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Original poster

Effective demotion and pay cut - how can this be fair?!

16 replies

pixietinkdust · 09/05/2021 16:04

I work in Financial Services and have worked for my employer 4.5 years now. Ever since I started I have had a “two hat role”, my main job which I do during office hours and am salaried/benchmarked against + an out of hours on call Duty Manager role. This has always been 1 in 4 weeks on a rota basis.

We are paid flat fee on call allowance + overtime. Over the 4+ years I’ve been with my company I have done A LOT of extra hours work - this means the average wage increase is £10k a year extra (last 2 years it’s actually amounted to £15k extra on top of basic salary)

Anyway, last Friday I was told by my boss that a decision has been made to remove me from this rota effective of immediately. Oh but could I still cover the bank holiday weekend (this was my normal week on call anyway) as everyone else had made other plans at this short notice - no consultation, no warning, no compensation offered. I was, I believe understandably, distraught. It was strongly reiterated this was in no way to do with my performance, for which I have always received very good reviews, but more to do with a restructure and them wanting me to have more time to give to my “day job”. The other 3 people on the rota will continue with the on call.

AIBU to be absolutely cheesed off that I have effectively been demoted and I’ve lost at least £10k a year from this decision without even so much as a heads up. I now feel extremely annoyed and totally undervalued and I actually verbalised the phrase “if I was in a position to leave right now, I would!” to my boss. Apparently HR know all about it and it’s totally legal. It may be legal but to me it feels totally morally wrong! I’ve had this extra money for 4 years now and this is a big loss.

Is this fair? Anyone any experience in this sort of scenario?

OP posts:

happytoday73 · 09/05/2021 16:38

Well that's rubbish isn't it. I'm not actually sure I agree it's OK to do that after so long.. but suppose it depends on your contract.. Am sure someone more in the know will be along soon.
However... if it stops with immediate effect I would not be covering the BH weekend. Its stopped.. They should have pulled you off this AFTER the BH weekend if they couldn't cover you..a decent HR dept would have told them that. .
What level are the 3 people left doing this? Are they more senior to you? Are they after more hours? Do they realise you will be off the rota? Are they really sticking at 3... One one holiday, one off sick and the last one could end up with lots to cover...
Honestly... Was it affecting your day job?
If your day job does need overtime are you going to get paid for it? Or is this cost cutting.
If not paid for it I wouldn't do it in this situation..and I'm a workaholic.. .do a good job in your hours but no more... Take up some hobbies... Upskill... Join linked in...

flowery · 09/05/2021 17:05

“Further to your recent proposal to change my terms and conditions of employment by removing me from the Duty Manager rota and thereby cutting my pay by £10,000 annually, I can confirm I do not give consent to the proposed change to my hours and pay. Any attempt to unilaterally remove me from the rota and to cut my pay without my consent will be a repudiatory breach of contract, entitling me to resign with immediate effect and bring a claim of constructive unfair dismissal.”

Original poster

pixietinkdust · 09/05/2021 17:47

So I know it was definitely written into my original contract but I have changed roles since then and I must say I didn’t check... I’ll do this tomorrow.

The three other remaining people are the same level as me, essentially our department split into 2 a little while ago and those 3 are on Side A and I am on Side B due to our day to day duties. They apparently now have more people on Side A who are sufficiently trained so the decision is that all should now come from Side A. It’s a little bit of a kick in the teeth and feels very much like “thanks for helping us out but we don’t need you anymore”. It wasn’t affecting my day job, they’re just using this as an excuse to make it sound like they now want to grow my day to day role. Yeh because I’m now really motivated to want to do more for this company!!

I think the response they would always come back with is that it’s not ‘guaranteed money’ as it’s on call + overtime rather than actually being an additional amount on my basic salary but when you’ve gotten used to having this money for 4 years it’s a lot to lose!

I’ve lost a lot of respect for my company thanks to this.

OP posts:

happytoday73 · 09/05/2021 18:17

Bump for you

Margaritatime · 10/05/2021 00:29

What was the process when they split you into Team A and Team B? Are the day job roles the same or different?

Noidea2114 · 10/05/2021 00:40

Are the remaining on call staff male or female?

flowery · 10/05/2021 20:03

”So I know it was definitely written into my original contract but I have changed roles since then and I must say I didn’t check... I’ll do this tomorrow.”

Doesn’t matter really. It was part of your terms and conditions from the beginning and whether it was written into a later contract or not doesn’t matter because in practice it continued.

And it is guaranteed money. As part of a rota you are essentially guaranteed a certain amount of hours, and in practice that has meant significant pay each year.

happytoday73 · 10/05/2021 20:05

Bump on the hope you get some HR advice

HasaDigaEebowai · 10/05/2021 20:17

She is getting HR advice from flowery

Overdueanamechange · 10/05/2021 20:26

They obviously don't value their staff. It'll be their loss in the end as your CV can now reference the Duty Manager role. If I were you I would start to put the feelers out on the basis that you are an experienced Duty Manager looking for a new role, whilst it it still fresh on your CV.

BlowDryRat · 10/05/2021 20:32

flowery has been giving HR advice on MN for years. Was on the MN secret Santa for it one year IIRC

Brokenpencilsarepointless · 10/05/2021 20:33

OP, you've been given a script to use from someone who knows what they're talking about. Read Flowery's comments and act on them.

Original poster

pixietinkdust · 11/05/2021 07:21

Thanks for all of your replies!

@Margaritatime we all have different day jobs, all management level under the ‘Service Management’ umbrella though

@Noidea2114 there were 2 males and 2 females (now 1 female). Sexism isn’t a problem at my company though so I highly doubt it’s that.

@happytoday73 thanks for your bumps, much appreciated

@flowery I’m glad you know what you’re talking about because I’m clueless!! Thanks so much. I have challenged this with my boss who has said that there is an ongoing conversation with HR about it. The change has already taken effect, there was no real opportunity to accept or decline because I was just told this was happening. I am removed from the rota and have been removed from the associated distribution lists etc already. How would you suggest I play this one?

@Overdueanamechange one step ahead

OP posts:

memost · 11/05/2021 09:51

@Overdueanamechange

Agree with this. Good staff are hard to find and should be hard to keep if you don't treat them well. Good luck in you job search!

Lettuceforlunch · 26/05/2021 22:28

At the very least there should be some form of shift pay rundown, surely?

Dee1975 · 27/05/2021 09:59

In what way was it written into your contract? Is it classed as overtime? Or part of your main salary and job duties? Does it say ‘you may’ be required to do the rota? (But not guaranteed).
If overtime I expect they also have a clause to say they can remove at any time in accordance with business needs. If it’s part of your main salary and responsibilities then that’s a different matter as they are in effect doing a major change in your contract.
It’s al in the wording of the contract.

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