Palkkikaavio

Palkkikaavio, literally "salary chart" in Finnish, is a structured framework used by organizations to define and communicate the pay levels associated with different jobs or roles. It typically maps jobs into pay grades or bands and shows the corresponding base salaries or salary ranges, sometimes including allowances, bonuses, and progression steps.

Key elements include: pay grades or bands (levels of responsibility and skill), a salary range for each grade (minimum and maximum), steps or ladders for progression within a grade, job family or function grouping, and sometimes criteria for movement between grades (e.g., performance or tenure). It may also show how individual salaries relate to market benchmarks and internal value.

Development and use: palkkikaavio is created through job evaluation to determine the relative value of roles, market benchmarking to reflect external pay levels, and alignment with organizational budgeting and, in many cases, with collective agreements. It serves as a guide for managers and employees to understand potential career progression and pay pathways. In Finland, many organizations use palkkakaavio in conjunction with a palkkausjärjestelmä, and collective agreements may influence the assigned grades and ranges.

Benefits: increases transparency, supports fairness and comparability, aids budgeting and recruitment, clarifies progression for employees. Challenges: maintaining accuracy as jobs evolve, ensuring flexibility to reflect performance and market changes, avoiding rigidity or bottlenecks at certain grades.

Example: A hypothetical scale might define Grade 1 with a range of 30,000–34,000 EUR per year, Grade 2: 34,000–40,000, Grade 3: 40,000–46,000, etc.

See also: pay grade, salary band, job evaluation, collective agreement.