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Nevada HR Commission denies Taxicab Authority appeal of dispatcher reclassification
Summary
The commission voted to deny the Taxicab Authority's appeal of a DHRM decision that reclassified its Public Safety Dispatcher positions to the Communications Call Taker series; DHRM cited statewide comparisons and NAC rules, and the appellant said the change cuts pay by four grades and harms recruitment.
Marie Luis Silvestri, an administrator with the Taxicab Authority, appealed the Division of Human Resource Management's reclassification of her and her staff from Public Safety Dispatcher to the Communications Call Taker series, saying the change would reduce pay by four grades, worsen recruitment and retention, and misrepresent the scope and complexity of their duties. Silvestri described a small, self-contained communications center that dispatches investigators, handles in-progress calls including assaults and felony reports, manages court-adjacent administrative work and operates with one dispatcher per shift.
Heather De Peace, supervisory human resource analyst in DHRM's classification and compensation section, told the commission that DHRM's August 2025 HR-19 review found the duties more closely align with the communications call taker series. De Peace cited NAC 284.130 (investigations of classifications) and NAC 284.126 as the governing review standards, referenced the job specifications on the record, and explained that the communications call taker series was established in November 2024 and amended in August 2025 to add a supervisory level. She said the taxi cab positions are limited to taxi-related incidents and do not compare in scope to public safety dispatchers who use fully integrated computer-aided dispatch systems. De Peace also noted NAC 284.290 allows an employee's base rate of pay to be retained for two years after a downward reclassification.
After questions from commissioners about whether DHRM's conclusions apply statewide and how many positions are affected (DHRM: one supervisory communications call taker at the Taxicab Authority; three to four communications call takers in comparable departments), Commissioner Rick McCann moved to deny the individual classification appeal; Commissioner Christine Santillano seconded. Commissioners voted to sustain the motion and the appeal was denied. The commission declined to overturn DHRM's reclassification determination; DHRM requested the commission oppose the appellant's appeal because granting it could create inequities across agencies.
The decision is administrative: DHRM applied statutory and regulatory criteria in its review and the commission declined to reverse that reclassification at this meeting. The retained-rate provision cited by DHRM means incumbents keep their base pay for up to two years despite a grade change; the transcript includes the DHRM exhibits and the HR-19 request referenced by staff.
