The current wage structure of advanced market economies is the result of a long and contradictory transformation. It is based on the division of wages into two parts: the main (permanent) and additional (variable). The main part of the salary is formed from the tariff earnings of the worker (the product of the tariff rate for the time worked). The variable part includes piecework earnings, various incentive allowances to basic earnings, payments under individual and collective bonus systems, for overtime, for difficult, harmful working conditions and other additional payments.
The dynamics of wages and, to a certain extent, its differentiation are influenced by the minimum wage established by the state in most countries. The methods of its determination reflect the peculiarities of the economic and political development of each of them. In the United States, Canada, france, the national level of wages is established by law. In England, Italy, Germany, and Japan, the state minimum wage is introduced only for certain industries or enterprises.
In the modern period, there are 3 main types of wage organization: American, Japanese and Western European.
The development of new forms of organization and motivation of labor in American industry is accompanied by the improvement of methods of material incentives. Each company, based on its specific operating conditions and needs, introduces different systems and forms of remuneration to improve production efficiency. However, common to all is the widespread use of time-based payment, the strengthening of the stimulating role of tariff wages, which, along with its main task – improving the skills of workers, should stimulate the growth of labor productivity and product quality.
In the American type, the organization of wages, first of all, is based on the assessment of the work itself, as well as some requirements for the contractor to perform them.
In the process of finding ways to improve the effectiveness of the system of material incentives, American specialists developed a system of “payment for qualifications”. The essence of this system is that the level of remuneration depends not on the complexity of labor, but also on the set of professions (specialties) that the employee is able to use in his activities. In this case, he is paid for both work and knowledge.
This system provides for an increase in wages in the amount of 25 to 30% of the employee’s wage fund when he develops each new specialty and uses it in work. The mechanism of this system includes the concept of “unit of qualification”, which determines the sum of knowledge, skills, abilities necessary to perform new, additional work and receive the next allowance. About 19 such units have been developed. Special procedures have been introduced for determining hourly rates and wage increases as an employee acquires a new specialty.
The main disadvantage of such a system is a sharp increase in the cost of personnel training, and the main advantages are ensuring labor mobility within the enterprise due to the rotation of jobs, job satisfaction, reducing staff turnover, reducing labor losses, increasing labor productivity (30-50%) and product quality.
The peculiarity of the Japanese type of wage organization is that in it in the foreground are employees, their qualities – age, work experience, status and position, educational level, loyalty to the company, etc. This specificity is most likely due to the national traditions of the system of lifetime employment.
The annual salary increase is differentiated by the level of status. The higher the status, the higher the schedule for increasing payments by seniority (or age).
In other cases, where the level of pay is determined entirely by the level of the position, the number of steps is five or six for one-time workers, but the range of wage standards is very wide. Wages are increased annually in accordance with the increase in work experience and differentiation by level of positions. The payment system is built on the same principles, when it is determined by the status level.
Even within the same status, the amount of wages depends on personal qualities and the attitude shown to work. This serves as an incentive for employees. The difference is small, but since it is given annually, the cumulative increase can become significant, although in the size of one status it is limited.
In most Western European countries, elements of both the American type of wage organization and the Japanese type are used, in connection with which the Western European type is called transitional, or intermediate.
However, of the major Western European countries, only in France is the size of the state minimum wage directly linked to the consumer price index. This minimum rises in cases where the monthly price index increases within two months by 2%.
The establishment of the level of remuneration in France is carried out in accordance with the situation on the labor market and it is preceded by an assessment of the workplace, during which an accurate list of jobs is drawn up, indicating the content and working conditions, key jobs are identified, and qualification requirements are determined. The amount of wages for various categories of personnel is established on the basis of taking into account the minimum wage in the industry and in similar enterprises. The salary structure is developed on the basis of qualification requirements for employees and the established level of remuneration. Its constituent elements identified in collective agreements are:
wages that ensure the achievement of the subsistence minimum (taking into account the payment of the apartment, household expenses, as well as the cost of maintaining a car, rest, etc.); social payments (to insurance funds); additional payments (under the terms of the contract with the employee on participation in profits).
Possible additional forms of remuneration are:
bonuses for rational proposals, labor productivity; payments for participation in the sale of products, cost reduction, performance of work in the planned time; allowances for personal achievements in work, discipline and initiative.
Management of the salary structure consists in determining the ratio of guaranteed and possible earnings for homogeneous professions and specialties, in choosing types of additional remuneration.