---
title: "Salary & allowances: Pay grades"
slug: "pay-grades"
updated: 2026-10-27T15:32:32Z
published: 2026-10-27T15:32:32Z
canonical: "help.cintra.co.uk/pay-grades"
---

> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://help.cintra.co.uk/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Salary & allowances: Pay grades

### About pay grades

If your organisation uses pay grades, you can assign a pay grade and spine point to an employee. You can see their current, upcoming and past assignments.

If you don't see a **Pay grades** tab, your organisation doesn't use pay grades.

To view an employee's pay grades, go to their record, click the **Salary & allowances** tab, then click the **Pay grades** tab.

![](https://cdn.document360.io/fc2cda72-4645-4b36-96bf-60439ec11f11/Images/Documentation/image-MMGOPC6M.png)

### Viewing pay grades

By default, only the current assignment is shown. To see upcoming and past assignments, click the **Active records only** toggle to turn it off.

| Column | Shows |
| --- | --- |
| **Pay grade** | The grade assigned to the employee. |
| **Spine points** | The spine point within that grade. |
| **Start date** / **End date** | When the assignment applies. |
| **Status** | **Active**, **Upcoming** or **Inactive**. |

An employee can only have one pay grade assignment at a time.

### Assigning a pay grade

1. On the **Pay grades** tab, click **Add pay grade**.
2. Select the **Pay grade**.
3. Select the **Spine point**. The spine points available depend on the pay grade you selected.
4. Click **Continue**.
5. Enter the **Start date** and, if the assignment will end on a known date, the **End date**.
6. Click **Save & continue**.

If the dates overlap another assignment, you'll see the message "Assignment date range must not overlap another assignment". Change the dates so they don't overlap, or end the existing assignment first.

### Changing a pay grade

You can change the dates, pay grade or spine point of any assignment, whether it's active, upcoming or inactive.

1. Click the **Actions** icon (⋮) next to the assignment.
2. Select to either **edit** the dates / pay grade / spine point, or to **delete** it.