EU-wide guidelines on gender-neutral job evaluation and classification: Step-by-step toolkit

Why?

Benefits, allowances and bonuses may also be unequally distributed between women-dominated jobs and men-dominated jobs, despite the fact that these jobs are of equal value. You will have to ensure that complementary pay elements (e.g. a 13th-month salary) or variable pay elements (e.g. a monthly performance bonus) pay elements are also allocated based on objective and gender-neutral criteria.

How?

Assess if the allocation of benefits to jobs of equal value is based on objective and gender-neutral criteria. Your goal is to assess complementary and variable pay components for each job grade. This is important for understanding if there is variation in terms of eligibility for such benefits, and in the criteria used to determine their level, between jobs carrying out work of equal value.

1. Analyse patterns in the allocation of complementary and variable pay components within the same job grade.

Check if there are differences between women and men in how complementary and variable pay components are being allocated to jobs of the same value. Ask yourself the following questions.

• Are all types of complementary and variable pay components accessible to all job roles within the same job grade?
• Are all or certain types of complementary and variable pay components allocated differently to women-dominated jobs and to men-dominated jobs of the same value?

2. Assess the eligibility criteria for the allocation of complementary and variable pay components.

Check if the eligibility criteria are objective and gender-neutral. Ask yourself the following questions.

• Are the eligibility criteria for the allocation of complementary and variable pay components the same, irrespective of whether the jobs are occupied by women or men?
• Are some or all complementary and variable pay components allocated using eligibility criteria that are not objective or gender-neutral? Are they based, for example, solely on job requirements and demands mainly present in men-dominated jobs (e.g. hardship allowances for physically demanding outdoor or maintenance work) or without considering comparable requirements and demands common in women-dominated jobs (e.g. no equivalent allowances for emotional strain or constant client interaction in care, education or social service roles)?

• Note that apparently neutral criteria can still put women or men at a particular disadvantage and give rise to indirect sex discrimination (e.g. eligibility criteria that exclude workers who take childcare-related leave from a 13th-month salary could constitute such a type of discrimination, since such exclusions would predominantly apply to women).

3. Assess the criteria used to determine the level of complementary and variable pay components allocated.

Check if the criteria used to determine the level (i.e. the amount, number or value of benefits) of complementary and variable pay components allocated to jobs in the same job grade are objective and gender-neutral. Ask yourself the following questions.

• Do complementary and variable pay components have coherent and clearly defined ranges?
• Is there a maximum level established for complementary and variable pay components? Is this the same for all jobs in the same job grade, particularly between women-dominated jobs and men-dominated jobs?
• Are the criteria used to determine the level of complementary and variable pay components applied in the same way for women-dominated jobs and men-dominated jobs?

4. Identify other invisible barriers to the objective and gender-neutral allocation of complementary and variable pay components.

Look for invisible barriers that prevent workers, particularly in women-dominated jobs or men-dominated jobs in the same job grade, from accessing complementary and variable pay components equally (e.g. if women are concentrated in part-time jobs). Ask yourself the following questions.

• Are all or certain complementary and variable pay components restricted to certain types of workers? For example, are full-time workers eligible to receive them, but not part-time workers? Are other distinctions occurring within your organisation?
• Are all or certain complementary and variable pay components (e.g. performance bonuses) allocated on the basis of criteria that are not equally achievable by workers in women-dominated jobs and in men-dominated jobs? For example, this might occur if eligibility criteria for men-dominated roles depend mainly on individual performance, while those for women-dominated roles rely on team or inter-department outcomes.

5. Revise your policies relating to complementary and variable pay.

If you find gender-based discrepancies between jobs of equal value, you will need to correct these. Revise your complementary and variable pay policies, including eligibility criteria and the criteria used to determine the level of benefits allocated, to ensure that they are equally accessible and that the same or equivalent amounts of these pay components can be achieved by workers, in particular in women-dominated jobs and men-dominated jobs of the same value.

The final stage is to follow up. This means adjusting job descriptions and pay structures where needed, communicating the results and putting monitoring in place to keep the system fair over time.