13 Chapter 2: Critical Literature Review 2.1 ... - Dissertation

40evaluation analytical scheme known as the point method. Much like the point method, thegrading system used various factors inherent to nursing or any other position in an effort to forma financial hierarchy within its hospitals.The establishment of such grading practices was followed by the introduction ofindependent pay reviews in 1971. These pay reviews held a similarity to the market pricingscheme as it took information from various sources and using this recommended pay increases. Italso used these sources to do various job analyses and to form various job descriptions. Despitethis, certain staff continued to use bargaining in order to increase their pay grades.It was not until 1992 that the NHS introduced new grading and pay structures which werebased on existing job evaluation systems. One of the systems this structure was based on was theHay System, which was purported to be one of the most widely used evaluation systems in theworld. Once the new system was in effect, discrepancies emerged in salaries between individualswith the same job description but differing in occupational backgrounds. Problems withestablishing pay grades also cropped up and this led to low pay grades in the National HealthService, leading to problems with employment and retention of individuals. It can be clearly seenthrough this that the National Health Service at this time did not only have a compensationstrategy for its employees, but had also not fully implemented any job evaluation system, leadingto unequal pay among its employees. Thus, inevitably, the path to the decentralization andincreased privatization of the National Health Service was paved (Department of Health, 2004).2.14.2 Pay EquityBefore the inception of the Pay Equity Act of 1970, the female medical staffs were paidlower rates than their male colleagues despite equal pay being promised by The RoyalCommission on Equal Pay in 1948. As mentioned above, although the Equal Pay Act made such