Relocation of work base issues

[PookieDo]

Hi please bear with me while I try to explain and I would so appreciate some advice.

I have been in a role for about 6 months. It's very similar to other roles in the past I have had, senior admin but I do not manage any staff.

Early this year 2 things happened: I was offered and signed up onto a 2 year training course and at the same time, a restructure began to happen.

My direct manager is included in the restructure and has assumed I am compliantly and happily moving base too. I have not at any point been asked by HR whether I want to go. I have approached them and asked where I stand and have had no response. My manager has not really listened to me when I have expressed concerns about moving apart from to promise to try to meet my needs (such as flexible working and working from home). I believe my manager will become difficult and obstructive to me choosing to stay at my current base in another role. Other slightly less senior team members feel they have a need for me here and are fighting for me to stay.

The base is 4x further than my current base from home. It also will involve a complete change of hours to travel and also involve extra expense of school transport and mileage. I'm also concerned about the flexibility not being written into my contract.

I'm more concerned that I have become an object who no one has consulted. I never ever would chiose to work in the new location as it's a horrible drive, will isolate me and will make my 2 year study and home life very difficult.

What course of action do I take? I feel like it's already decided despite no one consulting me!

Ah, that makes much more sense, public sector can be awful at this sort of stuff.

If you can, try to relax. Make your concerns known to the most senior HR and manager relevant and then wait. They are treating you poorly but I expect it's incompetence rather than any other agenda.

Update;

I got my meeting. It was informal but about my rights. My rights are that this by all rights needs a consultation because it borders on unreasonable distance (just about). But, here is the but, my manager has been speaking on my behalf and this has blurred all the lines. HR seem to be nervous about bringing this into the open and really addressing it because of backlash from manager. That's my impression.

Also to make it worse, they can't do the consultations for me because they cannot elicit the information from upper management as to whether my current post (let's call it A) is now obsolete or still required/slightly differing or whether post B (the relocation) is my only option.

They can't move me to B without establishing whether A is still required. They can't move me then employ someone new. I sit in budget A not budget B.

I said clearly I want to be able to choose. I want to know what the options are

So I am still waiting....

Hope you have had a resolution by now OP.

Your last post sounds more positive to what you would like the outcome to be.

It sounds like HR now need to speak to the managers remaining at budget A site and see if they would need to replace you if you were moved to budget B or whether the work you do for them now could be absorbed by admin and they then save the spendature.

Is the work you do for them minus moving with the more senior boss enough work to be a full time role, can you think of other things you could absorb to make it one?

As someone up thread said you could utilise early morning childcare and offer a flexible approach to the move.

If they are open to flexible working make sure you have that in writing.

Hope it all works out well.

OP, you have my sympathies. It makes perfect sense to choose a job based on location. I don't have any expert advice (other than my non-expert advice to join a union ASAP if not already and to remember that HR work for the company, not you. If there is real breaking of rules / wrongdoing they will help but they are not there to get you the best deal).

I really came on to say to try to get your flexible working plan agreed formally. I am also public sector. I had an informal flexible working plan in place for years. New manager came in and effectively tore it up. Was more of a hassle as I had not formalised the original plan. Had to reallly, get union support, etc. There is nothing to stop the company reviewing it anyway as the business changes but IME companies take you more seriously if you have formalised it.

Sorry OP, sounds like a shit situation .

reapply, not realllly!

I came on here to say the same as Stressy, if you get your flexible working arrangement formalised in a letter by HR, it sets a useful precedent that a new manager would find more difficult to just 'tear up and start again' in the future.