Resigned but moved to do a different role

Killarney2018

Hi there, I have resigned from my company but they have decided to move me to a different job for the notice period. Are they allowed to do this under employment law, reading about Irish law they have to give one months notice to make a change to employment terms or are all bets off when your resign? Seems vindictive. I'm qualified in Finance but being moved to (for example) a job where I stock shelves... Surely I should be moved to an equally qualified role with similar title for notice period duration?

Peregrinus

Presumably they are still paying you at the rate appropriate to the finance role?

Your contract of employment likely has a term that allows the employer to redeploy you temporarily to other duties than the ones you were hired for, if the needs of the employer make that necessary or desirable.

In general, if an employer uses such a term to move you to obviously inappropriate, unsuitable, unpleasant duties in a way that seemed vindictive, you'd argue that you had been constructively dismissed and that this was unfair and, in the absence of some pretty striking facts, you would have an excellent chance of winning.

However you've already given notice, so you can hardly complain about constructive dismissal.

Conspicuously missing from your OP is any account of why the company has done this, or why they say they have. Or of whether other people who have given notice in positions like yours have had similar treatment. Or even of why you think they have done this.

You ask "Surely I should be moved to an equally qualified role with similar title for notice period duration?" This implies that you accept that they do have a good case to move you from your current position. Do you accept that? And, if so, what is that case?

If they do have a good reason to move you out of your current position, no, they are not obliged to find an equally qualified role, since there may be no such role currently vacant. They can put you in less qualified work for the duration of your notice period, or simply give you leave. They have to keep paying you, though, at the rate appropriate to the job you are appointed to, even if its higher than the rate for the job they have asked you to do.

Killarney2018

Thanks for your reply. The company has done this in the past when people resign. Essentially moving them out of their head office environment presumably to restrict access to any corporate information for the duration of your notice period.

Peregrinus

Well, there you go. You're not being singled out for victimisation, anyway. It would be more to the company's credit if, rather than have you shelf-stacking if they cannot make good use of your talents and qualifications, they just put you on gardening leave for the duration of your notice period. Still, their failure do that can't, I think, give you much of a cause of action against them. Even if you take the view that it's a calculated insult and you are entitled to regard yourself as dismissed by them, and not turn up to work, the only damages you could recover would be your wages for the period of your notice (assuming they refused to pay you).

Triangle

Previous employer tried to do this to my brother after redundancy was taken.
He refused and said he was hired for a role and to put him in a manual role was not helping his career and was in fact damaging to it.
They quickly rolled back as there was a case against them.