Tuesday, 23 August 2022 – Don’t Be Consulted When It’s About You

I am the S106 Officer in the Economic Development Team.  But, as I’ve touched on previously, since my colleague, the Social Value Officer, was forced out of her job in February by our manager and HR by not extending her fixed-term contract, effectively constructively dismissing her, I have been asked by that manager, the Head of Employment and Skills, to do her job on top of my own.

My agreeing with my manager to do two full-time jobs was not unconditional.  We negotiated and agreed that my now ex-colleague’s post would be changed to support me in delivering S106 and Social Value contributions by lowering it by three paygrades and raising my paygrade by two points.  I would manage the person in the new post.  When HR set up the new posts on “the system”, I would be assimilated into the higher-grade role with the justification that I would already be doing it.  In turn for my expanded and new managerial responsibilities, the newly formed Corporate Procurement Team would take on the governance role of ensuring social value was included in procurement, commenting on the inclusion of social value in procurement strategy and award reports.  While this is being arranged (council HR services can be painfully slow because no-one really knows what it is they do other than fill out some forms), I would be paid for the difference between my current and newly agreed paygrades in the form of an honorarium since I am being asked to take on the new responsibilities immediately, except without having anyone in the support role for now.

But my manager started to renege on our agreement almost immediately.  Firstly, he said that HR advised that there was a limit on the honorarium that I could be paid amounting to just one pay grade.  Later on he told me that he handed over the support role vacancy and budget to Corporate Procurement so that they could employ someone to perform their new governance/commenting role.  When I asked him why he agreed to that, he simply said they asked for it.  To this day, Corporate Procurement has still not employed someone into this role and I continue to do the job myself.

Later on he told me that there would be an Economic Development Team restructure in autumn but the creation of my job would be separate to this because it would be unfair to expect me to keep doing the job without being paid for it for so long.

Most recently, and the last occasion my manager spoke to me, on the 27 July he told me that my job will be included in the restructure and that I would have to be interviewed for it, albeit the opportunity to apply for the vacancy ringfenced to just me.

Today we had our Team Start-of-the-30-day-redundancy-consultation Meeting with the Head of Business and Enterprise (which also sits under Economic Development) and the HR Business Adviser “looking after” this restructure.  I don’t know what a redundancy consultation is supposed to be.  It is a legal requirement to do it but employers don’t really consult those they are sacking on whether their jobs are actually redundant or not.  In reality, the decisions have already been made and they are just jumping through the legal hoops overseen by some HR officer who, rightly so, looks like she doesn’t know why she is there.  In my case, I agree my job as S106 Officer is redundant and that a new S106 and Social Value Officer at a higher paygrade has been created in its stead to which I am the only one ringfenced to it. 

“Don’tsayanythingdon’tsayanythingdon’tsayanything” I kept repeating to myself going into the video meeting sotto voce and with mute on.  It’s not right the way I have been treated here I think but, at the end of all this, and if I stay schtum and play the game, I will be in a higher-paid job, one I enjoy doing, and with a manager whose management style is to not manage or even talk to me, and I work from home so never have to physically turn up to work.  This is ideal!

My manager inexplicably didn’t attend.  The Head of Business and Enterprise presented the “proposed” Economic Development structure (including a reformed Employment and Skills Team in which I currently sit, and the Business and Enterprise Team, plus a new Industrial Strategy (policy) Team) and how the new posts would be recruited to.  She then asked if anyone had any questions.  “Don’tsayanythingdon’tsayanythingdon’tsayanything” I kept repeating to myself but, somehow, the little yellow hand on the screen next to my icon went up and I found myself saying things.

“Why are we being interviewed for these jobs if we’re the only ones ringfenced to them?”, I was aghast at finding myself asking, “We’ve already met.”  “Why are we not just being assimilated?”

 

“Well, it’s because, in your case Paul”, the Head of Business and Enterprise replied, “you’re going up two grades so it’s not the same job.”

 

“But, in my case”, I retorted, “it is the same job.  I am already doing it.  The fact that I’m not being paid for it as you point out, is even more egregious.”

 

The HR representative jumped in at this stage to defend the integrity of what HR does, whatever that is: “But you don’t know that Paul, because we haven’t released the JDs [job descriptions] yet.  So there may be differences.”

 

Ok, when they say your name when addressing you, that is never a good thing.  This is the “Parent” alter-ego taking control of the personality to perform the function of supercilious reprimanding.  Nevertheless, I think I got away with this without causing too much harm or hurt.  I simply asked a clarification question.  Just leave it now!  Don’tsayanythingdon’tsayanythingdon’tsayanything”

 

“But I do know”, someone replied to her which turned out to be me, “I wrote my JD because my manager asked me to and he told me he sent it to HR for evaluation verbatim.  I simply wrote down what it is I do and how I’m qualified to do it and you accepted it and put it on the system.”

 

Ok, so now I have just dobbed in my manager, the person ultimately recruiting to my post, and acted superior to, and told the HR officer responsible for ratifying my appointment (whatever form-filling that entails) that she doesn’t know what she’s talking about in a consultation meeting for which she is responsible.  This is not a positive move by me.  But she did say she would come back to me with an answer why I’m not being assimilated but must be interviewed.  To be continued…

Incentivising us to remain silent in our consultation meeting, HR are responsible for the destruction of our employment rights in order to facilitate an intergalactic Economic Development structure through Hammersmith and Fulham.  They are one of the most unpleasant races in the galaxy – not actually evil, but bad-tempered, bureaucratic, officious and callous.