Can I create the job classification myself?
Yes, in principle there is nothing that requires you to have the job classification drawn up by an external firm. There is no rule stating that it may only be done by an adviser or lawyer. What does matter is that the classification is based on objective and gender-neutral criteria and that you apply those criteria consistently and can justify them. That last point is where doing it yourself sometimes becomes more difficult than it seems.
The boundary between doing it yourself and outsourcing lies mainly in scale and consistency. A company with a handful of clearly distinguishable jobs can often draw up the classification itself, provided there is a method and that method is applied the same way throughout. An organisation with many jobs, multiple departments and managers who each have their own ideas about what makes a job demanding is more likely to run into inconsistency — and it is precisely that inconsistency that a supervisor or an employee may ask about later.
What exactly does a job classification involve
In a job classification, jobs are grouped into categories of equal work, based on criteria such as knowledge, responsibility, effort and working conditions. The aim is that jobs within the same category can be compared with each other for pay comparison purposes, regardless of who performs the job. The criteria themselves must be gender-neutral: they must not happen to contain characteristics that are more common in one gender than the other. In the knowledge base where the classification into categories is further explained it is clarified which elements usually come into play.
What doing it yourself requires of you
Drawing up a job classification yourself requires three things in essence. First, a method: a points system or similar systematic approach by which jobs are assessed on the same criteria. Second, consistent application: the same criteria, the same weightings, the same assessor or assessment method for each department. Third, documentation: recording which choices were made and why, so that you can find it later if an employee or the works council asks about it.
That last point is often underestimated. A classification that seemed logical at the time may be difficult to reconstruct a year later if the reasoning has not been recorded anywhere.
When does it become difficult
With a limited number of clear-cut jobs, doing it yourself is easy to oversee. It becomes more difficult with hybrid jobs that sit on the boundary between two categories, with the absence of up-to-date job descriptions, or with disagreement among managers about the weighting of criteria. In those situations, a fixed structure helps to objectify the discussion, even if you continue to complete that structure yourself.
What a system like payria adds to this
A system structures the criteria, keeps the application consistent across departments and generates the documents that record the choices. It does not assess whether a pay difference between categories is justified — that remains a question you answer yourself, possibly with a lawyer. On the page with the system side and what goes with it it explains what the paid module for job classification does exactly and what you continue to complete yourself.
The boundary between doing it yourself and outsourcing
In summary: with few jobs and a straightforward organisation, doing it yourself is feasible, provided you choose a method and stick with it. With many jobs, multiple locations or departments that have each developed their own habits, a system saves mainly time and the risk of inconsistency — not because doing it yourself is impossible, but because the chance of variations between departments increases as the organisation grows. Via a few questions that indicate roughly where your organisation stands you get a first indication of how this applies to your situation, without needing an account for that.
On the page showing where the information comes from Read how the criteria and the classification are structured, so you can assess yourself whether this aligns with your organization. For the question of whether your specific classification is legally sound, a lawyer or the competent supervisory authority remains the appropriate point of contact.
Do you want to see first where your company stands approximately before you choose between doing it yourself and outsourcing? The free quick scan provides an indication in a few minutes, and the knowledge base explains the underlying concepts step by step.