Being told my job description was changed after I joined

[tilyougetenough]

I work in the public sector. I am at pay level X.

I am being asked to do more and more at pay level Y. Pay level Y is higher than mine.

It’s getting to the that more of my working week is being spent picking up these responsibilities than doing my own work, and it’s starting to become a lot. I have been told that my job description was amended to say that I’d pick up these responsibilities when required, but that there was a consideration that after a period of time, I’d be moved up a pay level.

It’s not happening, I’ve been waiting for months for the confirmation and I’m being told it’s not progressing very fast. AIBU to join a union regarding this because I just feel exhausted each day. The actual pay difference isn’t much, but the higher pay level comes with the opportunity for your pay to progress, quite substantially, when you’ve been there for a certain period of time. I’m missing out on that at the moment and I feel a bit burnt out.

I think OP doesn’t really understand how unions work or operate.

Cheeky Fuckery of the highest order! You can't really be this stupid, surely?

You join it before you need it, when you start the employment.

You actually want an employment lawyer, not a union.

A union you pay subs to and they are there if you need them. You can just pay the subs for the month you need them and never again, it’s like an insurance policy.

If you want to pay for one off advice about a situation, this is what employment lawyers do.

Unions are there to help their members. Often what they do for their members benefit everybody in the organisation regardness of if they are a member or not. They rely on the small subs they charge you every month to run a union at all, and to help members who need it.

I work in the public sector too. Over the last 6 years, Unite has fought hard for us to remove the lowest pay grade entirely, and significantly improve the pay offer for the remaining bottom two grades who were worst affected by years of below inflation annual pay increases. They fought our employer against lacklustre efforts to protect us during the pandemic and got much improved working conditions for all employees. They fight for annual pay increases in line with inflation. They fight for our rights as employees. All local government employees would be much worse off financially and in terms of our contracts and employment rights without our union.

I pay something like £7 a month for my union membership (granted I'm part time and low on the pay scale). They have helped me when I had an issue with my line manager. My colleague has been put on a performance improvement plan and he has had a LOT of help from them - basically got the whole thing against him dropped. They will fight for their members but you in turn need to support them with regular membership in order for them to be able to do their work.

My union won't help with individual issues within the first 3 months of joining, and I wouldn't be surprised if they refused pre-existing situations. If you joined just for the help and left immediately how much help do you honestly think you deserve for the grand old sum of £21? How much help do you think the union could afford to give you for £21?

Join the union or don't join the union I don't care, but for goodness sake don't join for just as long as you think you can milk their services for your individual situation. That's NOT the deal, the same way as insurance works. You don't drive without insurance then take out insurance only once you've crashed your car and cancel it again once they've paid out. It's the same deal with the union.

I think everybody should join a union. I think they are very important things. I think nobody should expect help from a union who they don't want to pay into.

Its like wanting to claim on an insurance policy you bought today for an accident last week.

Not remotely similar - car insurance is a legal obligation.

It’s not pay as you go…

You wouldn’t break down in your car and then expect the AA to come and fix it for nothing cos you joined that day…

You can absolutely break down and then join the AA and ask for assistance in the same breath.

Where is this ignorance coming from?

You don't join a union with an issue and expect them to represent you. That's not how unions work.

They will charge you for that privilege. My SIL learned that the hard way!

The principal is the same- you can’t claim on insurance if you didn’t have it at the time of an incident, and you can’t claim help from a union if you were not a member at the time of the event.

Not saying they won't - but it's objectively false to say you can't join on the same day as a breakdown. I think wrong information should be corrected!

Nor do lots of people these days. I remember explaining to a colleague that people who go on strike don't get paid.

What pp means is that you can’t join on the same day and then have that call out covered by your new policy. You can join, but you will also have to pay for them to come out to your breakdown.

House contents insurance, then.

So then they should say that. Come on, it's bad advice to suggest that if you breakdown with no cover that no one will touch you or come to your aid.

Yes, fair play, I agree with that.

For what it's worth I was unionised for two decades and my dad was a branch secretary! I do know how it works.

This. With bells on.
op - a union isn’t just there once you have a problem.

we are not helping you with a pre-existing problem.

Well, I think it's been abundantly clear that unions are not healthy organisations to join looking at how members attack OP for no reason whatsoever.
@Irridescence I think you need to have a long hard look at yourself and maybe get some anger management courses. Nowhere did Op say her job is low paid and I am not entirely sure what it is she is going to get "found out and sacked" for...

OP, I would get a copy of your contract and your job description and give ACAS a call. Their helpline is extremely useful and friendly. Depending on whether your "therapeutic" setting is private or public, pay grades could be more or less blurred. Hopefully you'll get more support and a plan of action with ACAS

You join a union for the long term in case you need assistance in the future.
You don’t join because you have an existing issue. The union won’t help with that.
It’s like taking out insurance after your house has been burgled and expecting them to pay out.

They do help.

But most don't for ongoing issues.

That's why it's worth being a member.

So I there is issues you have help.

You seem quite entitled and are very welcome to quit or join whenever you want. But might find when you need help you don't have the help, because you weren't a member before any issues started.

Sure, but they'll charge you appropriately for the call out.

The point of a union is for members to mutually support each other.

If you only join when you need support then immediately leave you're taking advantage of people who are members all the time.

I think you're being a bit too much of a pedant. Most people understand the gist of the posts making a comparison with car insurance or a break down policy.