Equal work for Equal Pay
It seems many employers hear shark music when anyone mentions Equal work for Equal pay.
What does the Employment Equity Act actually ask of employers?
Some simple steps to ensure compliance follow:
- Be progressive - do the job grading thing:
The Department of Labour uses very basic Paterson job grading when accepting and processing Employment Equity reports. Organisations would do well to grade internal jobs using Paterson methodology and to keep grading records updated. This will lead to sensible levels within the organisation. Sensible levels are the foundation of Equal work for Equal Pay. The basic levels are:
- Top
- Senior
- Professionally Qualified and Mid-management
- Skilled Technical and Junior management
- Semi-skilled
- Unskilled
Each of these levels may legally and reasonably be allocated different benefits and remuneration - this can be justified rationally based on the level.
The next step is to create sub-grades. Within each of these levels there may be 3-5 levels. These levels are determined by complexity, diversity, difficulty and a variety of other factors related to the job function.
Thought the Paterson methodology does not consider seniority, length of service, demotion, potential or qualification (since the job is graded and never the person) - the Department of Labour does allow income and benefit differentials based on these elements.
2. Transparency and communication:
Be open and honest about job grading and the various levels in the organistaion. Make sure that there is a channel to follow if employees would like to query their job grades and that an objective panel is able to assist.
3. Keep the end in mind:
No organisation can or should start chopping and changing salaries for the sake of Equal work for Equal Pay. An employer may not unilaterally change any significant term of employment of an employee. Creating pay grades that are free from anomalies is a long term project. Strategies that may be used could take on many forms, like bonuses instead of raises, increases and job diversification.
For more information on job grading, Employment Equity or Equal work for Equal pay contact [email protected].