Call for Application: The ILO Country Office for China and Mongolia invites applications for position of wage consultant.

The ILO Country Office for China and Mongolia invites applications for the position of wage consultant.

Background

Since Mongolia entered a market economy in the early 1990s, employment and labour relations and working conditions including wage-setting and structure have changed dramatically.

The Government Action Plan for 2020-2024 highlights “to increase wages, pensions and benefits step by step in line with inflation and labour productivity”, which has been translated into the Ministry’s work plan to introduce a performance-based wage system in the health and education sector. The MLSP, therefore, has requested to,

1. Support to strengthen the capacity and role of “bipartite wage sub-committees” that have been established and/or about to be established as a part of wage reform in some selected sectors, such as, health and education;
2. Support to efforts to supplement (or complete) wage reform following “job-based” wage system: introduction of “performance-based” wage supplements to add to the basic “job-based” wage system, both to supplement wage, in general, and to create “incentive/reward” mechanism aimed at improving productivity and employee satisfaction. Once the methodology and tentative proposal is introduced and scale developed through bi-partite negotiation and deliberation, the latter will be the basis for the final phase of collective bargaining.
3. Launch of strategic efforts to strengthen collective bargaining, which will need to include:
   • An overview of “collective bargaining deficit”: identifying collective bargaining challenges in selected target sectors;
   • Developing bi-partite commitment to strengthen collective bargaining in selected target sectors;
   • Undertaking of capacity building programmes for employers and workers for collective wage bargaining;

While the MLSP request regarding support in promoting collective bargaining covers both 1) support to the wage negotiations including through the above “bipartite wage sub-committees” (hereafter referred to as “committees”) in the health and education sectors to introduce performance component in the wage system, and 2) support for strategic efforts to strengthen collective bargaining (which addresses the general situation of collective bargaining), this ToR will focus only the first part, namely, collective bargaining in the health and education sector to reform the wage system.

Scope of work

The national expert consultant will work with the international expert consultant, ILO specialists, the Ministry of Labour and Social Protection, employers’ and workers’ organizations, and other stakeholders to provide the following services:

 

• Compilation of information on the background and concerns that inform the current reform of the of the wage and financing system/practice in health and education sectors, including a summary of the recent related efforts and policies on wage and financing reform. (This will including information on the establishment, operation, composition, of the wage subcommittees of the two sectors)
• Compilation of information on the current wage situation and practice in the health sector and education sector, which will include:
  • Information on wage structure (distribution) of the overall workforce in each sector
  • Information on actual wage situation, on the basis of wage data -- including the collection of representative sample of “pay slips” (individual pay statements) -- of the main groups of workers/employees in the health and education sectors:
    • Workers at different “grades” (entry-level workers, workers at different stages in the grade (or seniority) progression, (middle) management or team-leader level workers, senior management level workers, etc.)
    • Workers at different professional or technical duties, such as doctors, nurses, medical/clinical technicians (radiology, pathology, etc.), physiotherapy specialists, nutritionists, etc. in the health sector; teachers at different levels of schools, specialty teachers, administrative staff, school management staff (such as, principals), etc. in schools
    • Workers in “auxiliary” services, such as, kitchens, cleaning, security services, etc.
    • The wage information collection will need to ensure that the gender composition of the workforce in the two sectors are reflected
    • The wage information collection will take into account the different characteristics of the workplaces: geographical location – capital cities, rural areas, etc.; size of the workplace – large general hospitals, local clinics, etc.; different levels in the education system – kindergarten, primary schools, secondary schools, universities, technical (vocational) schools, etc.
  • Information on the overall workforce, indicating the distribution of the workforce in the different categories of workers engaged in the two sectors
• The national expert consultant will support the work of the international expert consult in collection of information as requested by the international expert consultant in the course of identifying the key issues, challenges, and methods of introducing performance-linked wage (supplement) system.
• The national expert consultant will participate in and support the international expert consultant in the various workshops and training sessions (introductory workshop, 3 rounds of technical workshops, etc., as set out below) organised as a part of the overall programme of work in support of development of performance-linked wage supplement system
• The national expert consultant will support the communication between the international expert consultant and the wage subcommittees as the subcommittees carry out various activities among their respective constituents (for example, 2.2.2 and 2.2.3 below), based on agreed workplans following each workshop, to be carried out by the parties following the conclusion of one workshop, to be completed prior to holding of the next technical workshop, which may include information gathering, awareness-raising, consultation with the respective constituents, compilation of feed-back from the constituents, identification of difficulties, emerging demands, etc.

The national expert consultant will join in and support the international consultant in providing “coaching” to the parties during the period between two workshops, as the parties carry out their follow-up work.

1. An overview compilation of information on wage reform policy
2. A compilation of wage data and information
3. Documentation and compilation of information regarding activities and requests of the two bi-partite wage subcommittees in carrying out their follow-up work following each of the three technical workshops, which highlight the situation, progress, challenges and difficulties arising from the follow-up work

It is expected, for the moment, that travel to Ulan Bator by the international expert consultant and ILO specialists to lead the workshops would not be possible (at least for the first half of 2021). Therefore, as the workshops would be carried out through online application (while the local participants may gather in a conference room, if permitted), the national expert consultant will be required to assist and support the effective organisation and coordination of the workshops.

 

Required expertise, qualifications and competencies, including language requirements

• Advanced university degree in Economics/Labour Economics or related discipline. Previous experience on wage setting would be an advantage.
• Good knowledge of research and data gathering and analysis.
• Good knowledge about national legislation concerning labour/employment and wage.
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills.
• Fluency in written and oral English and Mongolian.

Timeframe

May – October 2021

Up to 50 expert days

Application procedure

Interested individuals must submit the following documents/information electronically to ulaanbaatar@ilo.org  no later than Friday, 30 April 2021:  (i) Letter of interest explaining why you are the most suitable for the work; (ii) Sample of publications (studies and research) that are relevant to this terms of reference; (iii) Personal CV including past experience in similar projects; (iv)  Daily consultancy fee rate, and confirmation of availability.