Job evaluation is a systematic process to establish the ‘size’ of a job relative to others.  Although job evaluation schemes do not directly determine rates of pay, they have a particular application in the remuneration field, and provide a clear and fair measure of the relative value of jobs within organisations.

In addition to establishing relativities among jobs within an organisation, job evaluation can also be used to compare jobs across organisations. It is recognised internationally as a very useful tool in achieving gender equity in pay and employment conditions.

What is the Equitable Job Evaluation System?

The Equitable Job Evaluation (EJE) System has been developed by the Department of Labour, using a team with expertise in job evaluation and gender equity, to address some aspects of job evaluation that have been found to give rise to gender bias. It can inform human resource processes that would benefit from complete, accurate and contemporary job description and analysis that is free from gender bias.

It comprises:

• A factor plan and weightings
• A comprehensive User’s Guide to assist in the implementation, application and administration of the system
• A questionnaire that collects the information needed to cover all the factors
• Education and training modules that give data gatherers and evaluators an understanding of gender bias and outline the critical elements of effective job evaluation.

An overview report, the Equitable Job Evaluation Project Overview Report, has also been prepared by the Department and is included in the Toolkit.

The Equitable Job Evaluation system can be ordered, free of charge from the Department

Why do we need the Equitable Job Evaluation System?

Gender bias is often unintentional and can occur in any of the processes involved in describing, analysing and evaluating jobs. The main reason gender bias occurs is that job evaluations are affected by assumptions about the nature and value of work in occupations that are mainly done by women or mainly by men.

Some skills are difficult to observe, especially those used in performing services involving changing interactions with people over time. Sometimes skills are overlooked, or have been undervalued, for example, if they are similar to unpaid domestic work, such as looking after others, cleaning and cooking. While values and assumptions are to some extent an integral part of job evaluation, measures are required to identify and address their gender impact. Unless people know or have been trained on how to recognise and avoid gender bias, and there is systematic monitoring of how the process is working, gender bias will continue.

There is a substantial body of research and jurisprudence on gender bias in job evaluation. The Department of Labour publication Gender Bias in Job Evaluation: A Resource Collection includes excerpts from key cases, guidelines and research.  The April 2009 United Kingdom decision in Hartley v Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust, dealing with the Agenda for Change job evaluation system that has been implemented in the National Health Service, provides detailed reasoning and guidance on job evaluation and gender bias.

How can the Equitable Job Evaluation System help?

Equitable Job Evaluation is designed to capture all the relevant information about jobs and to minimise gender bias. This includes identifying, assessing and ‘measuring’ (putting a value on) skills, knowledge, responsibility and working conditions that may have been previously overlooked. Equitable Job Evaluation can reduce reliance on assumptions and make values transparent.
Equitable Job Evaluation can:

• identify appropriate training and career development
• improve performance
• improve service delivery
• help staff feel more valued and better supported
• help attract and retain competent staff, and
• help ensure staff are paid appropriately.

Equitable Job Evaluation factor families

The Equitable Job Evaluation system has 12 factors organised into three factor families.

The skills factors are:

• knowledge
• problem-solving
• interpersonal
• physical skills.

The responsibilities factors are:

• responsibilities for leadership
• resources
• organisational outcomes
• services to people.

The demands factors are:

• emotional
• sensory and physical demands
• working conditions.

Specific features of the Equitable Job Evaluation System

The scheme draws on research and cases on the sources of gender bias in job evaluation and on some major schemes implemented in the United Kingdom for local government, the civil service, the National Health Service, and universities, among others, and on those used in pay equity jurisdictions in Canada. The system was developed and tested on a range of public sector jobs in New Zealand in 2005-2006. Some areas of specific focus in the Equitable Job Evaluation system factors are that it:

• recognises knowledge can be acquired in a range of formal and informal ways and does not tie knowledge to specific qualifications levels, or years of experience
• scores interpersonal skills according to the nature and purpose of the interactions rather than the duration or use of the skill
• recognises physical skills like dexterity, hand/eye and limb coordination
• recognises that leadership can be provided through influencing relationships, not just in direct reporting ones; and that leadership may be exercised outside the employing organization
• recognises the direct performance of services to people including service delivery that requires ongoing assessment and adjustment of the services, in a changing relationship with the service user
• recognises that some jobs:
  • make emotional demands on job-holders
  • require focused sensory attention and concentration
  • require strength and stamina
  • involve unpleasant conditions. Working conditions is generally an optional factor in job evaluation schemes.

Implementation of the Equitable Job Evaluation System

The implementation of the Equitable Job Evaluation system has commenced with a beta release phase.  After a significant number of jobs have been evaluated, there will be a review of the usability, consistency and effectiveness of the tool prior to final release of the tool. The review will involve employers and unions, with advice from experts in job evaluation and gender equity. Modifications to the system could be made following the review.

The tool can be accessed free of charge and by agreeing to the conditions of use from the Department of Labour.

The Spotlight Skills Identification Tool

Spotlight: A Skills Identification Tool is a complementary resource that can be used with the Equitable Job Evaluation system.  This tool facilitates a better understanding of the skills used in service work that can be overlooked or taken for granted, especially skills used in interacting and relating, coordinating and shaping awareness.

The main types of skills often overlooked are the skills of combining activities in work streams and those involved in the sensitive, responsive, and integrated delivery of appropriate services to people.  It can be used in writing job descriptions, recruitment and selection and in performance management and development.