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are concerned, the considerations call
ing for a range of pay, rather than a
single rate, for each class of positions
apply with equal pertinency to the
question of the length of the pay ranges
to be established.
Varying spreads result when the
length of each pay range is determined
individually so as to conform to the
scope of the duties and the level of
responsibility of the class to which the
range applies. In practice, when execu
tives or legislators are faced with the
problem of doing this for hundreds of
classes of positions, they frequently
seek some formula for general guid
ance. Can the determination of a pro
per spread for a pay range be reduced
to a uniform rule, to be departed from
only when the nature of the class clear
ly warrants an exception? This ques
tion has led to the suggestion that the
spreads for all classes should be ex
pressed, at least tentatively, as a uni
form percentage. Such a rule would
make the dollar spread of each pay
scale mathematically proportional to
the level of difficulty and responsibil
ity of the class to which it applied. In
same cases, however, convincing reasons
might exist for exceptions in order to
reflect variations in scope of work or
in the opportunity of an employee to
contribute increasingly to the objec
tives of the organization without change
in his position, when a given class is
compared in these respects with others.
Industrial job evaluation experts
have suggested that spread of 20 to 35
per cent are to be preferred. Wider
spreads than these are not generally fav
ored in industry because of difficulties
in administering or controlling the use
of a large spread of pay for the same
class of positions.
The amount of a pay step may be
generally defined as the difference be
tween two consecutive pay rates in a
pay scale. The number of pay steps in
a pay scale is the number of times an
employee’s pay would be increased to
advance him, one step at a time, from
the minimum to the maximum rate.
To accomplish the purpose of establish-
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