POSITION RECLASSIFICATION

A Brief Overview and Guide

Good organizations strive to ensure fair and equitable compensation of employees in relation to their
duties. In order to do this, periodically the need to reclassify a position arises.

RECLASSIFICATION DEFINED
Reclassification is the recognition through evaluation that a position should be in a different job family,
level and/or salary grade. A reclassification may be warranted when:

1. substantive, permanent changes in duties, job complexity, knowledge/skills required,

accountability, and responsibilities of individual positions occur due to change in organization,
work, staffing requirements, or technology.

2. establishing a new position (from one created by a vacancy). All positions should be evaluated
before they are staffed.

3. a classification to which a position is assigned is inappropriate or was initially incorrectly

classified.

If you are uncertain, talk with your human resources department.

In a reclassification, an evaluation determines which job family and pay level is appropriate for a
particular job. Positions are classified into job families and pay levels according to the nature and
difficulty of duties and responsibilities assigned to employees in the positions, and according to
comparable jobs in the organization and/or industry.
It is important to note that:

 Departments and individuals may request a reclassification. The same process applies.

 Reclassifications include lateral, upward, and downward job movement.

 Reclassification is about the requirements of the position, not about the performance of the
individual in the position. When a reclassification request is motivated by the desire to reward a
top performer, this is more appropriately recognized through merit, or in-range adjustments.

 Not all changes in a position will result in the position being reclassified. Changes in job duties
that may be at a higher level, but are not substantial enough to justify a higher pay band, will
result in an update of the existing position description and no change in pay band or
classification.

 A reclassification may result in a new title for the employee’s position if the job title no longer
describes the job of the position.

Mary Prodanovic
mary.prodanovic@mprodanovic.com
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Job Evaluation

There are many approaches or systems that organizations can use. However, the typical classification
review looks at the following areas:

 Skills (equipment, data, communication)

 Knowledge (how much time the position must spend in continuing education to maintain skills;
amount of time spent using special information or special skills); level of education required
 Independent judgement; independence of action
 Mental effort – how complex is the typical assignment
 Physical effort
 Risk (to employee)
 Responsibility for others
 Supervisory responsibilities
 final supervisory authority to recommend who should be hired/disciplined/rewarded
/terminated. Functional responsibilities such as training, scheduling/assigning work, and
checking work, don’t qualify as supervision for this purpose.
 Supervisory impact (how many are affected?)
 Supervision received
 Effect of decision – on the primary goals and objectives of the organization (not just the
department).
 Consequences of error – including how easily can errors made by this position be found and
corrected.
 Financial – control of budget dollars and amount; revenue generation.

RECLASSIFICATION PROCESS
These are the basic, typical steps. Depending on the size and complexity of an organization, steps may be
more/less involved and formal. In small and relatively simple organizations, the process may be less
formal, but the commitment to fairness and equitable compensation of employees should be no less. As
an example, below is a simplified process that can be adapted or serve as a starting point for an
organization that wishes to implement a more formal position reclassification procedure.

STEP WHO
1. Decide if reclassification is warranted Manager / Employee
2. Complete a job description and a departmental organization chart Manager / Employee
3. Submit a written classification/ reclassification request to HR. Manager / Employee
The request should include:
a. Review of the current job
b. Short overview of new responsibilities
c. Length of time the employee has been performing the
new responsibilities
The job description and departmental organization chart
must also be attached.
4. Audit / review of submission and recommendation from HR on Human Resources
classification and compensation submitted to Senior

Mary Prodanovic
mary.prodanovic@mprodanovic.com
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STEP WHO
Management (or a committee established for the purpose).

Note that the audit by HR may involve comparison to positions

with similar roles and responsibilities at peer organizations.
5. Approval Senior Management

Important to Note:

 A reclassification of a currently filled position may not take place in advance of the new work
being assigned and performed.

 An employee serving the first six months of a probationary period is not eligible for
reclassification.

 A reclassification will normally be retroactive to the date of the submission of the written
reclassification request to Human Resources. The request must be complete and accompanied by
all the attachments described above.

 When a reclassification moves a job downward, reducing an employee's salary can be considered
constructive dismissal. An alternative is to red-circle (freeze) or green-circle (limit increases to
cost of living increases) an employee's base salary to accommodate a change in the salary range.

Appeals

The decision is final and will be implemented immediately unless the decision is appealed by the
employee.

Where an employee is not satisfied with the result of the classification review, she/he may appeal to the
President within ten (10) working days of being advised in writing of the result. The appeal must be in
writing and must include the reasons for the appeal. The immediate supervisor and the next level
manager must support the requests that the decision be reconsidered.

The President will make a final decision in writing within three (3) weeks of receiving the appeal.

Salary Adjustments

If the review identifies the need to adjust salary, compensation will be in accordance with the
organization’s existing compensation policy and practices.

If a reclassification identifies the need to adjust the salary outside of the existing pay band,

 The employee receives a “one-step” increase if reclassified two grades or less.

 The employee may receive a “two-step” increase if reclassified three grades or more.

For lateral reclassifications, there is no change in pay.

Mary Prodanovic
mary.prodanovic@mprodanovic.com
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GLOSSARY
Below are definitions for terms used in this briefing that may be unfamiliar.

TERM DEFINITION
Reclassification Reclassification is the recognition through evaluation that a position should be in a
different job family, level and/or salary grade.
Promotion A promotion requires an employee to apply and be selected for a different position
with a higher salary range.
Job Evaluation A process to look at a position’s duties, responsibilities and work environment in order
to measure work, to organize positions into a grading structure, and to link positions to
salary ranges. Objectives of the process are to:

 ensure the fair and equitable compensation of employees in relation to their

duties.
 ensure equity in pay for jobs of similar skill, effort, responsibility and
working conditions by using a system that consistently and accurately
assesses differences in relative value among jobs and
 establish a framework of procedures to determine the grade levels and the
consequent salary range for new jobs or jobs which have evolved and
changed.
Constructive In the leading case of Farber v. Royal Trust Co. [1997] 1 S.C.R. 846, the Supreme
Dismissal Court of Canada defined constructive dismissal as follows:

In cases of constructive dismissal, the courts in the common law provinces have
applied the general principle that where one party to a contract demonstrates an
intention no longer to be bound by it, that party is committing a fundamental breach of
the contract that results in its termination.

Thus, it has been established in a number of Canadian common law decisions that
where an employer unilaterally makes a fundamental or substantial change to an
employee's contract of employment -- a change that violates the contract's terms -
- the employer is committing a fundamental breach of the contract that results in
its termination and entitles the employee to consider himself or herself
constructively dismissed. The employee can then claim damages from the employer
in lieu of reasonable notice. (paragraph 33)

Mary Prodanovic
mary.prodanovic@mprodanovic.com