South Lanarkshire

I came across a copy of an allegedly important document from South Lanarkshire Council the other day - which goes by the fancy title of 'Competence Initiative Reference Guide'.

But this is really just another name for the South Lanarkshire's Job Evaluation Scheme (JES) - which the Council designed 'in-house' of course instead of applying the national JES scheme that was developed and recommend for use - by both the Scottish employers and trade unions - as part of the 1999 Single Status (Equal Pay) Agreement. 

In any event, here are a few extracts from Competence Initiative Reference Guide which had me laughing so hard - I had to lie down for a while to get my breath back.

"General Introduction

...the Competence Initiative will be an open and joint process....

Job Evaluation and Grading - Five Principles

Evaluation is concerned with the job and not the person

The difficulty and importance of the job to the Council is evaluated assuming the job is being done satisfactorily.

The job is being evaluated as it exists or will exist.

Present pay structures and grades are not considered in evaluation as this would prejudice judgement about the job.

Understanding the job is key to judging the accountabilities."

Now I can't understand how these Five Principles can possibly be consistent with the lifetime preservation of the pay of traditional male jobs within the Council - before Job Evaluation was finally introduced back in 2004.

Because by that time South Lanarkshire Council - along with all other Scottish councils and the trade unions, of course - had signed up to the 1999 Single Status (Equal Pay) Agreement which required all jobs to be treated equally.

South Lanarkshire Council is the only council in Scotland to have behaved this way - which tells you an awful lot, if you ask me.