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change of duties without being told

16 replies

Fluffyunicorn1 · 11/07/2024 14:12

The company i work for was bought out this time last year by a larger company. We now fall under their umbrella along with the other companies they have bought. when they did TUPE contracts, there was a few members of staff in a couple of departments that had meetings to discuss their contracts and other potential job roles within the business that would be available as there was no longer a need for their role. I wasn't one of those people as i was told that my role wouldn't change.

fast forward a few months and i have now lost 90% of my job role. I have discussed this with our director and his reply was "i didn't see your role changing, well have to look at what you did before and try and base something around that". I haven't heard anything since.

does anybody know where i stand with this? 90% of my responsibilities have now gone and i am concerned that i don't actually have enough work with whats left to fulfill a full time position. I would be lucky for it to fill 1 day per week. I am not sure who i would go to for advice apart from ACAS or HR, but HR don't seem to be very helpful.

would anyone be able to help me with first steps on how to bring this up again?

thanks

OP posts:
maxelly · 11/07/2024 14:31

I guess it depends, what would your ideal outcome be (assuming getting the work you did before back isn't possible)? Do you want a redundancy payout, a different job in the company, a different job not in this company or to coast quietly doing not very much as long as possible (this is obviously risky but surprisingly possible for a long time in some companies).

If what you really want is redundancy money I think I would be documenting clearly the aspects of your role that no longer are required and what % of your job description no longer exists and why (e.g. task A no longer required, system B replaced by system managed by another team, task C now done by other team), then I'd have an honest conversation with your director using that evidence, making it clear you aren't annoyed/about to stick in a huge grievance about being 'left off' the previous round of redundancy conversations (even if you are a bit annoyed in reality) because this will probably be a distraction, and say something like 'look, it really looks here as though when the merger happened my role should have been included in the redundancy consultation/discussions at that time, but we didn't know how things would play out, can we speak to HR about how we correct this process, I'd be happy to explore voluntary redundancy options if that makes the process easier' or something like that. You have to play this one carefully because some managers/companies will happily continue to employ someone and pay them their salary in exchange for very little work, rather than going through what they perceive as massive hassle and expense to do redundancy, I think that's mad personally particularly if the person actively wants to go but that's how some people think, so you delicately need to suggest redundancy is the easiest option for him, if that's what you want of course.

If what you want is to stay in the company then it might be a bit different, if you have one of those broad generic job descriptions I'd use that as an opportunity to try and broaden your scope, get involved in whatever other projects you can, get yourself out there a bit, maybe see if anyone in the wider team or organisation is up for coffee chats and give you a bit of mentoring, they may have roles open or can give you some work to do. Apply for other jobs if they are advertised internally too, in a weird way it might actually work in your favour to not have been branded with the 'at risk of redundancy' label, in theory if you are going to be made redundant you should be treated with priority for any suitable alternative roles in the company but a lot of managers really try and avoid taking redeployment candidates if they can, somehow thinking they're not good performers or something, most unfair but how it is sometimes.

Or you can just give this one up as a bad job and brush off your CV and get going looking for other jobs ASAP, use your free time to study up on whatever might make your CV more attractive (online courses or whatever) - you could do this in conjunction with either of the above options?

Fluffyunicorn1 · 11/07/2024 15:07

maxelly · 11/07/2024 14:31

I guess it depends, what would your ideal outcome be (assuming getting the work you did before back isn't possible)? Do you want a redundancy payout, a different job in the company, a different job not in this company or to coast quietly doing not very much as long as possible (this is obviously risky but surprisingly possible for a long time in some companies).

If what you really want is redundancy money I think I would be documenting clearly the aspects of your role that no longer are required and what % of your job description no longer exists and why (e.g. task A no longer required, system B replaced by system managed by another team, task C now done by other team), then I'd have an honest conversation with your director using that evidence, making it clear you aren't annoyed/about to stick in a huge grievance about being 'left off' the previous round of redundancy conversations (even if you are a bit annoyed in reality) because this will probably be a distraction, and say something like 'look, it really looks here as though when the merger happened my role should have been included in the redundancy consultation/discussions at that time, but we didn't know how things would play out, can we speak to HR about how we correct this process, I'd be happy to explore voluntary redundancy options if that makes the process easier' or something like that. You have to play this one carefully because some managers/companies will happily continue to employ someone and pay them their salary in exchange for very little work, rather than going through what they perceive as massive hassle and expense to do redundancy, I think that's mad personally particularly if the person actively wants to go but that's how some people think, so you delicately need to suggest redundancy is the easiest option for him, if that's what you want of course.

If what you want is to stay in the company then it might be a bit different, if you have one of those broad generic job descriptions I'd use that as an opportunity to try and broaden your scope, get involved in whatever other projects you can, get yourself out there a bit, maybe see if anyone in the wider team or organisation is up for coffee chats and give you a bit of mentoring, they may have roles open or can give you some work to do. Apply for other jobs if they are advertised internally too, in a weird way it might actually work in your favour to not have been branded with the 'at risk of redundancy' label, in theory if you are going to be made redundant you should be treated with priority for any suitable alternative roles in the company but a lot of managers really try and avoid taking redeployment candidates if they can, somehow thinking they're not good performers or something, most unfair but how it is sometimes.

