Hi.
Looking for some help on if I am being harshly treated by my employer.
The Director of my department at work called me from head office recently and informed me (along with a HR representative present there) that my job title was changing. I was told it was not a demotion and that pay and conditions and staff/reports would remain unchanged. They said there would be minor changes to the new position description (PD) and that they would send it through later that day and that I could comment on anything that had been missed. I was told the same position in another state was being made redundant (but they had not told that person yet) as they were adding extra duties to that position.
I was asked to communicate these changes to my staff/reports later that afternoon once they alerted me to do so (e.g. once the person in the other state being made redundant had been told). The director said that should I wish, that at any time she would provide me with a reference to apply for a new role referring to my role with the organisation as a State Manager role (my old title) rather than a Senior Executive Officer (the new title).
After receiving the PD I emailed HR saying I would have feedback. 3 hours later (before I had given them my feedback) the change was communicated to other staff and among other things it was mentioned “this is not a demotion”. After comparing the new PD to the old PD for my State Managers role I noticed that most/nearly all references and language that may have referred to this position as being “high end/status” had been removed from the PD. So words like Strategic, Planning, Organisation, Manage, Stakeholder relationships, etc, had been almost entirely removed. I feel that this has massively diminished the role, its responsibility, and its status, and is not the management position that I originally signed up for. This along with that fact they keep saying it’s not a demotion (which to me shows that is how it’s viewed by others in the organisation) indeed make this feel like a demotion.
I passed on my comments on the PD to HR/Director and asked that my title and PD remain unchanged until my role becomes vacant down the track, along with that I felt that I had not been consulted in this matter (merely that they had just communicated the change to me and others without giving me a chance to respond).
I had a meeting face to face with the Director and explained my issues with the change. She said they would look at it and I was told the title is unlikely to be able to revert to my old/current State Manager title, but they will look at my comments on the PD. She also asked if the changes were not reverted if I would remain in the role/organisation. And also asked if my manager had not spoken to me on the restructuring of my department. I replied that I had been told that there was restructuring in the State offices potentially happening but changes to my role were never mentioned. I have since been informed that my title/PD will remain as advised.
I feel like they are trying to push me out of the role/organisation with this change (I am also due for pro-rata'd long service leave in 12 months). And that if I stay it will affect my potential future employability in management roles and my ability to move up in management roles.
What can I do here? Is it within my employee rights to ask for a redundancy or if I was to leave, would it be constructive dismissal?
Thanks
Looking for some help on if I am being harshly treated by my employer.
The Director of my department at work called me from head office recently and informed me (along with a HR representative present there) that my job title was changing. I was told it was not a demotion and that pay and conditions and staff/reports would remain unchanged. They said there would be minor changes to the new position description (PD) and that they would send it through later that day and that I could comment on anything that had been missed. I was told the same position in another state was being made redundant (but they had not told that person yet) as they were adding extra duties to that position.
I was asked to communicate these changes to my staff/reports later that afternoon once they alerted me to do so (e.g. once the person in the other state being made redundant had been told). The director said that should I wish, that at any time she would provide me with a reference to apply for a new role referring to my role with the organisation as a State Manager role (my old title) rather than a Senior Executive Officer (the new title).
After receiving the PD I emailed HR saying I would have feedback. 3 hours later (before I had given them my feedback) the change was communicated to other staff and among other things it was mentioned “this is not a demotion”. After comparing the new PD to the old PD for my State Managers role I noticed that most/nearly all references and language that may have referred to this position as being “high end/status” had been removed from the PD. So words like Strategic, Planning, Organisation, Manage, Stakeholder relationships, etc, had been almost entirely removed. I feel that this has massively diminished the role, its responsibility, and its status, and is not the management position that I originally signed up for. This along with that fact they keep saying it’s not a demotion (which to me shows that is how it’s viewed by others in the organisation) indeed make this feel like a demotion.
I passed on my comments on the PD to HR/Director and asked that my title and PD remain unchanged until my role becomes vacant down the track, along with that I felt that I had not been consulted in this matter (merely that they had just communicated the change to me and others without giving me a chance to respond).
I had a meeting face to face with the Director and explained my issues with the change. She said they would look at it and I was told the title is unlikely to be able to revert to my old/current State Manager title, but they will look at my comments on the PD. She also asked if the changes were not reverted if I would remain in the role/organisation. And also asked if my manager had not spoken to me on the restructuring of my department. I replied that I had been told that there was restructuring in the State offices potentially happening but changes to my role were never mentioned. I have since been informed that my title/PD will remain as advised.
I feel like they are trying to push me out of the role/organisation with this change (I am also due for pro-rata'd long service leave in 12 months). And that if I stay it will affect my potential future employability in management roles and my ability to move up in management roles.
What can I do here? Is it within my employee rights to ask for a redundancy or if I was to leave, would it be constructive dismissal?
Thanks
