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<br />Merit Appeals Board May 12, 2026 <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />then, if there isn’t something that, sort of, captures it—they look at classes of work in the <br />other jurisdictions. <br /> <br />So, in Hawaiʻi, we have equal pay for equal work, and so our classification system <br />follows that of every other jurisdiction. So, we look at existing classes in other <br />jurisdictions to see if there’s something that somebody else is using that maybe we <br />could adopt. In some cases, there isn’t—and so, we need to create something that’s <br />unique. <br /> <br />So, for example, our Animal Control and Protection Agency because we’re, I believe, <br />the only County agency that is handling those tasks—we’ve had to develop new classes <br />of work to address those job tasks that are being done. <br /> <br />So, the checks and balances occur when once we draft a new class specification or <br />what our proposed class specification is—it gets routed to every other jurisdiction for <br />feedback. And so, they— <br /> <br />MR. THOMAS: “Jurisdictions” mean what? <br /> <br />MS. TOKIHIRO: Maui, Kauaʻi, City and County of Honolulu— <br /> <br />MR. THOMAS: For them to see what other counties are doing on that work activity? <br /> <br />MS. TOKIHIRO: Correct. To see if they—and to see if they have any concerns about <br />the class as we’ve proposed it. They’ll look at the minimum qualifications, they also <br />look at the assigned pricing that we’ve provided, and then they provide feedback. <br /> <br />The class specifications are also reviewed by our Recruitment and Examination Division <br />because they would be the ones that are actually screening applications to see if people <br />meet those minimum qualifications. So, it’s important to make sure that the Recruitment <br />and Examination Division is really understanding what is being outlined by Classification <br />and Pay in this new class spec. <br /> <br />So, once the position routes for jurisdictional review, then we may make amendments <br />based on feedback from the other counties or it may be adopted as final, at that point. <br />So, ultimately, the creation of new positions or those new class specifications— <br />amendments to class specifications—falls under the authority of the Director—but we <br />don’t operate— <br /> <br />MR. THOMAS: The “Director” being you? <br /> <br />MS. TOKIHIRO: Me—yeah. But we don’t operate in a silo because of the requirement <br />for equal pay for equal work. <br /> <br />Page 5 <br /> <br /> <br />