The Equal Opportunities Commission
Equal Pay for
Work of Equal
Value
18th March 2000
Aon Consulting HK Ltd
The HR Perspective
by
Patrick Maule
Is there a problem?
3
Is it a big problem?
• On the whole HK has a pretty good record of
equal pay for equal jobs
• amongst female stereotyped jobs almost
certainly there will be some pay inequality. *
4
Some discrimination may occur
by means of job classification
Male Title
Salesman
Administrator
Chef
Technician
Female title
Shop assistant
Secretary
Cook
Operator
*
5
The question is therefore:
How would we safeguard against
unequal pay for work of like value
• Needs an objective method of job evaluation
• ideally it needs a universal method of evaluation
• need to identify objective measurement criteria
• need skilled people to undertake it
• process needs to be free of sex bias at all stages
• need great wisdom and skill in applying it
*
7
Job Evaluation
Why do we currently have job evaluation
• Mainly used as basis of establishing fair pay
structure and
• for comparing (benchmarking) salaries
company to company
• helps define job grades
• helps cluster jobs of similar “size” into the
same pay range
• is a necessary tool for companies who want
8
open and objective compensation system *
Job Evaluation in HK
• There is no clear data on the extent to which
HK companies adopt job evaluation
techniques
• However, IHRM Survey of HR practices in
HK (1998) revealed:
– JE accounted for 3.4% of time spent by HR
practitioners (13th item out of 16)
– JE ranked as 10th most important out of 15
items in last 3 years
– JE ranked 18th most important out of 25 in next9
3 years
*
Job Evaluation
Common systems of JE:
– Weighted factor points analysis eg Hay system
– Paired comparison
– Whole job ranking
• all depend on written job descriptions
• all have set of rules or scoring methods
• all require lots of personal judgement *
10
The opportunities for sex bias
• The identification of the factors in the
analysis
– eg sustained physical effort, working
conditions, exposure to hazards
•
•
•
•
•
weighting between factors
definitions of the factors
scores assigned to each level
number of levels hence the steps in scores
maintenance procedures
cont*
11
The opportunities for sex bias
• identification of benchmark jobs
• selecting grade boundaries
• dealing with boundary scores
• red circling
• sore thumbing
• appeals *
12
Potential impact of the legislation
• Companies without JE would be particularly
exposed to being challenge
• Implementing a sufficiently thorough JE
system is major undertaking
• Ensuring there is no bias in the system is even
more complex
• Very few companies use JE at the moment
• Responsible employers may feel forced to do it
• Others would prefer to risk prosecution
*
13
Potential impact of the legislation
• In an environment where the general practice
is not to have HR let alone JE it is unlikely to
make much difference
• once you evaluate jobs far bigger problems of
internal anomalies will appear
• it’s a very sophisticated tool
• it would be a “wind fall” to consultants and a
nightmare to employers
*
14
There are more important HR
issues that need to be tackled first
•
•
•
•
the need for better/more training
need for greater man management skills
protection from unfair dismissal
inequitable salaries & closed systems of
determining salaries
• favouritism & nepotism
• bad working conditions
• health & safety in the workplace
* 15
There are more important Female
issues that need to be tackled
• Glass ceilings
• Lack of objective selection for promotion
• Male dominated management style
– behaviour is interpreted in male way
– alien/hostile environment for women
– if adopt same style, criticised by both men and women
• Lack of real partnership in developing the next
generation
• Whilst need laws to support change, they cannot
force changes in such deep rooted issues
*16
Conclusion
On a cost/benefit analysis basis:
Ultimately, those who believe they are
underpaid have the option to change
employer
17