Midlothian Council
Nothing to report from Midlothian Council on the Employment Tribunals front at the moment - still waiting for the next CMD hearing.
But one of our clients has been in touch to say that council managers are circulating information about their proposals to introduce new Job Families - as part of a wider job evaluation package.
Now Job Families come with a very severe health warning - for all you need to know about the dangers of Job Families - read the post on South Lanarkshire Council dated 16 January 2008.
Job Families are a management device for getting around the real requirements of a proper Job Evaluation Scheme (JES).
Instead of evaluating the demands of individual jobs - as they are done now - the employer simply invents a new job or a new category of job - which may even be an imaginary, amalgamated job - put plainly, a job that doesn't even exist.
The paper from Midlothian tries to compare job families to musical intruments in an orchestra - conjuring up images of a blissful workforce - all playing away merrily in the same happy family.
This is - of course - a completely daft analogy and absolute rubbish into the bargain!
In South Lanarkshire, for example, the traditional male and female jobs have all ended up in separate job families and - surprise, surprise - the traditional male jobs are all much better paid than their female colleagues.
So, just as you should beware of Greeks bearing gifts - you should also be very wary of council managers trying to win you over - with promises about how Job Families are the greatest thing since sliced bread!
Don't be conned - they're not - just ask one of our many clients in South Lanarkshire
But one of our clients has been in touch to say that council managers are circulating information about their proposals to introduce new Job Families - as part of a wider job evaluation package.
Now Job Families come with a very severe health warning - for all you need to know about the dangers of Job Families - read the post on South Lanarkshire Council dated 16 January 2008.
Job Families are a management device for getting around the real requirements of a proper Job Evaluation Scheme (JES).
Instead of evaluating the demands of individual jobs - as they are done now - the employer simply invents a new job or a new category of job - which may even be an imaginary, amalgamated job - put plainly, a job that doesn't even exist.
The paper from Midlothian tries to compare job families to musical intruments in an orchestra - conjuring up images of a blissful workforce - all playing away merrily in the same happy family.
This is - of course - a completely daft analogy and absolute rubbish into the bargain!
In South Lanarkshire, for example, the traditional male and female jobs have all ended up in separate job families and - surprise, surprise - the traditional male jobs are all much better paid than their female colleagues.
So, just as you should beware of Greeks bearing gifts - you should also be very wary of council managers trying to win you over - with promises about how Job Families are the greatest thing since sliced bread!
Don't be conned - they're not - just ask one of our many clients in South Lanarkshire
