Equal pay for work of equal value is not just another hoop for you to have to jump through – it is an opportunity to “take stock” of your workplace costs.
The renewed emphasis on Equal Pay for Work of Equal Value offers the opportunity for the simple evaluation and correlation of two elements PAY (cost) and WORK (value). This is the long established business principle of the VALUE EXCHANGE EQUATION.
In most organisations there will be jobs that appear to be ‘equal’ , but because of your specific Operational requirements they are different. The Code of Good Practice recognises ‘differentiation’ as a justifiable ground for different treatment, but employers must be able to prove the reason(s). Our consultants will be able to assist you to identify these reasons and to minimise risk. This information must be available before any claims arise.
The problem
Jobs do not exist in isolation. All jobs are part of the different “work process structures” created by employees to cover their operational requirements.
According to the LRA, Operational Requirements [OR’s] – “means requirements based on the economic, technological, structural or similar needs of an employer,” where ‘economic’ = financial measurement, ‘technological’ = know-how and ‘structural’ = responsibility / accountability.
It is generally accepted that an employer’s OR’s can only be determined once the (employer’s) operational circumstances are known. This emphasizes the importance of the Form EEA 9 framework – Occupational levels [OL’s] as a useful guideline for employers.
Consequently, employers need to be able to develop their own Occupational level framework based on their unique business Operational requirements. Occupational levels allow for the broad definition of work process structures.
The new Form EEA9 attempts to define the ‘work’ required at each OL level.However, despite having added level G (i.e. 7 pay levels) the new Form EEA9 only describes 6 work OLs.
Consequently, the new EEA9 is only for employers to design the organisation that best suits their cost and work output requirements. Analysis will prove that a 7 level structure is more effective than 6 levels.
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