As used in this subchapter:
(1)
(A) “Employee” means a person regularly appointed or employed in a position of state service by a state agency for which:
(i) He or she is compensated on a full-time basis or on a pro rata basis; and
(ii) A class title and pay grade are established in the appropriation act for the agency or institution in accordance with the Uniform Classification and Compensation Act, § 21-5-201 et seq.
(B) “Employee” does not include a supervisory employee;
(2) “Grievance” means an employee's complaint resulting from a termination or suspension;
(3)
(A) “State agency” means a board, commission, department, division, or office of state government within the executive branch.
(B) “State agency” does not include:
(i) An institution of higher education;
(ii) A public school district;
(iii) The Arkansas Department of Transportation; and
(iv) The Arkansas State Game and Fish Commission; and
(4) “Supervisory employee” means an individual having:
(A) Authority in the interest of a state agency to hire, transfer, suspend, lay off, recall, promote, discharge, assign, reward, or discipline other employees of the state agency; or
(B) If his or her exercise of authority requires the use of independent judgment and is not of a merely routine or clerical nature, the responsibility to direct other employees of the state agency by which he or she is employed.