The Anatomy of a Job Description


April 10, 2023

The Anatomy of a Job Description

Telling someone at work that they need to revise a job description is like giving a four-year-old a gift certificate for her birthday present. “No really Susie, you are going to love picking out a present next week at Williams-Sonoma. Please, please stop crying….” No better way to suck the air out of a room! Needless to say, for most of us, creating or revising a job description does not rise to the top of our fun list. Why is that?

Here are a couple of thoughts. After applying for a job, most of us never look at our job description again. We do what we think is right and what our supervisor directs. Or, some employees like to put every task they perform on their job description, so the document ends up flowing into three pages of bullet points. Finally, most job descriptions just aren’t that interesting to read – kind of like reading the ingredients on a Twinkies package. So, let’s get rid of them!!

Not so fast. There are three things that make job descriptions super important.

First, a well-written job description helps an organization determine how to appropriately pay people. The words matter when comparing positions within your organization to ensure pay equity. Your employees care about pay equity, as do the people who enforce the Equal Pay Act. As important, the words matter when comparing the position against similar positions in other organizations to make sure your pay is market competitive.

Second, accurate job descriptions that truly align with what a person does are super critical to be able to analyze if a position is exempt or non-exempt under the Fair Labor Standards Act. In non-human resources language, accurate job descriptions help you know if you are required under the law to pay overtime.

Third, when an employee has a health condition, identifying the “essential” job duties in the job description is required when complying with the requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act. This is the federal law that requires most employers to provide a reasonable accommodation to allow an employee to perform her essential job duties. If you do not identify essential job duties, doing this analysis can be difficult, and, ultimately, lead to an outcome that is unfair to the employee or the employer.

We have been working with our customers to meet the above three needs when creating or revising their job descriptions. When creating job descriptions, we now also create easy to read job announcements that not only use conversational language but also reflect your workplace culture. Job announcements are perfect for job postings or to be read at the next four-year-old birthday party you attend!

If we can assist you in creating or revising your job descriptions, please reach out. Call us crazy, but we love to take the monotony and boredom out of a critical component of your workplace.

From your friends at BestDayHR.