Fairness in Skill-Based Pay

Description

This measure, developed by Lee, Law, and Bobko (1998), assesses perceived fairness in a skill-based pay program. Skill-based pay systems pay employees for the range, depth, and types of skills applied on jobs. Employee perceptions of the skill-based pay program are likely to be influenced by their perceptions that certification procedures are objective and consis­tent across people, times, and skills; include opportunities for employees to ask questions about the decisions made; and incorporate the use of accurate information.

Reliability 

Coefficient alpha for the fairness measure was .80 (Lee et al., 1998).

Validity

Confirmatory factor analysis showed that measures of fairness, three skill­ based pay system characteristics (training, understanding, and advance­ ment), and perceived benefits of skill-based pay and pay satisfaction were empirically distinct. Perceived fairness of skill-based pay correlated positively with the amount of pay at risk, pay satisfaction, perceived benefits of skill-based pay, training/job rotation provided, understanding of the skill­ based pay plan, and understanding of how to advance in the plan (Lee et al., 1998).

Source

Lee, C., Law, K. S., & Bobko, P. (1998). The importance of justice perceptions on pays effectiveness: A two-year study of a skill-based pay plan. Jour­nal of Management, 25(6), 851-873. Items were taken from the appendix, 871. © 1998, reprinted with permission of Elsevier Science.

Items

Responses are obtained using a 7-point Likert-type scale where 1 = strongly disagree, 2 = disagree, 3 = slightly disagree, 4 = neither agree nor disagree, 5 = slightly agree, 6 = agree, and 7 = strongly agree.

  1. Supervisors do a good job of certifying employees for skill-based pay raises
  2. The skill-based pay certifications are a fair test of employee ability to perform a task
  3. If an employee really knows how to perform the tasks that make up a skill level, the employee will be able to pass the certification tests for that skill level
  4. The skill-based pay plan is fair to most employees
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