Job changing beyond my skills-constructive dismissal?

R.j.Belcher

Just wondering if anybody has experience of this? Been working for my employer for 12 years, job title very generic one of field service engineer. I was employed to repair printers, copiers and sometimes PC's/laptops, and I am good at this. New boss wants us to do other things like general IT support/helpdesk in schools for another department to cover holiday etc. I hate doing this, don't have the skill set for it and find so much of it beyond my skills. We have been given some online courses but I just can not understand it. At no point have we been asked if we are ok with this. Would love to be made redundant and perhaps semi retire. 
Question is if I can just not do the work they ask me in terms of skills can they find a way of sacking me after going through the motions of warnings etc? If so I am thinking i would have a good constructive dismissal case?

thanks for any comments
Rob

krusty101

If they dismissal you it’s a straightforward dismissal. Constructive is when you resign. 

getmore4less

Why not ask to be put in the other department and get mentored in the required skill set?

MalMonroe

R.j.Belcher said:

Just wondering if anybody has experience of this? Been working for my employer for 12 years, job title very generic one of field service engineer. I was employed to repair printers, copiers and sometimes PC's/laptops, and I am good at this. New boss wants us to do other things like general IT support/helpdesk in schools for another department to cover holiday etc. I hate doing this, don't have the skill set for it and find so much of it beyond my skills. We have been given some online courses but I just can not understand it. At no point have we been asked if we are ok with this. Would love to be made redundant and perhaps semi retire. 
Question is if I can just not do the work they ask me in terms of skills can they find a way of sacking me after going through the motions of warnings etc? If so I am thinking i would have a good constructive dismissal case?

thanks for any comments
Rob

Why not ask to have a word with your new boss and explain things as you have done here? If your job is changing, then you should be able to have some input. Sounds like the new boss wants to save some money by asking you to do online courses but they do not suit everyone. I'd prefer to have a real person teaching me, for example. 

If all else fails, you could contact Acas, who are specialists in this kind of thing. Link here -

https://www.acas.org.uk/contact

MalMonroe

krusty101 said:

If they dismissal you it’s a straightforward dismissal. Constructive is when you resign. 

Yes and that's exactly the hypothetical scenario the OP is asking about. 

Savvy_Sue

R.j.Belcher said:

Just wondering if anybody has experience of this? Been working for my employer for 12 years, job title very generic one of field service engineer. I was employed to repair printers, copiers and sometimes PC's/laptops, and I am good at this. New boss wants us to do other things like general IT support/helpdesk in schools for another department to cover holiday etc. I hate doing this, don't have the skill set for it and find so much of it beyond my skills. We have been given some online courses but I just can not understand it. At no point have we been asked if we are ok with this. Would love to be made redundant and perhaps semi retire. 
Question is if I can just not do the work they ask me in terms of skills can they find a way of sacking me after going through the motions of warnings etc? If so I am thinking i would have a good constructive dismissal case?

Your job is not redundant: it's changing, but you're still needed. I don't see a case for redundancy, unless there's not enough of your job left - but it sounds as if you are generally doing your normal work, and only covering helpdesk when another team is short. 

And I don't think you have a hope of constructive dismissal - you're talking about being fired if you can't do the job. 

MalMonroe said:

krusty101 said:

If they dismissal you it’s a straightforward dismissal. Constructive is when you resign. 

Yes and that's exactly the hypothetical scenario the OP is asking about. 

I think he's asking what happens if he just fails in the new aspects of his job and is fired, which is not constructive dismissal. 

I agree with Mal's earlier post: speak to your new boss. It's possible that other members of your team love the helpdesk aspect of the work, maybe you can get an agreement to stay at what you're good at. 

But what you have to remember is that the new boss has a job to do: he has to provide a range of services, and you are part of the means he has at his disposal to do so. If he is struggling to cover the helpdesk when some people are on holiday, then he does have to look at how he can meet that need. 

Now you're talking about semi-retirement, so clearly you're not in the first flush of youth. You are, perhaps, set in your ways and don't readily embrace change, or learning new skills. But you might get on better if you 'show willing', explain how you're struggling with the new work and feel that others are better able to meet that need, and do your best not to communicate "grumpy old man" to the new boss - "really competent engineer, nothing he can't fix, not so good on the helpdesk" is a better look. 

Thrugelmir

R.j.Belcher said:

Would love to be made redundant and perhaps semi retire. 

Approach the matter in a constructive manner. What if you were to reduce your hours while continuing to perform your existing role. By freeing up resource your employer can provide the service the clients expect and you continue to deal with your area of expertise. 

onylon

Unfortunately it's a really unpopular role so its not unusual for managers to advertise for engineering roles and then bait and switch people onto the service desk. If your company are redeploying people then you won't be the only one who is unhappy.

I have always managed to wriggle out of desktop support by making myself very useful and very busy. In your position I would be quietly looking to pick up work that the rest of my team couldn't or wouldn't do and learning on the job. It's better to choose a path for yourself than to sit back and wait for your manager to choose for you.