Acas offers Fair Wage Guidance

Small Business News

Employment advisory service Acas has published a free guide to help employers evaluate job roles and provide an appropriate rate of pay.

The guide, Job evaluation: considerations and risks, advises employers how to assess the relative importance of the various jobs within their business, taking into account skill, effort, responsibility and working conditions. It then shows businesses how to use these factors to implement a fair pay system.

Acas Scotland director Frank Blair said:

“Employers sometimes find it hard to justify their grading and pay systems. Putting in place a job evaluation scheme can remedy this and can also help prevent equality and HR–related problems from arising.

“A good number of the difficulties encountered by businesses will be avoided by adequate preparation,” continued Blair. “The booklet gives advice on the level of preparation required, which, if undertaken properly, will create strong business benefits.”

The guide was developed in response to the Acas 2008 annual report, which highlighted that there has been a 25% rise in employment tribunals and potential tribunal claims in the past year, which is partly attributed to equal pay claims.

According to Acas, the benefits of job evaluation include:

• helping to provide a fair and equitable pay system.
• helping new employees to understand their job role.
• offering a defence against employment tribunal claims based on pay discrimination.

To download the guide, Job evaluation: considerations and risks, visit the Acas website