regional, etc.;
  • the number of qualified applicants who applied, and number of qualified applicants who declined the position due to salary;
  • copies of ads placed by the agency in newspapers of professional journals and any responses from these advertisements;
  • the impact to other positions in the same classification series; any salary survey private/public data.
• Copies of the applicant's resume, notarized state job application, applicable position description and EHOC, if any.

Standards of Review

Work-related experience will be considered equal to core program coursework for the purposes of determining exceptional qualifications as follows:

1. two (2) years of work related experience will be considered equal to the core program coursework of an undergraduate degree.
2. master's degree or three (3) years directly related work experience where a bachelor's degree core program is required will qualify for step 2.
3. doctorate degree or four years directly related work experience where a master's degree core program is required will qualify for step 2.
4. work experience directly related to the minimum qualifications will qualify at the rate of one step for each year of experience.

Enforcement

All appointing authorities are responsible for implementing this procedure and submitting requests for advanced step appointments as outlined above. The Department of Administrative Services will review all requests pursuant to section 124.15 (E) of the Ohio Revised Code and this procedure.