Work whinge.....

[gemmybear83]

I apologise in advance for this, but you guys are so helpful I would appreaciate some independent advice

I work for a local authority in project management in physical regeneration, I really enjoy my job and I put in a lot of extra hours. I am a bit of a workaholic if I honest, but I am lucky that I do see the outcomes of my work and that motivates me to do well. I have been in my current job for about 3.5 years and prior to that have worked in the same industry. I have been taking on more and more work and responsibilty. I do not like to be one to complain, as I know I am in fortunate position that I have a relatively secure job (more on that later) and am financially comfortable. However there are two members of staff (both male and twice my age) who do the job above mine paid significantly more than me but are doing about half my work load and far less complex projects (and one project I am project managing them ). The management have made it clear that they do not trust these two members of staff to take on complex projects and are giving them the minimum to do, and although I enjoy the work I am doing I do not feel I am being compensated for the work I am doing, and they are getting away with it?

They have a history of under performing and a bad reputation - one regularly falls asleep at his desk (seriously!). To be honest I don't think anything can be done about them, they are just waiting for retirement and refuse to change.

Within my own job I have a wide salary bracket that I am not at the top of. I was awarded a good payrise in 2008 as a result of job evaluation and back pay. Prior to job evaulation payrises were based on performance but due to the changes in salaries these rules have not been updated and make no sense. Instead I have been recieving an annual increment.

To rub salt in wound a fellow collegue in another team who has the same title as me and does different work has been put to the top of the salary scale.

I have written to my management requesting a discussion over salary and responsbility (as I am now undertaking work beyond my job description that really be done by one of the "senior" members of staff in the team). I have been told I need to demonstrate the work I am doing to management to be awarded the payrise, but I also may not get it due to budget cuts.

The local authority I work for are looking to make job cuts - my section appears to be fine, as we bring in income and have a good reputation with senior staff, but I obviously don't want to make any noises that could damage my future?

What would you do? I am a member of the union, but have never used them. I think if I went to the union they would look at the issue as a gender issue as it is men being paid more then a woman. I am not sure it is about that, I think its more about refusing to address structural problems within my team? I have decided that following the wedding I am going to seriously start looking for a new job in any case as I fancy a change and want to "step up" to the next level.

Any advice would be welcomed

 

[irongirlof12]

no job is safe in local gov anymore, so tread carefully. I would ask your union rep for advise as you appear to be doing over and above the roles and resp. as defined in your JD.

 

[tennisfan]

Its a tough one, you say they used to give a payrise by job evaluation but now have changed it to increments? was your contract changed when this happened? Also was your contract changed when they started giving you more responsibility? These things could make a difference to the outcome

You could speak to your union rep about it to see what would happen if you went with asking for the rise.

I would tread carefully though as the PP stated no job is safe in this environment. Chances are if they are looking at cutting back the 2 above you maybe asked to go, they earn more therefore saving a fair bit of money.

 

[joolz1910]

I would definitely consult your union - you don't have to ask them to act on any information, as you can just get their perspective on it. It sounds like good, old-fashioned exploitation. They are bad at their jobs, you are good at yours, but unfortunately nobody is indispensable. I would echo what others have said - tread carefully but get some advice about where you stand.

 

[gemmybear83]

Thanks for your advice everyone. Fortunetly the team I work in bring external income in and have a statutory function. Our Council "cuts" have already been announced and my team are ok, we are lucky as we do not face the same problems as some other LA's.

Its a tough one, you say they used to give a payrise by job evaluation but now have changed it to increments? was your contract changed when this happened? Also was your contract changed when they started giving you more responsibility? These things could make a difference to the outcome

You could speak to your union rep about it to see what would happen if you went with asking for the rise.

I would tread carefully though as the PP stated no job is safe in this environment. Chances are if they are looking at cutting back the 2 above you maybe asked to go, they earn more therefore saving a fair bit of money.

Nikki thanks for this response, this has given me a lot to think about. My contract has never been changed throughout all the changes - and neither has my job description.

The payrise I am asking for is within my job scale, which unfortuently does not address the work I am doing above and beyond the other two but I think the only way that will be resolved is when they release an early retirement package (which will annoy me even more as they will be given a big sum of money and top of their pension ). I can bet though that once those two leave they won't replace their posts and leave us to continue with a bigger workload (hence why I will be looking for a new job!).