Changes to Duties

tyroneshoelaces

Hi,

I would really appreciate some guidance regarding a potential change to my duties.

Three years ago, I moved teams in my organisation. It was a sideways step but it was into a team that I knew would work better for me.

Anyhow, from the moment I joined the team, my employer failed to change my job description yet the job had changed considerably. I had moved from an administrative role, into a role that allowed me to provide low-level IT support. In a nutshell, my job changed by over 50%. It changed to the point where people came to me for assistance with IT problems.

After a few months, I built up a case and applied to have my job re-sized as I was carrying out tasks that were once undertaken by someone who was two levels above me. Anyhow, as part of my job resizing request, I was told that to prove that my job had changed I had to have a new job description written which seemed to make sense to me.

Anyhow, my request was turned down but I have now been given a Job Description that mirrors the new work that I do but does not reflect this in my pay. Our policies state that if a job changes by more than 30% then it should be considered for relevelling.

So, here I am today. My line manager has put a training schedule in place that is official and all part of my performance plan where the guy two levels above me, trains me up and passes a large number of tasks over to me. To add to this, I have also found out this week that another colleague in my team, also two levels above me has also been tasked with passing over tasks following a couple of months training.

To me this is all wrong. I am taking on additional responsibilities and tasks but management are choosing to ignore my queries and requests for a job resizing even though it is there in writing that I am taking on additional tasks and more work.

Would anyone have any advice as to where I can turn or what I can do. I work for a government organisation so they like to follow procedures to the letter...or at least they think they do!

Thanks

Ozzuk

What other people are paid is largely irrelevant as there could be reasons they get a different salary level (better negotiation position, more skills/experience etc).

Better to focus on the value of your role. Take a look for similar roles in the market, get together examples and meet with your manager to discuss. Do point out you aren't looking to change jobs, merely getting evidence to support your request. Show how much you contribute, include any examples of positive feedback etc, and how much you enjoy the challenge i.e. the usual 'pro-business' stuff...

tyroneshoelaces

Hi,

Thanks for the response. In all honesty, what others are paid is slightly relevant when it comes to my position. This is because I have moved from my previous role and into this new one which has changed beyond recognition yet they are refusing to change my job title and acknowledge that I am doing a different role that includes high-level tasks.

Unfortunately, my role was created from nothing and it has not been clearly defined so it is difficult for me to compare it to other jobs in the market.

I provide a huge amount of IT support
I am in control of making IT purchases that run into tens of thousands of pounds
I maintain our back-up system which involves ensuring the safety of our data and taking it off-site ( we are an organisation that handles hundreds of millions each year, so we have some significant confidential information)
staff call on me when they have issues

I am essentially taking on this current work for no extra money which involved a completely new job description which changed considerably and now my manager wants to train me up to take on even more tasks that were part of the job of someone two levels above me.

I am just a little stuck and don't really know where to turn!

We have pay levels and so, people know that there is nobody else doing the same job as them on more money. It provides consistency and equality which is good but when it comes to situations like mine they seem so stubborn to listen or move!

ohreally

You won't be the first individual to request a job evaluation exercise then regret it.

What elements of your role have significantly changed, HR responsibility, budget management, managing contentious situations?

I think you need to be careful here.

tyroneshoelaces

I won't regret it, quite a few have been resized here and it really is a case of "if you don't ask you don't get"

Well my previous role was such a poor role that it consisted of merely arranging meetings and such. It was a bit of a dogs body role.

This new job has put me in a position of handling budgets and making purchases.

Having access to every IT system which in itself is a significant responsibility

I am dealing with IT problems as and when the arise and I help to maintain the systems and network.

I am the main support during certain periods and that means that people rely on me to some degree.

It is all very strange but the fact is, my manager wants to dump new tasks on me that were never part of the role in the first place. This is why I find it all very strange and hard to explain!

TBagpuss

Its the same as with other pay rise requests, you need to convince the employer that it is reasonable for you to have a pay rise.

Being ableto point to specifcs is useful - for instance, if you can identify that you are doing x,y, and z which are tasks normally done by people in roles classed as being in a higher level than yours, then that is a useful comparison to be making.

The fact that the stuff you are doing is different to your previous role isn't necessarily a reason to change your pay, you ned to satisythem tat you are working on things which have a higher value to the organisation or a higher level of personal responsibility/liability.

It may be that you need to record your time soyou can show wat proportion of your time is spent on those taks.

But ultimately if they don't want to give you a pay rise they don't have to, and if you feel you are being underpaid for your role then you can of course apply for better paid jobs elsewhere.

tyroneshoelaces

Hi thanks for that reply. I do like the idea of proving that I am doing something that is of use to the organisation.

As you say, if they don't want to give me a pay rise then they simply do not have to but from day one, the work that I was given was of a higher level than my previous role.

getmore4less

Although the general rule is look after No.1 don't lose sight of the bigger picture.

I would be thinking about why they are doing this.

When these two people have offloaded a load of their work to you what's left for them to do?

Might there be a opportunity to merge their jobs or move them on...

if they don't show they value you in a reasonable timescale all this extra training and experience will make getting a new job easier.

tyroneshoelaces

In all honesty, we have found out this week that our organisation is going to become bigger so I don't think they are intentionally taking the work off them. In fact, they are taking the work off them yet they are having their jobs resized, although to be fair they too have taken on more work.

I just want to know where I stand in terms of turning this work down. It is extra work and falls currently with people who are a couple of grades above me and so I think it is unfair.

theoretica

What does the union say about this? If you aren't a member, I suggest you think very seriously about joining.

As this is a government organisation, it probably has very clear criteria for the different grades. Just adding more tasks won't merit a regrading. If the types of tasks and responsibility levels cross a threshold then it might. Have you read the job descriptions of the higher grades and compared them to your new one?