Glasgow - Job Evaluation (08/03/19)

The first and most important point to make about job evaluation (JE) is that it's not 'rocket science' - JE is simply a way of assessing jobs and awarding jobs a value based on their responsibilities and skills.

Normally this is done by awarding jobs 'points' under a variety of agreed criteria or 'factors' which when added together give a total number of points and a place on the pay ladder or pay hierarchy. 

For example, it's easy to understand why a hospital cleaner in the NHS is paid less than a brain surgeon without having to spell out how the big differences in training, skill levels and responsibility - all add up to decide the pay of two very different jobs. 

In truth, it's a mixture of common sense and an impartial assessment of the different components of a job which determines what one job should be paid relative to another.

Yet that's exactly what Glasgow City Council says it did last time round with the WPBR which proved to be a load of old baloney since Scotland's highest civil court, the Court of Session, tore the WPBR up for 'arse paper' by declaring the scheme 'unfit for purpose' in August 2017.

So how do we avoid history repeating itself again? - watch this space and find out in the weeks ahead.