Job evaluation

The EQUAL WORK GROUP number on an employee record is fundamentally just a number you assign at import or bulk edit — Group Insights uses a lower group number as a simple proxy for “lower requirements” when comparing pay across groups for equal-value work. Diskrimineringslagen (the Swedish Discrimination Act) 3 kap requires that such an equal-value grouping actually be backed by a documented job evaluation — skill/competence, effort, responsibility, and working conditions — otherwise the comparison can’t be justified to an inspector or a union representative.

On the Salary Mapping → Job evaluation page (directly below Guide & workspace in the menu), on the Equal-work group criteria tab, you can record exactly that evaluation per group: a label (e.g. “Group A – Senior Engineer”) and four criteria on a 1-5 scale (the same scale already used for PERFORMANCE on the employee record): Skill, Effort, Responsibility, and Working conditions. Group Insights then shows the recorded criteria right alongside each group comparison, so “why is group 3 valued higher than group 5” always has a documented answer. This feature does NOT change how the pay gaps themselves are calculated — it only adds the documentation the law requires on top of the existing analysis. The feature is off by default and is enabled per organisation.

The Evaluation factors tab, next to the Criteria tab on the same page, shows the four legally required dimensions (Skill/Effort/Responsibility/Working conditions) as pre-filled and locked — they can never be removed, deactivated or given another key. The law requires at least these four to be considered (Diskrimineringslagen 3 kap. 10 § names “criteria such as” knowledge and skills, responsibility and effort, plus working conditions), so your own criteria are allowed on top. An Admin can add their own EXTRA evaluation dimensions (e.g. “Culture fit”), which then becomes a 5th (or 6th, …) required field on the group-criteria form and is included in Group Insights’ summary and contradiction warnings. The third tab, Job categories, is described under Job categories.

Your own label for the statutory criteria. The law regulates what the criteria cover, not the words you use. With Own label on one of the four criteria, an Admin (or a role with write access to Job evaluation) can give it its own name per language (Swedish, English, Danish, Norwegian, Polish, Filipino), e.g. “Craft” instead of “Skill”. A language left empty shows the standard name. The criterion is still the statutory one: it is required for every group, counts in the value points and can’t be removed. That’s why it is always shown together with the standard name — “Craft · statutory criterion” on the Evaluation factors tab and “Craft (Skill)” in the group criteria, the group form, Group Insights, the job-category criteria, the annual snapshot archive and answers to pay-transparency requests. Use standard name removes the own labels after a confirmation. Every change is written to the audit log with the values before and after. The annual snapshot stores the labels that applied when it was generated, so an archived year keeps showing the same names even if the label changes later; a year archived before this feature existed shows the standard names.

Weights in percent. On the Evaluation factors tab every active criterion — the four statutory ones and your own — has a weight in whole percent. Together the weights must be exactly 100 %, and a total is shown as you type (green at 100 %, red otherwise). Where a statutory list of criteria applies (Sweden and the rest of the EU/EEA) each statutory criterion must keep at least 10 % of the weight — 0 % would amount to removing the criterion, which the Discrimination Act 3 kap. 10 § and directive (EU) 2023/970 art. 4.4 do not allow. The floor is shown next to each statutory criterion (“min 10 %”). An organisation whose legal entities are all in a country without a statutory list has no floor; with entities in several countries the strictest applies. Save weights stays disabled while the total isn’t 100 % or a criterion is under the floor, and the server checks the same rules again. Split equally fills in equal weights: 100 divided by the number of active criteria. When that doesn’t divide evenly, the first criteria in the list (the statutory ones first) get one extra percentage point, e.g. 17, 17, 17, 17, 16, 16 for six criteria; with more than ten criteria each statutory criterion gets exactly 10 % and the rest is split equally over your own. A deactivated dimension has no weight. When you add, deactivate or restore one of your own dimensions and have your own weights, they keep the same proportions and are rescaled to 100 %: a new dimension gets its equal share and the others shrink in proportion, and a deactivated dimension’s share is spread over the rest in proportion. Only if a statutory criterion would then fall under the floor are the weights reset to an equal split. The confirmation says so before the change, and the page shows the weights before and after. With an equal split you get an equal split afterwards too. Every change of the weights is logged with the values before and after.

