Grading as a Universal Method of Differentiation in the Field of Remuneration, Providing Guarantees and Staff Motivation

Optimization of the costs of economic activity, and, in particular, reduction of personnel costs, namely, on employee compensation, is one of the most exciting problems for employers, especially in the current situation with the spread of a new coronavirus infection (2019-nCoV) in Russia and in the world, as well as the upcoming economic recession. Every negative phenomenon on a global scale exposes the weak points of business and makes employers think about how to improve the wage system, on the one hand, to reduce the wage Fund, and on the other hand, to ensure decent and fair wages, to preserve jobs and not lose the loyalty of employees. Grading, a tool that is not regulated at the legislative level and is an invention of practitioners, helps to develop a transparent and fair remuneration system. This paper examines the historical aspects of the emergence of grading as a legally unregulated method of ranking personnel; analyzes the similarities and differences in the legal understanding of the term grading in the Anglo-American and Russian legal doctrine; defines the essence of grading as a complex process; analyzes the typology of grading, identifies the main principles and procedure for its implementation; consider the specifics of grading in the field of remuneration, guarantees, and motivation of personnel, which are directly dependent on the assigned grade, in practice from the point of view of labor legislation and judicial practice; the need for legislative regulation of grading procedures has not been identified due to the wide possibilities of local rulemaking.