Hi all,
I have a situation at work similar to boatyroo, who posted a couple of days ago in this forum. I will certainly heed the advice there and contact ACAS. I have read their website and other threads here and found them helpful, but would appreciate any thoughts you may have as I decide what my next move should be.
During my maternity leave, the head of my department left. My employer (a public body) decided to restructure my department, distributing both individuals and teams to other departments. Only the team I lead remains as a stand-alone group in the ashes of what was a thriving 30-person department. I have lost several direct and indirect reports and with them, a significant piece of my former role.
The Head of Department will not be replaced. Instead, they are recruiting someone on a short term contract to whom I would report. The job description for that role overlaps my own. This new person will line manage only myself, which is strange, since it is a senior role at the same grade as the previous Head, who managed 6 other senior managers.
Management and HR are claiming that the “terms and conditions” of my role and those of my team will remain unchanged. According to them, the only thing changing is reporting lines. This is obviously not the case and many of my colleagues are upset.
While my employer gave us the opportunity to feedback on the proposed changes, this process was largely a sham, as none of our constructive feedback was taken on board. To prepare my feedback, I came in for a few days from maternity leave, spoke to each member of my team and put forward some very sensible changes to their restructuring plan. Noting that the key responsibilities in my job description were being devolved to other managers or the new contract role, I proposed they make me redundant. My request was rejected.
The last communication came from management stating that they do not believe this to be a redundancy situation. So the ball in in my court now and I need to decide how to respond. Certainly I feel there are grounds for redundancy or constructive dismissal. Can anyone suggest what steps are likely to lead to the best result? I’m obviously not keen to go back under these circumstances. I spent 3 long years (and far too much time away from DD1) building the team which is now being dismantled.
Thanks!