How points are calculated now — and what changed. A group’s points are the weighted score on the same 1–5 scale as each criterion: the sum of weight/100 × the criterion’s value. They used to be the sum of the criteria (4–20 with four criteria). Without saved weights every page uses the equal split, so with four criteria a group that had 14 points now shows 3.5 (14 / 4). With equal weights the order between groups is unchanged — that holds when 100 divides evenly (4, 5 or 10 active criteria); with e.g. 6 criteria the weights differ by one percentage point. The numbers change wherever points are shown: the Value points column on the Overview (its header says “weighted” when the weights aren’t equal), ranking job categories by Criteria points, Group Insights’ warning when the criteria contradict the ranking, and each group’s score on the Criteria tab. A box at the top of the Evaluation factors tab explains the change until you close it. Archived years don’t change. The annual snapshot stores the weights that applied when it was generated and shows them in the archive together with the weighted score; a year archived before weights existed shows exactly what was stored then, with no weights and never recalculated. The same applies to answers to pay-transparency requests.

Criteria profiles per country or legal entity. When the Criteria profiles feature is switched on for the organisation (off by default), a Criteria profiles box appears at the top of the Evaluation factors tab. Each profile has its own criteria, labels and weights under a regime: Sweden and EU/EEA (all four statutory criteria required, each at least 10 %), Norway (skill required at least 10 %; the other three are recommended and give a warning when missing or under 10 %, until the EEA adopts directive 2023/970) and Own (no statutory list; a left-out or low-weighted statutory criterion is only a warning). The organisation’s current set becomes the Standard profile, with the regime of the headquarters’ country (never looser than any of your entities) and exactly the same criteria, weights and points as before — nothing changes for an organisation with a single profile. Pick under Editing profile which profile the tab changes. Only an Admin can create a profile, change its regime (the page asks first, and the server checks the profile’s weights meet the new regime) and bind a legal entity to a profile. An unbound entity uses the profile for its country (or for the legal country an Admin chose for the entity): Standard when the regime fits, otherwise the first profile with the country’s regime. When no profile exists for the entity’s regime and Standard has a looser regime (for example a Swedish entity under a Standard with regime Own), the profiles box and Group Insights warn Legal entity X has no criteria profile for its regime, and Standard’s weights must still meet the stricter regime’s floor (at least 10 %) until you create a profile for the regime or bind the entity. This is re-checked when an entity is added or changes country. A role with write access to Job evaluation can change the criteria, labels and weights inside a profile and record the agreement with employee representatives (see below). On the group form an Admin picks which profile the group is assessed with (a role with write access can change the group’s criteria but not move it to another profile); its points are then scored with that profile’s criteria and weights everywhere, including the annual snapshot and pay-transparency answers. Group Insights warns (but blocks nothing) when a group has employees in legal entities with different profiles, and when the group is assessed in a profile none of its employees’ entities use. The annual snapshot stores every profile with its version number and which profile each group was assessed with; every change to a profile increases the version and is logged.

Sub-criteria (assessment questions). On the Evaluation factors tab every active criterion — the statutory ones and your own — has a Sub-criteria button. There you can split the criterion into your own assessment questions, e.g. Responsibility → staff, budget and results. Each sub-criterion has a label and a weight in whole percent; the weights within the criterion must be exactly 100 %, and the total is shown as you type. At most ten sub-criteria per criterion. You can change a label or a weight at any time. Removing a saved sub-criterion asks first: when you save, its key is retired and can never be used again, so an old answer is never read as the answer to a new question. On the group form each sub-criterion is scored with a whole number 1–5, and the criterion’s value is calculated as the weighted mean with one decimal, e.g. 3.4. The rounding rule: exactly x.x5 rounds up (3.55 becomes 3.6), anything below rounds down. The value is shown live as you fill in the form and the server calculates the same value. A criterion without sub-criteria works exactly as before: its value is entered directly as a whole number 1–5. Points, the job-category ranking, Group Insights, the guide and the API use the criterion’s calculated value, so a group with the value 3.4 counts as fully assessed. If you change the sub-criteria, groups keep their saved values until they are saved again. The annual snapshot stores the sub-criteria with the criteria, and every change is logged with the values before and after.

