March 2005

 

 

Why is a global remuneration consulting company interested in developing a gender neutral job evaluation tool in New Zealand?

 

“Because there is a clear need and we want to be part of its development,” says David Shannon, senior remuneration consultant with Watson Wyatt.

 

The tool’s development is part of the work of the newly established Pay and Employment Equity Unit, based in the Department of Labour, which is examining pay issues in the public service, including the health and education sectors.

 

“Two tools will be included. The first is an audit tool with a series of self-administered questions about any existing job evaluation system being used. The second is an alternative job sizing process based on the principle of gender neutrality,” says David.

 

Some major job evaluation systems currently used have been criticised for not fully reflecting the range of work done by employees. The visibility of all work, particularly women’s work, is not always explicit.

 

“A gender neutral system would consider four aspects of work - skill, effort, responsibilities and working conditions. Some systems don’t assess working conditions for example, and in some cases the systems are not well-adapted to be used for all workers.”

 

Mr Shannon hopes that in time a gender neutral job evaluation tool would provide a viable alternative to other systems used in the public and private sectors.

 

Philippa Hall, the Director of the Pay and Employment Equity Unit, said she was pleased with the combination of expertise behind the development of the tool. On the research agenda will be “ways of identifying, describing and sizing some of the skills often found in female-dominated jobs that have not always been dealt with well by job evaluation systems.” These professions include caring work, co-ordinating and integrating work across functional divisions, contingency management, and knowledge work.

 

The newly created Pay and Employment Equity Unit was developed out of a key recommendation of the 2004 Taskforce Report, Pay and Employment Equity in the Public Service and the Public Health and Public Education Sectors. The Unit has been charged with the responsibility of overseeing the implementation of a five-year action plan to achieve greater pay equity in the public service.