Working above pay grade

[Sarcelle]

I am doing some preparation for something that I think may be happening judging from hints made.

There are a few colleagues where I work who are classed as senior management in my team. I and my immediate colleagues are one step up from an admin person. In simple terms I am a Grade 4, they are a 7. I know that is meaningless but it shows the gap between grades. In monetary terms they earn almost double what I do.

They seem to be trying to offload some of the more tedious parts of their roles. (Not admin type stuff, but stuff they don't want to do, and which we are paid to do under contracts by organisation.) I, nor my colleagues are trained in the area, but I expect that would be arranged.

I doubt very much my pay would go up. And in all honesty, I don't want to do it as it involves travelling around the country. As I am mainly office based I do not want to work off site for long periods, particularly if we are not being paid accordingly. Although I like learning new things and am engaged at work, I am no longer ambitious and do not want my work to impact on my home life, which it would do if I was working around the country. As I did not apply for a "travelling" role I would be massively resentful that my job had changed so dramatically.

Is there any employment law I can point to that deflects this. Surely it cannot be right that roles that were hitherto performed by much senior staff can be just added to other (junior) people's job descriptions?

I would be grateful if you could point me to any info that may cover that scenario.

Thanks in advance.

[peachypetite]

I would just talk to my manager to be honest.

[daisychain01]

Your current contract of employment is a good place to start, because if they intend to make a significant change to your current contract, they will need to be transparent about it, upfront, and not suddenly expect you to travel round the country if you have mainly been posted at a single site.

Check for the clause in your contract which states your normal site/location (where they expect you to show up for duty each day) and whether there is an additional phrase which could indicate their expectation that you visit other sites, and whether that's on an occasional basis.

If you believe you may be forced to travel around the country as a requirement of your role, then your manager has to consult with you about such a significant change to your contract, they can't just expect to dump on you and not seek your prior agreement.

If the actual job content isn't changing then it probably wouldn't justify a pay increase unless it's to compensate for the significant change - that's what you need to work through with your manager, and set their expectations if you aren't keen on the change.