Warning for gender-coded wording. When you save one of your own dimensions, your own label on a statutory criterion or a sub-criterion, the system checks the wording against a word list of criteria that have often favoured male- or female-dominated jobs: physical strength and heavy lifting, availability at evenings, weekends, on call or overtime, flexibility, unbroken employment or length of service, travel, and gender-coded personality words such as “aggressive”, “dominant” or “nurturing”. While you type a new dimension a warning already shows under the field. The wording is never blocked — such a criterion can be objective for your work — but before saving the system asks for a short rationale (at least 10 characters) explaining why it is an objective demand of the work. The server checks the same thing, so a flagged wording can’t be saved without a rationale. The rationale is stored with the criterion, marked on its row, recorded in the audit log and saved in the annual record. A label that hasn’t changed isn’t asked about again, and switching to a wording that isn’t flagged removes the rationale. The word list covers Swedish, English, Danish, Norwegian, Finnish, Polish and Filipino. It is a simple aid, not a legal assessment: it misses wording and can occasionally flag something neutral. Also make sure the criteria value demands that are common in female-dominated jobs, such as care, communication and emotional effort — directive 2023/970 art. 4.4 names soft skills.

Agreement with employee representatives. Under directive 2023/970 art. 4.4 the criteria are to be agreed with the employee representatives where there are any. At the top of the Evaluation factors tab is the Agreement with employee representatives box. There you record the date and a note (for example which minutes and which organisations). As long as nothing is recorded a soft warning shows; it blocks nothing. Remove asks first. With criteria profiles on, the agreement belongs to the profile you are editing, and the profiles box shows it as a badge. The agreement records which criteria it covered; when criteria, labels or weights change afterwards, Changed since the agreement is shown (in the archive too) until you record the agreement again. Every change is logged with the values before and after, and the annual record saves the agreement that applied when it was generated (per profile); the archive shows it together with the rationales.

The law text follows the country. The Evaluation factors tab’s text depends on where your legal entities are. A Swedish entity sees the Discrimination Act. A Danish entity sees Ligelønsloven and directive (EU) 2023/970 art. 4.4 (the Danish implementation is still pending, so it’s marked “check with a lawyer”). An entity in another EU/EEA country sees the directive. An entity outside the EU sees that the four are a recommended, gender-neutral default rather than a legal requirement. An organisation with entities in several countries gets one line per country.

Deactivate instead of delete. The Deactivate button on one of your own dimensions takes it out of the form and out of the points, but the values groups already have are kept. Deactivated dimensions are listed separately with Restore, which makes the dimension required again with its old values, and Delete permanently. A permanently deleted dimension’s key can never be used again. You also can’t add a new dimension with the same key as a deactivated one (restore it instead) or a key that groups still hold old values for. Otherwise old scores would come back by accident.

Why a page of its own. Job evaluation is part of the annual pay-mapping work, not a setting — so it sits under Salary Mapping rather than Settings. The guide’s “Describe equal and equivalent work” step leads here. What is still configuration — the analysis thresholds (the system parameters, such as the female-dominance threshold and minimum group size) and saved parameter profiles — stays under Settings → Salary Mapping – settings. The same settings are also reachable from Salary Mapping → Settings, the last item in the menu (Admin only).

