2 months notice period after probation period. Request increase or reduced notice?

LegacyUser

I started a job nearly 5 months ago after finishing a fixed term contract with my previous employer. I turned down a job offer that paid 13k more because this job sounded like a place where I would get excellent experience for better earning potential later in my career.

The trouble is my boss seems like he is bi-polar and very hard to work with at times, employee turnover in the department seems to be high since he started at the company two years ago. He can be outright insulting over the most petty of things which has led to a lot of people leaving in the five months I've been there. I can foresee more leaving too.

I'm getting good experience but I'm essentially doing the work of two people which means the position I was hired to do has suffered as I try spread my time between two different roles. My boss can be completely unreasonable and has given me some scathing criticism over this, even though I believe I've done a very competent job considering the circumstances and resources available.

My hours are meant to be 9am - 5.30pm with just a 30 minute break, but I'm lucky to get out by 6.30pm most days with a 15-20 minute break due to the workload.

I only realized the other day that once I pass my six month probation that I will have to give two months notice, before that it is one months notice. I believe two months is excessive considering my salary is 8-13k less than I would get elsewhere in my profession. My colleagues on older contracts only have to give one months notice.

I can't see myself staying at the company for more than 13 months - possibly much sooner if more of my team leave, so having to give two months notice could be problematic when I decide to move on.

I was thinking when I'm offered permanency at the six month mark that I would ask for a 6k salary increase to compensate for the two months notice and change of my job description, or request that the notice period be reduced to one month.

Do you think I'm being unreasonable, or should I cut my losses now and look for another job where I'm confident I would get at least 7k more than I'm currently on.

davo10

No brainer for me, you are being underpaid, badly treated, over worked and the job is not the one you were employed to do. If you can get better pay and conditions elsewhere, move on.

_Brian

go now if it suits you, sounds like you could do better elsewhere.