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By comparing the development of competence payment systems in the Volvo Commercial Vehicle plants in Sweden, Belgium and the United Kingdom (UK), this paper seeks to explain some of the reasons why the UK is lagging behind in the development of innovative pay systems. In the commercial vehicle sector, the reticence of UK-based assemblers, such as Volvo and Leyland trucks, to introduce new forms of payment systems can be only partially explained by reference to societal factors. One has to look further, to the historical development of the UK automotive sector and the perception of management that the introduction of a payment system based upon individual effort would lead back to the restrictive practices and demarcation disputes which exemplified the employment relationship in the 1960s and 1970s.