Why does an NGO need a salary scale?
Without a scale, pay is set one hire at a time. A manager hires fast, agrees a number, and the next manager agrees a different number for the same work. Over a few years you get people in similar roles with very different pay, and no good answer when someone asks why.
A pay grade structure fixes this. It is a short table that places every role in a grade, and gives each grade a pay range. It makes pay decisions easier to explain, easier to budget, and easier to defend to staff, donors and auditors.
What is a pay grade?
A pay grade is a band of roles that carry a similar level of responsibility. Each grade has a pay range, with three numbers:
- Minimum: the lowest salary for someone new to the role.
- Midpoint: the salary for someone fully competent in the role.
- Maximum: the highest salary the grade allows, for someone with deep experience in the role.
Here is a simple example. The amounts are made up, so set your own.
| Grade | Typical roles | Minimum | Midpoint | Maximum |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| G1 | Driver, cleaner, guard | 150 | 180 | 210 |
| G2 | Admin assistant, data clerk | 220 | 260 | 300 |
| G3 | Officer, accountant | 320 | 380 | 440 |
| G4 | Senior officer, coordinator | 460 | 540 | 620 |
| G5 | Manager | 650 | 760 | 870 |
| G6 | Head of department | 900 | 1,050 | 1,200 |
How do you build the scale?
- List every role. Write a short job description for each one: what the person decides, who they manage, what they must know.
- Rank the roles. Compare roles by the same factors: responsibility, skills, effort and working conditions. Rank the role, never the current holder.
- Group roles into grades. Draw lines where the jump in responsibility is clear. A grade with ten very different roles is too wide.
- Set the midpoint first. Use local pay data you trust, such as sector pay surveys you have bought or shared with peer organizations. Then set the minimum and maximum around the midpoint. Many organizations use a range of about 20 to 40 percent wide, but this is a choice, not a rule.
- Check the overlap. Neighbouring grades can overlap a little. A very experienced person in G3 may earn more than a new person in G4. That is normal. Large overlaps make grades meaningless.
- Test it against budgets. Price each grade at midpoint against your donor budget lines before you publish.
How should you handle national and international staff?
Many NGOs run more than one scale. Common choices are one scale for national staff in local currency, and another for international staff. Whatever you choose, write down:
- the currency of each scale and when you update exchange rates,
- how you treat benefits that are not salary, such as housing, health cover or allowances,
- how you handle a staff member who moves between the two groups.
Local labour law may set a minimum wage, notice periods and mandatory benefits. Laws differ by country, so check with a local adviser before you finalize a scale.
How do people move within and between grades?
A scale only works if the movement rules are clear. Write down:
- Starting pay. Where in the range a new hire starts, and who can approve a start above the minimum.
- Progression inside a grade. Whether pay rises by a fixed step, by a review result, or by cost-of-living adjustment.
- Promotion. What triggers a move to a higher grade, and where in the new range the person lands.
- Exceptions. Who can approve pay above the maximum, for how long, and how you record the reason.
Keep a record of every pay decision with the date, the person who approved it and the reason. That record is what you show when a staff member or an auditor asks.
How often should you review the scale?
Review the ranges once a year. Check them against inflation, exchange-rate moves and market pay. Also review when a donor changes its salary rules, when you open a new country office, or when staff turnover in one grade suddenly rises. For related reading, see who should see salary data and keeping good staff.
What mistakes should you avoid?
- Grading the person. If a strong performer is paid above their grade, fix it through promotion or a role change, not by bending the scale.
- Too many exceptions. Each exception weakens the scale. Keep a short log, and review it at each yearly check.
- Copying another organization’s scale. Their roles, budgets and markets differ from yours. Use their scale as a reference, not a template.
- Ignoring pay equity. Compare pay by gender and grade each year. Look first at where each person sits in the range.
Where EMPOBase fits
In the Leave & Compensation area of People & HR, you can record pay grades and salary records, plus pay review cycles, benefit plans and enrolments. Pay grades and salary records sit behind a dedicated compensation permission, so only the people you choose can open them. EMPOBase does not decide your grades for you, and it does not compute payroll tax or social contributions, produce payslips or file statutory returns. Your payroll provider or accountant keeps that part. See the documentation for the full module description.