This help guide explains how to create Spines which can then be linked to multiple Grades (pay bands/scales).

Contents

• Introduction
• To view spines
• To create a spine
• Spine review and values

Introduction

A pay Spine is made up of individual pay points ranging from the lowest salary to the highest salary which the grades attached to that spine can access. Each individual pay point has a predefined salary or pay range associated with that point. Spines are most often found within organisations operating in the  public sector. They provide employees with a clear expectation of how their pay will increment as they progress along the Spine.

To view spines

• Go to the following area:
  • Latest (left-hand) menu: Data Management > Code Tables
  • Pre 2025 (top) menu: System > System Administration> Code Tables
• From Group choose Job and Pay and then choose Spines

To create a spine

• Click Insert New Record
• On the tab labelled Spine enter a Code, a Description and select a Pay Basis for the spine
• Click Update

Spine review and values

• Having created the code for the new Spine you will now be presented with a Reviews tab
• The Reviews tab is dual purpose; you will need it to apply salary reviews to the spine points and to create spine points
• Click Add new Record
• Select the date at which spine reviews become effective and type in the normal hours for employees on that spine
• Click Save changes
• The information will be saved and two further buttons made available; "Values" and "Update Job and Pay"

• Click Values
• Spine point values can be created one by one using Add new record or they can be inserted  automatically using the Auto Insert option
• Click Auto Insert

• The Review Date will be populated from the date of the spine review
• Using the option to Create new points enables you to specify the start and end points and to determine the Start Value and the Increment Value
• Click Auto Insert
• The values will be populated according to the criteria entered

• The Start Point and End Point of the spine denotes the number of stages within that spine
• The Start Value is the salary that would be associated with the Start Point
• The Increment Value is the amount of increase between each point.  Amounts can be edited once inserted so you can tweak the figures to match spine points as needed

• Having created the Spine with all the associated criteria, it will now need to be associated with a Grade to be able to be used for employee data