What the method produces
The classical structure rates involvement along three dimensions and adds the conditions the work is performed in.
| Dimension | Question | Example, payroll executive |
|---|---|---|
| Data | What does the worker do with information | Compiles and reconciles wage, attendance and contribution data; analyses variances |
| People | What interaction does the role require | Responds to employee queries; instructs no one; coordinates with finance and vendors |
| Things | What tools, systems or equipment are operated | Payroll system, statutory filing portals, spreadsheets |
| Conditions | Where and how the work is done | Office based, monthly cyclical peak, deadline driven |
| Requirements | What the work genuinely demands | Numerical accuracy, working knowledge of contribution rules, ability to reconcile |
The output is deliberately dull, and that is its value. A description written this way can be used to compare two jobs, to decide whether a requirement is genuine, and to test whether an accommodation is workable, none of which can be done from a job description written as an advertisement.
Doing the analysis
- Observe and ask, rather than asking only the manager. The person doing the job knows what the work actually consists of, and the manager often describes what it was designed to be.
- Use more than one incumbent where the role has several holders, since one person's version includes what they have accumulated personally.
- Record frequency and time. A duty performed once a year is not an essential function in the way a daily one is, and the distinction matters later.
- Separate essential from marginal duties explicitly. This is the distinction an accommodation decision turns on, and it cannot be drawn afterwards without appearing convenient.
- Describe the outcome, not the method, wherever the method could reasonably vary. A requirement to move between floors is different from a requirement to use the stairs.
- Distinguish requirements from preferences. A degree, a number of years, a specific certification and a two-wheeler licence each need a reason connected to the work.
- Date it, and re-do it when the work changes. Restructures, system changes and headcount reductions all change the job while the description stays still.
Where an accurate description earns its cost
- Equal remuneration. Where two people doing the same work or work of a similar nature are paid differently, the difference has to be justified. A documented job analysis is how you show two roles differ in substance rather than in title.
- Reasonable accommodation. The obligation is assessed against the essential functions of the post, so a description that lists everything as essential removes your own room to make a workable adjustment.
- Selection criteria. Criteria must relate to the actual requirements of the post, and job analysis is what connects them.
- Job evaluation and grading. Any grading structure rests on a comparison of job content, and grading from titles produces bands that cannot be defended internally.
- Redundancy and redeployment. Assessing people against the requirements of surviving roles requires those requirements to have been described before the exercise.
- Recruitment. A description derived from analysis produces a shortlist that matches the job, which is the mundane benefit that pays for the exercise on its own.
Verify the equal remuneration provisions and the meaning given to work of a similar nature under the Code on Wages, 2019, and the reasonable accommodation obligations under the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016, before relying on a job description in either kind of decision.
Keeping it usable
- Keep the analysis and the advertisement separate. The analysis is factual and internal; the advertisement is written to attract people and should not become the document you defend.
- Review on a cycle, and always after a restructure, a system change or a change in headcount that redistributed work.
- Store the version history. A decision is assessed against the description in force at the time, so the superseded versions matter.
- Keep it short enough to be maintained. A four-page description will not be updated, and an out of date description is worse than a brief current one.
- Have the incumbent confirm it annually, which takes minutes and catches drift.
- Use one format across the organisation, since job comparisons are impossible when every function writes descriptions differently.
What the Code on Wages, 2019 replaced
4 enactments stand repealed under s. 69, in force 21 November 2025 by S.O. 5322(E).
- Payment of Wages Act, 1936
- Minimum Wages Act, 1948
- Payment of Bonus Act, 1965
- Equal Remuneration Act, 1976
Across all four labour Codes, 29 enactments stand repealed. A policy or handbook that still cites one of them by name is describing rules that no longer exist.
Statutory reference
- Act
- Code on Wages, 2019
- Section
- Code on Wages, 2019: prohibition of discrimination in wages and in recruitment on the ground of gender in respect of the same work or work of a similar nature, where work of a similar nature is assessed on the skill, effort, experience and responsibility the work requires, which is what a job analysis evidences. Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016: non-discrimination in employment, reasonable accommodation assessed against the requirements of the post, and the requirement that selection criteria relate to those requirements. Industrial Relations Code, 2020: assessment against the requirements of surviving roles in a restructuring, and the record of the basis on which selection was made. In force 21 November 2025
- Key limits
- Where two roles are compared for equal remuneration purposes, the difference has to be shown in the substance of the work rather than in the title, and job analysis is the evidence. Listing every duty as essential removes the room to make a reasonable accommodation. Verify the meaning given to work of a similar nature and the accommodation obligations before relying on a job description in a pay, accommodation or redeployment decision. Section 20 non-discrimination in employment, the section 20(2) duty to provide reasonable accommodation and a barrier-free environment, the section 20(4) protection of an employee who acquires a disability in service, the section 23 Grievance Redressal Officer and the section 34 four per cent reservation all bind government establishments only. What binds every establishment, private included, is section 21, notifying an equal opportunity policy and registering it with the Chief or State Commissioner, and section 22, maintaining records of persons with disabilities open to inspection. For the private sector section 35 provides government INCENTIVES towards a five per cent workforce target, not a quota. The general prohibition that does reach private conduct is section 3(3), and it carries a defence where the act or omission is a proportionate means of achieving a legitimate aim. Reasonable accommodation is defined in section 2(y) as excluding what would impose a disproportionate or undue burden.
Frequently asked questions
What is functional job analysis?
A structured way of describing a job by what the worker does with data, people and things, with the level of involvement in each, plus the conditions and genuine requirements. It describes the job rather than the person currently holding it.
How is it different from a job description?
The analysis is the factual exercise; the description is one of its outputs. Most job descriptions are written as advertisements, which makes them useless for comparing two roles or for deciding whether a requirement is genuine.
Why separate essential from marginal duties?
Because a reasonable accommodation decision is assessed against the essential functions of the post. A description that lists everything as essential removes your own room to make a workable adjustment, and drawing the distinction afterwards looks convenient.
How does job analysis help with equal pay?
Work of a similar nature is assessed on the skill, effort, experience and responsibility the work requires. Where two people are paid differently, documented job analysis is how you show the roles differ in substance rather than only in title.
How often should descriptions be reviewed?
On a cycle, and always after a restructure, a system change or a headcount reduction that redistributed work. An unrevised description describes a job the organisation no longer has, and decisions get made against it anyway.
How Engage holds job records
Engage keeps the job description against the position rather than the person, with version history and effective dates, so a pay or accommodation decision can be checked against the description in force at the time. Essential and marginal duties are recorded separately, and the same structure is used across functions, which is what makes two roles comparable at all.
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