Goodkin who is a partner in the Los Angeles office of law firm Rutter Hobbs & Davidoff, gave her tips at a recent webinar hosted by BLR.

Most Common Mistake

Regarding the worst and most common mistakes in job descriptions, Goodkin pointed to calling people exempt when they're not. Citing a new client who has about 30 employees, she recalled that the chief executive said, "They're all exempt." That's unlikely. Who's answering the phones and keeping the files straight—jobs that are likely nonexempt? Goodkin wonders.

Crafting the Job Description

Goodkin suggests HR managers consider the following for inclusion in the job description:

• Title. Start the description with the job title, job code or pay grade if any, and department. Include who the person reports to and who, if anyone, reports to the jobholder.

• Mission Summary. State where the job fits into the company's mission and organizational chart. In describing the receptionist's job, for example, you might say, "Provides the first point of contact and essential communication link between the company and the outside world."

Set that keyboard aside! Your job descriptions are already written. See why 1000s of managers have a permanent place in their offices for BLR's classic Job Descriptions Encyclopedia. Plus for a limited time receive a FREE HR report. For more information Click here.

• Days and Hours. List the customary work days and hours, and, yes, says Goodkin, you can do so for exempt employees to set expectations.

• Compensation Indicator. Some employers include the starting salary or other compensation indicator, but that's optional.

• Essential Functions. Then describe the essential functions of the job, and what skills are needed to perform those functions. Functions can be listed in their order of importance or in the order in which they'd be done on a typical day.

• Time Required. For FLSA purposes, include estimates of the percentage of time needed for each task, Goodkin suggests.

• Periodic Functions. You may want to include periodic functions, which may include job duties that are not essential, but are part of the job description.

• Standards. If there are quality or quantity standards for the position, list them. For example, include any time standard (a certain output or pace, e.g., typing 75 words per minute), and any quality standard.

• Minimum Qualifications. List minimum qualifications such as years of experience, education, licenses or other credentials required.

• Physical Demands. Include any physical demands such as sitting, seeing, speaking, twisting, lifting, etc., and be sure to describe anything about the work environment that is significant, such as that it is not heated or air conditioned or that it's noisy. Include whether the ability to use tools is essential.

• Required Behaviors. It's helpful to list required behaviors, such as dependability, tolerance for multiple demands, administrative recall of procedures, attention to detail, ability to learn, and the like, Goodkin says.

• Supervision. Mention supervision, whether and how the job is supervised, and whether the employee is expected to work independently.

How about your job descriptions? Are they well-written, up-to-date, and ADA-compliant? Detailed enough to help? Essential skills delineated?

If not—or if you've never even written job descriptions—you're not alone. Thousands of companies fall short in this area.

It's easy to understand why. Job descriptions are not simple to do—what with updating and management and legal review, especially given the ADA requirement of a split-off of essential functions from other functions in the description. Wouldn't it be great if your job descriptions were available and already written?

Actually, they are. We have more than 700, ready to go, covering every common position in any organization, from receptionist right up to president. They are in an extremely popular BLR program called the Job Descriptions Encyclopedia.

First created in the 1980s, the "JDE" has been continually refined and updated over time, with descriptions revised or added each time the law, technology—or the way we do business—changes.

700+ prewritten job descriptions in the Job Descriptions Encyclopedia now come with pay grades already attached.Click here to try the program at no cost and receive a limited time bonus.

Revised for the ADA, Pay Grades Updated

There was a major revision, for example, following the passage of the ADA. In fact, BLR editors reviewed every one of those 700 descriptions to ensure they were ADA-compliant.

Another enhancement was the updating of pay grades for each job. According to our customers, this is an enormous time-saver, enabling them to make compensation decisions even as they define the position. You can see a sample job description from the program by clicking here. (Yes, it is the one for HR Manager—Pay grade: 37.)

The BLR Job Descriptions Encyclopedia also includes an extensive tutorial on setting up a complete job descriptions program, and how to encourage participation from all parts of the organization. That includes top management, the employees, and any union or other collective bargaining entity.

Quarterly Updates, No Additional Cost

Very important these days, quarterly updates are included in the program as a standard feature—key at a time of constantly changing laws and emerging technologies. We'll send you new or revised descriptions every 90 days. And the cost is extremely reasonable, averaging less than 43 cents per job description … already written, legally reviewed, and ready to adapt or use as is.

You can evaluate BLR's Job Descriptions Encyclopedia at no cost in your office for up to 30 days. Get more information or order the Job Descriptions Encyclopedia.

Download product sample
Download list of job descriptions included

More Articles on Job Descriptions