Being Increasingly and Unfairly Sidelined in my Role.

J_Dublin15

You may want to read this thread which is the problem I had last month for a bit of background info. So basically after the last thread in the end things improved and I started doing some of the work I used to do, but not much, but it made me happier and my morale came off rock bottom.

However in the last few weeks I have found my role has been increasingly sidelined. The vast majority of my role has been transfered to people who are at career level 3 whilst I am level 5. Whilst I am doing tasks that have been previously carried out by level 1,2,3 staff along with some little bits of reporting. Now to top it all off they have advertised a new role, which contains the majority of my original job duties with some extra duties on a much higher pay than I am currently on. I am not allowed to apply for this as they will only allow people to apply who have worked in level 3, despite the fact I have worked in levels 1,2,4,5.

You may ask how this ladder system works? In our department we have a career path planner and roles are marked as level 1-7. I was marked as Level 5 and a colleague of mine was marked as level 3. There is nobody here for level 6 and 7 any more post the redundancy situation, but we do have managers who oversee the department who are higher than me but outside this matrix.

When I was kept on instead of being made redundant I would keep my current role rather than being given a new role. But since then they have changed my job description, and duties and given my duties to other people. They say duties can change from time to time. But basically what they have done is changed my whole job, apart from the title and pay.

Now they have advertised quite a lot of my original duties in a new role at a higher pay with some extra duties also, which I cannot apply for despite being the only person who has had more than a few weeks experience of the duties that are carried out as part of this job, because I have not worked at a particular level - it's almost like the requirements have been wrote to exclude me.

I spoke to HR about this. They said that my work that I was doing was more important than the new role. But they were not willing to increase my salary to reflect that, which means despite them claiming that my role was more important, the new job I cannot apply for will pay 30% more than my current job. And not only that, but when I originally took this job in August 2007, I took 10% less than the previous person due to budget restraints in the company.

They gave me a list of my duties that I was expected to perform - these were totally different from what I agreed when I started work in this job. They claimed my job is totally different now since the redundancy situation, but I claimed they said my current role was still here and I will keep it, so I should retain my original duties rather than them advertising them to all for 30% extra pay to someone else. If they wanted me to take on a new role they should have offered me this. But I suspect they did this to avoid a pay increase.

I now have the ridiculous situation where people are doing my old work, and asking me for second opinions, and ordering me around and I have to report to them on these matters, when it used to be the other way around. I feel depressed, very annoyed and basically like I have been demoted in all but name. I have given so much time up for this company in the last two years and I feel like they are throwing it all back in my face.

To Top it all off my manager later claimed he never saw my original job description (He was not my manager at the time, my original manager was made redundant) and I never did the work I claimed and the person who will get the new job did all the work which could not be further from the truth.

Where do I go from here? I cannot get HR to break despite putting up a big fight last Thursday in a meeting with the above points, I did not let them walk all over me at all - I have another meeting next Tuesday with them - I have already let them know my position remains unchanged. I have lots of work to do right now - But I don't see why I should do it?

Giblet

Leave. That's ridiculous.

J_Dublin15

Leaving is certainly a great option to say the least! However the problem I have with this is my contract says I cannot work in the same industry for a 9 month period after leaving, which would mean a career change, and there is not many decent jobs available at the moment due to the current economic situation!

RentDayBlues

A lot of contracts have the clause about not working in the same industry but I have never heard of it being enforced.

Suzyq

Take legal advice - it sounds like you might have a case for constructive dismissal if you want to go down that route.

It certainly sounds like they want you out of there so I would be actively looking for another role if I were you.

You'll look back on this in a few years and realise that life is far too short to put up with that stress and upset on a daily basis

kmick

Don't worry about the 9 month clause. It is unenforceable.

It seems like HR have been told to stonewall you so don't expect any joy there. You can fight and fight these things but sometimes you have to make a decision to cut your losses and move on. Do your job (or what is now expected of you) conscientiously and look for another role.

If you want to throw a hissy fit (it works sometimes but is stressful) explain to HR you are now in a position where you feel you would have a case for constructive dismissal. Really depends on how far you want to go with it.

leeroybrown

I think you're in a position where you need to talk to a solicitor who specialises in employment law about this. Document everything that has happened over time to put you in this position. You're effectively being 'managed out' based on your description while at the same time being subjected to a non-compete clause that would prevent you from finding a replacement job. I'd agree with what has been pointed out above about the non-compete clause being unenforceable but you'll need to get professional legal advice about it.

helimachoptor

RentDayBlues wrote: »

A lot of contracts have the clause about not working in the same industry but I have never heard of it being enforced.

+1 OP A guy I worked with went to a customer of the companies and he was working alongside his old colleagues the first monday of his new job.

These are standard but unless your in an extremely sensitive position (pricing/finance) they don't enforce these clauses and even if they do usually they are gardening leave clauses rather than simply dont work for a competitor clause.

OP leave

dazberry

J_Dublin15 wrote: »

Leaving is certainly a great option to say the least! However the problem I have with this is my contract says I cannot work in the same industry for a 9 month period after leaving, which would mean a career change, and there is not many decent jobs available at the moment due to the current economic situation!

Ignore the 9 month thingy (if you can get another job) and if they say anything tell them you'll sue them for constructive dismissal. That'll shut them up quick.

D.

TripleAce

I think as a rule of thumb the day you want a serious (20%+) pay increase you need to change company - it is difficult to get big pay increases all in one go in big companies....IMO it is a good thing to change company every 4-5 years anyway if you have the opportunity, for a lot of other reasons other than money.

Also, if ever offered a good redundancy package I would take it every day.....there is a world of opportunities out there (maybe not in this very moment, but we will go through this).

the_syco

J_Dublin15 wrote: »

I now have the ridiculous situation where people are doing my old work, and asking me for second opinions, and ordering me around and I have to report to them on these matters, when it used to be the other way around. I feel depressed, very annoyed and basically like I have been demoted in all but name. I have given so much time up for this company in the last two years and I feel like they are throwing it all back in my face.

Ever thought of fobbing all the people from above to the person below?

J_Dublin15 wrote: »

To Top it all off my manager later claimed he never saw my original job description (He was not my manager at the time, my original manager was made redundant) and I never did the work I claimed and the person who will get the new job did all the work which could not be further from the truth.