Permission. The page is governed by the Job evaluation permission under Salary Mapping in Roles & permissions: read to see the groups, write to change them. Admin always has it; the built-in Employee role does not. Changing criteria, weights, sub-criteria, labels, the groups’ evaluation, profiles and the representatives’ agreement also requires an organisation-wide role: Admin, or a custom role with write access and the Access Area All (no reporting line, own or custom filter). These settings apply to the whole employer, so a role that only sees part of the organisation can read them but not change them; the page then shows Read only. A custom role that, before the move, held the salary-mapping settings permission keeps the same level here until the role is saved again. Job categories has a permission of its own.

How it is calculated — a worked example. The weights are Skills 40 %, Effort 20 %, Responsibility 30 % and Working conditions 10 %. Group A is scored 4, 2, 3 and 5: 0.4 × 4 + 0.2 × 2 + 0.3 × 3 + 0.1 × 5 = 1.6 + 0.4 + 0.9 + 0.5 = 3.4. Group B is scored 3, 3, 4 and 2: 1.2 + 0.6 + 1.2 + 0.2 = 3.2. So group A is valued higher. If Responsibility has the sub-criteria staff 50 %, budget 30 % and results 20 % and group A scores 4, 2 and 3, Responsibility becomes 0.5 × 4 + 0.3 × 2 + 0.2 × 3 = 3.2, and that value is used instead of a directly entered figure. With equal weights and four criteria the score is the sum divided by four (14 points becomes 3.5). A group with a missing criterion gets no score at all, never a partial one. Every concept, with one shared worked example, is in the article Concepts and calculations.

Points and job value groups. When the Points and job value groups feature is on (on in the pay mapping product mode, otherwise off by default), the Points and job value groups card appears at the top of the Criteria tab. Max points (for example 1,200) shows every job-evaluation total as points instead of the weighted score 1–5: points = weighted score ÷ 5 × max points, rounded to whole points (exactly .5 rounds up). A group with a weighted score of 3.25 therefore gets 780 of 1,200 points. Each criterion also shows its contribution (weight/100 × max points × value/5), and the contributions add up to exactly the group’s points. The points are shown on the Criteria tab, in the Value points column on the Overview, in Group insights, in the annual evidence archive and in answers to pay-transparency requests. The order between groups is exactly the same as on 1–5. Leave Max points empty to show everything as before. Criteria are still scored on 1–5; more levels can’t be chosen yet. The annual evidence and pay-transparency answers save the scale that applied, so an archived year shows the same points even if the scale changes later; a year archived without a scale shows 1–5. Job value groups are ordered point ranges, with no gaps or overlaps, that together cover the whole scale (0 to max points, or 1–5 without max points). Each has a name and the equal-work group (EQUAL WORK GROUP) a job whose points fall in it is suggested to get, for example 0–400 → 1, 401–800 → 2, 801–1,200 → 3. Every group on the Criteria tab shows its suggested job value group, highlighted when the suggestion differs from the group’s own number. A group with incomplete criteria gets no suggestion. If you change max points while job value groups exist, the page asks first and recalculates the limits proportionally; check them before you save. Apply to job categories (needs Job categories): Show suggestions lists each evaluated job category with its points, suggested group and how many employees would get a new EQUAL WORK GROUP. Apply asks first and says how many employees change. Only then is EQUAL WORK GROUP set on the employees linked to the categories, in one single change, recorded in the audit log. If the data changed after the suggestions were shown, the change is stopped and you show the suggestions again. Nothing is applied automatically. The groups on the Criteria tab are not applied, because their name is itself the EQUAL WORK GROUP value. Employees with a job category are still compared within their category in the pay analysis. The setting needs write access to Job evaluation without a restricted access area, and Apply also needs write access to Employees. Every change is logged.

How to set up 1,200 points and job value groups. 1) Go to Salary Mapping → Job evaluation, the Criteria tab. 2) Enter 1200 in Max points. 3) Click Add group once per job value group and fill in the name, From, To and the equal-work group; the first starts at 0 and the last ends at 1200. 4) Click Save. 5) With job categories: click Show suggestions, check the list and click Apply.