To be livid with work- I’ve been moved dept and given pay cut

[TaylorNift]

With no notice -as of next week they want me gone

no improvement plan or disciplinaries (but new manager)

My family circumstances (4 kids) have been challenging the last year which they’ve been accommodating with - they’ve said a move would be better for them/me as I have have children and the hours their will better support my needs.

I do NOT want to work there. I’m shaking and so angry the way this was done. I was completely side swiped.
can anyone advise?

They can't force you to move role and take a pay cut. They are offering you a new job and you can accept it or not. I would reject their offer.

If they are restructuring, I suspect the reason could be that you are expensive. 20 years in the house, that's a large redundancy payout, particularly if they are going above the statutory minimum (which is often the case for large companies). In comparison your 18 months colleague would get little to nothing.

this must be very shocking and upsetting for you. Potential sex discrimination at play, penalising a woman for child care responsibilities

Sorry, no useful advice. Sounds like a really stressful situation. Just wondering how long your new manager has been in their role? Could the people they’re bringing in be friends or members of their previous team?

He’s been there for 2 months

Not members of his previous team.

What would happen if you said you were not ok with a pay cut, and as this is the first time it has been brought to your attention, you would like to be allowed to remedy the situation rather than leave the role?

Does sound though that you may have been aware that you’ve not been performing at your best, as you indicate in your post that things have been difficult, but that they’ve been accommodating. Maybe the new role will be better for you? Although I would take advice on the salary issue.

Bad advice.

Underperformance, if there has been any, should have been picked up on and managed by HR and the OP's management, with a performance plan in place and regular reviews.

If Ops had raised this with HR before initiating action you would have been advising them on the best legal course of action to achieve the desired outcome. You wouldn't have been cheerleading for the employee, would you? So yes, HR works for the company's interests and not the individual employee's.

Employees need to have reasonable expectations of what happens when they go to HR. They're not going to find a sympathetic ear to defend their corner. They're going to find someone looking out for the reputation of the business and trying to minimize potential damages.

Well we don’t know if that hasn’t been the case? A bit contradictory in OPs posts - on one hand saying work have been accommodating with issues, which suggests there may have been discussions, and then saying she isn’t aware that there have been problems. I suspect a lot hasn’t been shared on the post which doesn’t allow us to give appropriate advice really.

She doesn't mention anything as specific as being on a performance plan though.
' being accommodating with issues' could easily just mean they haven't bollocked her if e.g. she's had to leave early or take time off at short notice.

you need to get assertive and stand up to them.

this is an employee that has not been performing to a satisfactory level.

Because she has been there so long, they are throwing her a lifeline

if she rejects, they will begin formal process of firing her

They're not throwing her a lifeline, they're pulling the rug out from under her. She says there's been 'no improvement plan or disciplinaries' until now ie no chances for her to improve things.

we shall see

as i’d wager if she refuses this offer
a formal process will commence that will see her out within 6 months

They don't sound like they know how to implement a formal process. Although maybe if it comes to it they will.
But she has recourse at the moment, I think, given how badly they've managed things so far.

A “huge” national company
that have been around for decades
they won’t be messing anything up

my advice… op you e been there two decades! surely you be es network of contacts within the business you can chat to about this and find out more about what’s going on?

either way… as i say up thread , tread carefully because i think they’ve had enough and want you out

They already have messed up, if they haven't put her on an improvement plan or anything and won't provide written documentation about this proposal.

They're banking on the OP not knowing she has recourse or not daring to argue with them/demand due process.

I really don't think chatting with contacts is going to help the OP. She needs ACAS and/or legal advice. IME companies tend to start toeing the line if you make noises about lawyers.

This.
I have not had any one to ones. I have not been put on any kind of performance plans or had any disciplinaries.

i have had time off when I’ve had to cover for care for my dc which I’ve converted to annual leave.

as i say, we shall see

i think this is the offer because the op has been there for so long

but if she rejects… then formal processes kick in

Thanks for explaining my job to me. I suspect from your comments that you don’t work in HR so clearly you know more about how HR works than I do. Hmmm.

I’ll say it again because it obviously didn’t sink in last time. The rights of the employee go hand in hand with protecting the interests of the organisation. While she won’t find someone gushing sympathy (because we have to investigate and can’t take sides) she will find that the HR team will look into and ensure she isn’t being denied her legal rights.

If OPs manager had gone to HR first, they would have been advised of an appropriate course of action to RESOLVE issues while not breaching employment legislation. That’s always the desired outcome. Not whatever outcome the manager wants. In the case of an underperforming staff member the appropriate course of action is support for the staff member to help them improve their performance, not just shift them to another team and dock their pay.

Just so you know, managers are often problems for HR too. If a new manager (or even an existing manager) came in and said a long term staff member with an otherwise good record was underperforming, we would be looking at the manager here too. We wouldn’t just take their word for it because working in HR, we know people can be arseholes and often have ulterior motives, again which puts the company at risk.

A “huge” national company
that have been around for decades
they won’t be messing anything up

hahahahaha

I assume you are new to the world of work?

we shall see 🤷

So what is your next move, OP? Have you talked to ACAS? A lawyer?

So you keep saying.

Wrt the leave this doesn’t strike me as unusual. This won’t be an uncommon scenario in a large organisation. Kids get sick: Life happens.

We are a bit ahead of the game on this as our staff can have up to x amount of days per year for emergencies relating to caring duties (and I believe this is on Labour’s agenda for strengthening employee rights). First day of each occasion is paid emergency leave and then the employee uses annual leave or unpaid leave to cover the rest of their absence.

Very poor that you’ve had no one to ones. Feedback on performance should be regular and ongoing. Monthly should be the minimum (not a legal requirement, just good practice).

Hope HR get back to you soon x

I am going to go over my contract and contact ACAS

that was yesterday morning

did you op?