South Lanarkshire - House of Cards
South Lanarkshire Council is getting its knickers in an awful twist over its Job Evaluation Scheme (JES).
Action 4 Equality and Stefan Cross are challenging the validity of the scheme - we've described it as a back of a fag packet job - a Mickey Mouse scheme, if ever there was one. We've shared our criticisms with the council put the details up on the blog site - see post dated 16 January 2008.
As you'd expect this is not going down too well with the great and the good in South Lanarkshire - because they've been telling all and sundry (for years) that they've cracked the whole equal pay problem.
When - in reality - their chickens are only now coming home to roost.
At a recent CMD hearing these issues were debated back and forward with the council's legal advisers. Because a major reason for our challenge to the scheme is that South Lanarkshire still refuses to explain how it works - how the different male and female jobs are scored - and how male and female jobs can be on the same Band - yet be paid so differently (i.e. the female jobs much less)
And, to be fair, the council faces a real dilemma - because if South Lanarkshire lose this argument, they are - quite literally - back to square one.
If Action 4 Equality and Stefan Cross succeed, we will have pulled the foundation stone out of the council's job evaluation scheme - and that's a nightmare scenario for South Lanarkshire.
Because it will be as if the scheme never existed in the first place - legally speaking - and it will expose the council to even more claims.
One way forward for the council is to do what we've been asking all along - explain clearly how the traditional male jobs are paid - and the pay differences between the male and female groups.
Action 4 Equality and Stefan Cross are challenging the validity of the scheme - we've described it as a back of a fag packet job - a Mickey Mouse scheme, if ever there was one. We've shared our criticisms with the council put the details up on the blog site - see post dated 16 January 2008.
As you'd expect this is not going down too well with the great and the good in South Lanarkshire - because they've been telling all and sundry (for years) that they've cracked the whole equal pay problem.
When - in reality - their chickens are only now coming home to roost.
At a recent CMD hearing these issues were debated back and forward with the council's legal advisers. Because a major reason for our challenge to the scheme is that South Lanarkshire still refuses to explain how it works - how the different male and female jobs are scored - and how male and female jobs can be on the same Band - yet be paid so differently (i.e. the female jobs much less)
And, to be fair, the council faces a real dilemma - because if South Lanarkshire lose this argument, they are - quite literally - back to square one.
If Action 4 Equality and Stefan Cross succeed, we will have pulled the foundation stone out of the council's job evaluation scheme - and that's a nightmare scenario for South Lanarkshire.
Because it will be as if the scheme never existed in the first place - legally speaking - and it will expose the council to even more claims.
One way forward for the council is to do what we've been asking all along - explain clearly how the traditional male jobs are paid - and the pay differences between the male and female groups.
In which case we will set aside the argument about whether the scheme is valid or not - and simply focus on its impacts on our clients.
In other words, we will not seek to pull the whole 'house of cards' down - if the council agrees to get down to brass tacks about the real business in hand - which is dealing with the pay gap between the male and female groups.The Employment Tribunal has given South Lanarkshire time to reflect on its position - and there is likely to be a further CMD hearing in March 2008.
