Ohio Rev. Code § 124.14 (2026)

(A)(1) The director of administrative services shall establish, and may modify or rescind, a job classification plan for all positions, offices, and employments in the service of the state. The director shall group jobs within a classification so that the positions are similar enough in duties and responsibilities to be described by the same title, to have the same pay assigned with equity, and to have the same qualifications for selection applied. The director shall assign a classification title to each classification within the classification plan. However, the director shall consider in establishing classifications, including classifications with parenthetical titles, and assigning pay ranges such factors as duties performed only on one shift, special skills in short supply in the labor market, recruitment problems, separation rates, comparative salary rates, the amount of training required, and other conditions affecting employment. The director shall describe the duties, responsibilities, and essential character of the work of the class; establish the essential knowledge, abilities, skills, and qualifications for being employed in each position in the class; and file with the secretary of state a copy of specifications for all of the classifications. The director shall state the required qualifications in terms of experience, training, specific coursework, or other terms, but shall not state qualifications in terms of academic degrees unless the degrees are required by a specific statute or rule. The director shall file new, additional, or revised specifications with the secretary of state before they are used.

An appointing authority may request position-specific minimum qualifications for a position that differ from the minimum qualifications of the classification specification established by the director, provided that the requested qualifications are not stated solely in terms of academic degrees. The director must approve such a request before it may be implemented.

The director shall assign each classification, either on a statewide basis or in particular counties or state institutions, to a pay range established under section 124.15 or section 124.152 of the Revised Code. The director may assign a classification to a pay range on a temporary basis for a period of six months. The director may establish experimental classification plans for some or all employees paid directly by warrant of the director of budget and management. Any such experimental classification plan shall include specifications for each classification within the plan and shall specifically address compensation ranges, and methods for advancing within the ranges, for the classifications, which may be assigned to pay ranges other than the pay ranges established under section 124.15 or 124.152 of the Revised Code.

(2) The director of administrative services may reassign to a proper classification those positions that have been assigned to an improper classification. If the compensation of an employee in such a reassigned position exceeds the maximum rate of pay for the employee's new classification, the employee shall be placed in pay step X and shall not receive an increase in compensation until the maximum rate of pay for that classification exceeds the employee's compensation.

(3) The director may reassign an exempt employee, as defined in section 124.152 of the Revised Code, to a bargaining unit classification if the director determines that the bargaining unit classification is the proper classification for that employee. Notwithstanding Chapter 4117. of the Revised Code or instruments and contracts negotiated under it, these placements are at the director's discretion.

(4) The director shall assign related classifications, which form a career progression, to a classification series. The director shall assign each classification in the classification plan a five-digit number, the first four digits of which shall denote the classification series to which the classification is assigned. When a career progression encompasses more than ten classifications, the director shall identify the additional classifications belonging to a classification series. The additional classifications shall be part of the classification series, notwithstanding the fact that the first four digits of the number assigned to the additional classifications do not correspond to the first four digits of the numbers assigned to other classifications in the classification series.

(B) Division (A) of this section and sections 124.15 and 124.152 of the Revised Code do not apply to the following persons, positions, offices, and employments:

(1) Elected officials;

(2) Legislative employees, employees of the legislative service commission, employees in the office of the governor, employees who are in the unclassified civil service and exempt from collective bargaining coverage in the office of the secretary of state, auditor of state, treasurer of state, and attorney general, and employees of the supreme court;

(3) Any position for which the authority to determine compensation is given by law to another individual or entity;

(4) Employees of the bureau of workers' compensation whose compensation the administrator of workers' compensation establishes under division (B) of section 4121.121 of the Revised Code.

(C) The director may employ a consulting agency to aid and assist the director in carrying out this section.

(D)(1) When the director proposes to modify a classification or the assignment of classes to appropriate pay ranges, the director shall notify the appointing authorities of the affected employees before implementing the modification. The director's notice shall include the effective date of the modification. The appointing authorities shall notify the affected employees regarding the modification.

(2) When the director proposes to reclassify any employee in the service of the state so that the employee is adversely affected, the director shall give to the employee affected and to the employee's appointing authority a written notice setting forth the proposed new classification, pay range, and salary. Upon the request of any classified employee in the service of the state who is not serving in a probationary period, the director shall perform a job audit to review the classification of the employee's position to determine whether the position is properly classified. The director shall give to the employee affected and to the employee's appointing authority a written notice of the director's determination whether or not to reclassify the position or to reassign the employee to another classification. An employee or appointing authority desiring a hearing shall file a written request for the hearing with the state personnel board of review within thirty days after receiving the notice. The board shall set the matter for a hearing and notify the employee and appointing authority of the time and place of the hearing. The employee, the appointing authority, or any authorized representative of the employee who wishes to submit facts for the consideration of the board shall be afforded reasonable opportunity to do so. After the hearing, the board shall consider anew the reclassification and may order the reclassification of the employee and require the director to assign the employee to such appropriate classification as the facts and evidence warrant. As provided in division (A)(1) of section 124.03 of the Revised Code, the board may determine the most appropriate classification for the position of any employee coming before the board, with or without a job audit. The board shall disallow any reclassification or reassignment classification of any employee when it finds that changes have been made in the duties and responsibilities of any particular employee for political, religious, or other unjust reasons.

