Job Evaluation - Glasgow (again)
A school clerical worker, classroom assistant and catering manager are all very different jobs - and the people doing these jobs have to use lots of initiative, skill and knowledge every day - as well as carrying considerable responsibility.
Whether it's managing a busy school meals service, helping a young person get the most out of their education, or ensuring the smooth running of the school office and its admin systems - in different ways - these are all very demanding jobs.
But what unites them is that they are all done predominantly by women - and they are all low paid.
In Glasgow most of them have been awarded Grade 3 - under the council's new job evaluation (JE) scheme - a grade below a council refuse driver, a gardener and florist - all of whom have been awarded Grade 4 - which is worth an extra £2,300 a year.
Needless to say, the council refuse driver, gardener and florist are all traditional male jobs - which have all done rather better out of the new job evaluation scheme - and in addition the male jobs qualify for Non Core Pay - which can be worth an extra £5,243 on top of their basic pay.
In terms of knowledge and skills - the Glasgow JE scheme awards all of these female jobs only 80 points - the same score as a council refuse collector.
No harm intended to the council refuse collector - but surely this can't be a fair assessment of the actual skills and knowledge used in these jobs.
It simply doesn't sound right - in fact it's an insult to common sense.
That's why people in Glasgow (and elsewhere) should take the trouble to look at the fine detail of any new job evaluation schemes - because in many cases they're just reinforcing long standing pay discrimination against female jobs.
Whether it's managing a busy school meals service, helping a young person get the most out of their education, or ensuring the smooth running of the school office and its admin systems - in different ways - these are all very demanding jobs.
But what unites them is that they are all done predominantly by women - and they are all low paid.
In Glasgow most of them have been awarded Grade 3 - under the council's new job evaluation (JE) scheme - a grade below a council refuse driver, a gardener and florist - all of whom have been awarded Grade 4 - which is worth an extra £2,300 a year.
Needless to say, the council refuse driver, gardener and florist are all traditional male jobs - which have all done rather better out of the new job evaluation scheme - and in addition the male jobs qualify for Non Core Pay - which can be worth an extra £5,243 on top of their basic pay.
In terms of knowledge and skills - the Glasgow JE scheme awards all of these female jobs only 80 points - the same score as a council refuse collector.
No harm intended to the council refuse collector - but surely this can't be a fair assessment of the actual skills and knowledge used in these jobs.
It simply doesn't sound right - in fact it's an insult to common sense.
That's why people in Glasgow (and elsewhere) should take the trouble to look at the fine detail of any new job evaluation schemes - because in many cases they're just reinforcing long standing pay discrimination against female jobs.