Or you can just give this one up as a bad job and brush off your CV and get going looking for other jobs ASAP, use your free time to study up on whatever might make your CV more attractive (online courses or whatever) - you could do this in conjunction with either of the above options?

hi. Thanks for replying.

There was never any redundancy conversations. People were basically told these are the options you've got for other roles in other departments, pick one.

I can still do the role i had under the larger group but not for the company i currently work for but the director seems reluctant to do that.

I guess i'm just really disapointed that I have trained hard and gained alot of knowledge in what i used to do for 4 years and now been given a much lesser role with no responsibility. I think the issue i have mainly is that if i wanted to find the same role within another company (there is alot in my area) i need qualifications, which i don't have because i've built up the role rather than become qualified for it.

I think i'm just abt sad that all my hard work seems to have gone to waste

OP posts:
whichmag · 11/07/2024 15:41

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whichmag · 11/07/2024 15:42

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Fluffyunicorn1 · 11/07/2024 18:17

I’m haven’t had the new contract yet just a change of job role - apparently they are still doing the roles and responsibilities. The work definitely exists as people in the company are still asking me to do things that I was doing before but I don’t have any permissions to do so on the new system we have got.

I was originally told that I don’t need any meetings or anything because my job was staying exactly the same but I now have a change of job role, no permissions to do my old job, the company that has bought is don’t want to give any permissions and apparently me changing role to work for the company that has bought is rather than the business unit I currently work for isn’t an option.

OP posts:
thedesigner · 12/07/2024 06:29

so this change to the day to day of your job must be very recent if still discussing roles and responsibilities

so if all up in the air
now is the time to articulate yourself op

Fluffyunicorn1 · 12/07/2024 09:43

2 weeks ago I was told that my role wasn’t changing. Came in at n the Monday to a new system that nobody knew how to use and found out that I didn’t have permissions to do what I was doing before. Spoke to director who said he didn’t expect my role to change and would look at it. Yesterday gave me a new job title but no roles and responsibilities as these are still being figured out apparently

OP posts:
thedesigner · 12/07/2024 10:02

well i’d just wait to get proposals and the. address then if not happy

new system issues can be resolved unless they’ve confirmed that you permanently wont have access

thedesigner · 12/07/2024 10:03

what was job role before? and now?

InWithPeaceOutWithStress · 12/07/2024 10:19

I think you need to be patient, sounds like they have a lot going on. Request access to the systems again so you can do those tasks people are asking you to do.

Fluffyunicorn1 · 12/07/2024 11:27

i have been told that i won't get permissions. apparently the "group" as they call it (the company that's bought us) don't want to us to have access to it. I have already requested this. I don't want to say what the roles were as people i work with may be on here, but it was a higher role with a lot of responsibility and i now have a much lower job title with a lot less responsibility and also under a different manager.

I think the main issue is other people in the company whos jobs were changing had a meeting and options, even though they were limited. I was told i didn't need a meeting as my role was staying the same but obviously that has changed.

OP posts:
Eatstootsandleaves · 12/07/2024 12:41

It sounds like very early days. These situations — where one company is acquired by another — can take months to settle down and sort out. I wonder if the company that has taken over expects someone doing the responsible work you've been doing to have formal training and qualifications and that's why your job has changed — because you don't have the paperwork?

In your shoes, I'd concentrate on working out a way to get those qualifications because it sounds as if without them you're going to find it difficult to move on in your old line of work. What would HR say if you went to them and asked whether they would support you to do the training you need? If I only had work to fill one day a week and there was a way of studying at my desk while waiting for work to come in, I'd do that. When there's a lot of reorganisation going on there are often people in the position you're in — people whose exact role in the business has yet to be decided and who are left without a lot to do while everything is sorted out.

thedesigner · 12/07/2024 16:03

give it a bit of time op

huge change for the company

and still very much early days

Andthereitis · 15/07/2024 09:14

Who managed the tupe side of things? Can you speak to them?

Whatstheword21 · 15/07/2024 10:12

HR are never on the employees side so do not go to them. Speaking from experience - I’d be looking for new roles. Or if you want to stay, seek new opportunities internally. I don’t know what level you are at in the company but potentially speak to peers and see what could naturally fit into your role and set the motions to take this work on.

DecoratingDiva · 15/07/2024 11:05

In this situation HR is not your friend, they will be doing everything they can on the side of the company so if you want genuine advice about what your rights are you to ask an external agency such as your union (if you are in one) or Citizens Advice or ACAS.

If you have an EAP they will not be able to help you (they won’t give legal advice about your employment as they are funded by your employer) but you may be able to use legal advice offered via your home insurance (if you have this option).

It sounds like it is still very early in the transfer to the new company so things may still change but (having been on both sides of a TUPE several times) I’d say you will not be getting your old job back so any decision you make about what you want should be based on that assumption.

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