(E)(1) Employees of each county department of job and family services shall be paid a salary or wage established by the board of county commissioners. The provisions of section 124.18 of the Revised Code concerning the standard work week apply to employees of county departments of job and family services. A board of county commissioners may do either of the following:

(a) Notwithstanding any other section of the Revised Code, supplement the sick leave, vacation leave, personal leave, and other benefits of any employee of the county department of job and family services of that county, if the employee is eligible for the supplement under a written policy providing for the supplement;

(b) Notwithstanding any other section of the Revised Code, establish alternative schedules of sick leave, vacation leave, personal leave, or other benefits for employees not inconsistent with the provisions of a collective bargaining agreement covering the affected employees.

(2) Division (E)(1) of this section does not apply to employees for whom the state employment relations board establishes appropriate bargaining units pursuant to section 4117.06 of the Revised Code, except in either of the following situations:

(a) The employees for whom the state employment relations board establishes appropriate bargaining units elect no representative in a board-conducted representation election.

(b) After the state employment relations board establishes appropriate bargaining units for such employees, all employee organizations withdraw from a representation election.

(F)(1) Notwithstanding any contrary provision of sections 124.01 to 124.64 of the Revised Code, the board of trustees of each state university or college, as defined in section 3345.12 of the Revised Code, shall carry out all matters of governance involving the officers and employees of the university or college, including, but not limited to, the powers, duties, and functions of the department of administrative services and the director of administrative services specified in this chapter. Officers and employees of a state university or college shall have the right of appeal to the state personnel board of review as provided in this chapter.

(2) Each board of trustees shall adopt rules under section 111.15 of the Revised Code to carry out the matters of governance described in division (F)(1) of this section. Until the board of trustees adopts those rules, a state university or college shall continue to operate pursuant to the applicable rules adopted by the director of administrative services under this chapter.

(G)(1) Each board of county commissioners may, by a resolution adopted by a majority of its members, establish a county personnel department to exercise the powers, duties, and functions specified in division (G) of this section. As used in division (G) of this section, "county personnel department" means a county personnel department established by a board of county commissioners under division (G)(1) of this section.

(2)(a) Each board of county commissioners, by a resolution adopted by a majority of its members, may designate the county personnel department of the county to exercise the powers, duties, and functions specified in sections 124.01 to 124.64 and Chapter 325. of the Revised Code with regard to employees in the service of the county, except for the powers and duties of the state personnel board of review, which powers and duties shall not be construed as having been modified or diminished in any manner by division (G)(2) of this section, with respect to the employees for whom the board of county commissioners is the appointing authority or co-appointing authority.

(b) Nothing in division (G)(2) of this section shall be construed to limit the right of any employee who possesses the right of appeal to the state personnel board of review to continue to possess that right of appeal.

(c) Any board of county commissioners that has established a county personnel department may contract with the department of administrative services, in accordance with division (H) of this section, another political subdivision, or an appropriate public or private entity to provide competitive testing services or other appropriate services.

(3) After the county personnel department of a county has been established as described in division (G)(2) of this section, any elected official, board, agency, or other appointing authority of that county, upon written notification to the county personnel department, may elect to use the services and facilities of the county personnel department. Upon receipt of the notification by the county personnel department, the county personnel department shall exercise the powers, duties, and functions as described in division (G)(2) of this section with respect to the employees of that elected official, board, agency, or other appointing authority.

(4) Each board of county commissioners, by a resolution adopted by a majority of its members, may disband the county personnel department.

(5) Any elected official, board, agency, or appointing authority of a county may end its involvement with a county personnel department upon actual receipt by the department of a certified copy of the notification that contains the decision to no longer participate.

(6) A county personnel department, in carrying out its duties, shall adhere to merit system principles with regard to employees of county departments of job and family services, child support enforcement agencies, and public child welfare agencies so that there is no threatened loss of federal funding for these agencies, and the county is financially liable to the state for any loss of federal funds due to the action or inaction of the county personnel department.

(H) County agencies may contract with the department of administrative services for any human resources services, including, but not limited to, establishment and modification of job classification plans, competitive testing services, and periodic audits and reviews of the county's uniform application of the powers, duties, and functions specified in sections 124.01 to 124.64 and Chapter 325. of the Revised Code with regard to employees in the service of the county. Nothing in this division modifies the powers and duties of the state personnel board of review with respect to employees in the service of the county. Nothing in this division limits the right of any employee who possesses the right of appeal to the state personnel board of review to continue to possess that right of appeal.

(I) The director of administrative services shall establish the rate and method of compensation for all employees who are paid directly by warrant of the director of budget and management and who are serving in positions that the director of administrative services has determined impracticable to include in the state job classification plan. This division does not apply to elected officials, legislative employees, employees of the legislative service commission, employees who are in the unclassified civil service and exempt from collective bargaining coverage in the office of the secretary of state, auditor of state, treasurer of state, and attorney general, employees of the courts, employees of the bureau of workers' compensation whose compensation the administrator of workers' compensation establishes under division (B) of section 4121.121 of the Revised Code, or employees of an appointing authority authorized by law to fix the compensation of those employees.

(J) The director of administrative services shall set the rate of compensation for all intermittent, seasonal, temporary, emergency, and casual employees in the service of the state who are not considered public employees under section 4117.01 of the Revised Code. Those employees are not entitled to receive employee benefits, unless otherwise required by law. This rate of compensation shall be equitable in terms of the rate of employees serving in the same or similar classifications. This division does not apply to elected officials, legislative employees, employees of the legislative service commission, employees who are in the unclassified civil service and exempt from collective bargaining coverage in the office of the secretary of state, auditor of state, treasurer of state, and attorney general, employees of the courts, employees of the bureau of workers' compensation whose compensation the administrator establishes under division (B) of section 4121.121 of the Revised Code, or employees of an appointing authority authorized by law to fix the compensation of those employees.