Change of role - advice on options

sghughes42 · 26 March 2007 at 6:06PM

I've been told 'unofficially' that my role at work may be changed in the near future. I am employed as an electronic designer and most of my work is R&D. However, the MD has now decided our company will no longer be doing any development after the current project is complete. This of course means I will have very little to do. Now, another senior manager (who is not overly fond of me - they do not trust me although they don't trust anyone and always assume the worst) has suggested I could take over their role on health and safety and auditing. This is *not* something I have any desire to do as I would get bored within hours of starting. (Not to mention I wouldn't have needed to spend several years obtaining two electronics degrees to shuffle paper and that I have no H&S or auditing training)

Does this sound to people like I would be able to claim redundancy? While I enjoy my current role, the dynamic of the company has changed since this new manager came in so I no longer feel welcome or valued. I reckon I could get a new job fairly quickly so unless the ideal job comes along beforehand I'd be happy to wait until this change happened but of course if I had no choice but to accept then I would be looking a lot harder for another position, while if I could take the redundancy (for 8-9 years of service, depending how soon it happens) then I could manage for 3-4 months easily without a job and there is therefore less pressure to take something.

I do wonder what our customers would think if we told them that we had no intentions of continuing developing or actively supporting a product we are only just bringing to market but that is another area completely...

Thanks for any advice!

Oldernotwiser · 26 March 2007 at 10:52PM

I'd get jobhunting straight away while you're able to do it from a position of strength. Your skills may get out of date if you take this new role and it always looks better to go straight from one job to another, no matter how attractive redundancy sounds. I doubt that you'd get it anyway as you've been offered a new role elsewhere in the company. I think that they may be encouraging you to leave so I'd jump before I was pushed!

studentphil · 26 March 2007 at 11:42PM

You do not want to get side lined into an area where you don't want to be.

What about moving to this new job and then looking for a job at another firm?

regularsaver1 · 27 March 2007 at 12:05AM

They can offer you an alternative job, but at the same level, and no change to your money

Happened to me

studentphil · 27 March 2007 at 12:10AM

The thing is I know people who have got redeployed to H and S and it is always proved a dead end for them and that is even with H and S exams paid for by their work.

UKTigerlily · 27 March 2007 at 12:19AM

omg phil is helping someone, yay phil!

inmypocketnottheirs · 27 March 2007 at 12:30AM

UKTigerlily wrote: »

omg phil is helping someone, yay phil!

Have you checked his 'thanks' count?

ohreally · 27 March 2007 at 12:39AM

Health & Saftey may appear boiring and mundane however it is very much "in vogue" at the moment and there is much to both learn and put into practice.Regulations covering the managment of H&S are very wide ranging and can potentialy bring enormous scope and oppertunity.Gather more intelligence before dismissing the idea.

You may get some ideas here http://www.healthandsafetytips.co.uk/forums/index.php

sghughes42 · 27 March 2007 at 9:56PM

While I am keeping an eye out for other jobs, I also want to be clued up as to what is the best approach should I have not found anything suitable once this happens. I don't want to just jump for the first thing that comes along, at least not until I have to, so I really need to know if I would be forced to take another position offered or if I would have reasonable grounds for claiming redundancy. Are the only criteria the conditions and you ability to do the job, or can you argue that it is not something you would choose to do based on your skills? The only official line I can find is that the job must be 'suitable' but without any real definition as to what suitability is...

Regarding H&S, I would not want to do it at my current place of work anyway as it is not taken seriously by management and I would just end up being a scapegoat. If the HSE and our insurers actually took a proper look at the place it would be closed down with immediate effect but we are 'lucky' that they don't. I have no desire to put myself in a position of responsibility for something I know there are major failings in, especially when it would simply be to cover the back of another manager who got bored of doing H&S work. If I thought there was any chance of it being taken seriously I would consider taking the task on, but I know there isn't.

LittleVoice · 27 March 2007 at 10:13PM

If your job is no longer required, then you are in a redundancy situation because the job doesn't exist any more.

If another job (eg H&S) is offered then, in your case, it is a different job. If you want, you can accept it on the basis that if it doesn't work out/you don't want to continue with it, you are still in a redundancy situation from your current job and therefore would qualify for redundancy pay.

Andy_L · 28 March 2007 at 11:10AM

LittleVoice wrote: »

If your job is no longer required, then you are in a redundancy situation because the job doesn't exist any more.

If another job (eg H&S) is offered then, in your case, it is a different job. If you want, you can accept it on the basis that if it doesn't work out/you don't want to continue with it, you are still in a redundancy situation from your current job and therefore would qualify for redundancy pay.

Depends on what your contract says - mine (theoretically) obliges me to go anywhere and do anything, although if it's a totally unrelated job I could go down the constructive dismissal route

Change of role - advice on options

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