Asked for a salary review and now have to reapply

[BeBlueAnt]

I've been at my job for 3 years and recently raised to my manager that I do more than is in my JD and would like my salary to be reviewed. They agreed and also said they would like to change some aspects of my JD. I was then informed that because my JD and salary are changing I will need to re-interview for my job and it will be externally advertised too.

I have a job interview for another job of much higher pay for similar work, I'm in the mindset now of fuck my current job and put all my time outside of work towards preparing for this other interview.

Any advice or thoughts on this??

I'm so annoyed and humiliated that I'll possibly lose my current job to a better candidate

Have they somehow found out about you applying for another job?

Are you in the union? This sounds more like they should have done a re-grade and after 3 years if there is a possibility you will lose your job, you should have been put at risk of redundancy. I would definitely be focusing on the other job, whatever happens, they are not treating you well.

They may legally have to look for outside candidates, but unless there is another problem you should get it. Interview for both and decide which one you want if you get the offers.

It is the role not the person which is redundant. The employer will have to be very careful how they deal with this. It sounds very tit for tat OP and they're treating you poorly.

This doesn’t sound right, have they actually said you would lose your current contracted position if you aren’t successful or have they created another role at the ‘new’ job description and salary and are telling you that you need to apply for it?

Also are you a permanent contracted employee or a contractor/fixed term etc?

I didn't think there was a risk of redundancy, I assumed just a risk of not getting this effective promotion. Usually the person already in place will get it, but not guaranteed.

If it is you're out if you don't get the new job it is pretty bad treatment and in breach of all sorts of rules.

They are playing very fast and loose with employment law.

please phone ACAS asap and get proper advice on this.

We need more detail. What happens if you don’t get this? They can’t just fire you. And the role isn’t being made redundant - you’re doing the role, they’re just updating the job description and pay but the role still exists. That’s not a redundancy. They can’t just say “you didn’t get the job” and effectively fire you, and they can’t make you redundant. So what are they doing? Will you continue in the role as it was 3 years ago? Like, just doing what is in your current job description and they’re hiring someone else in a newly created role with added duties and more pay?

Public sector have to advertise externally for promoted roles. I get the feelings you’re not in public sector though?

There changing your job description which is effectively a new role
ask if you didn’t apply would you get redundancy or redeployment

I don't think it's true that they can't make @BeBlueAnt redundant - the more junior and lower-paid role that she was recruited for will no longer exist, having been absorbed into this new higher-paying and more senior role.

But if you are at risk of redundancy there is a very rigorous process to be followed and they can't just sack you. if you are unsuccessful when re-interviewing they have to keep paying you and they have to look for other positions at a similar grade that you might reasonably transfer you to, and go through the rest of the process at that point - if they aren't putting anything like that in motion then either they are incompetent buffoons or they are reasonably confident that they will be able to award you the more senior and higher paid role. Competitive re-interviewing can be beneficial - a lot of people suffer from "impostor syndrome" after being promoted, worrying that they have been given more responsibility and authority than they can cope with. Getting your promotion after competitive comparison with the best alternative candidate available in the job market tells you that you are indeed the best person for the job and should be a confidence boost.

You don't have to choose which of these job opportunities to prepare for. If you put equal effort into both you will probably get one of them. Of course if you are reasonably convinced that "incompetent buffoons" is a good descriptor for your current employers then you might be tempted to put more effort into the other opportunity - but do you have any solid evidence that the other potential employers aren't also incompetent buffoons?

That’s not how employment law works. She has been doing the role. They cannot now say “the role is changing as we are updating the description so you have to reapply or lose your job.” The role changed when they started giving her more work. Roles evolve; the actual job description finally being updated and OP asking for more pay doesn’t suddenly mean that it’s a brand new role and she needs to interview, and move aside if unsuccessful. They are on very shaky ground.

The role isn’t being made redundant - she is doing it, and now they want to interview to continue doing it. That’s not redundancy and they can’t just redeploy her.

@SnappyQuoter I was told id have until the end of my contract which is only until the end of June 🤦🏻‍♀️because this new job is my job with additional duties

You’ve already been doing all those duties? For how long?

However, all the advice here is now moot as you’ve now added the information that you’re on a temporary contract. So… there isn’t much you can do. Your contract is up. Doesn’t really matter if they call this a new role or the exact same role; you’ve no right to stay in it as you’re a temp.

Concentrate on interview prep for both this and the other job you’ve applied for, and start looking for other roles too, just in case.

Are you on a fixed-term contract then?

Get advice from ACAS if you are not in a union. In the meantime, explore with your boss what your likelihood is of getting the role and why they had to advertise. And keep your options open - focus on getting that other job.

In a large organisation you can’t just randomly upgrade someone, even if they’ve been officially seconded to the role; that would be a potential breach of equality law (and a very easy way to maintain a ‘jobs for the boys’ culture). If you still have a job either way, then they are taking your request seriously and in you place I wouldn’t take offence at the advertisement- you have an advantage by doing the work already.

If you can get a better, more highly paid role elsewhere then of course you go for that - same as your employer would take a better candidate. I would prep properly for the internal promotion too, best case you get two offers and can negotiate!

If your contract is up in June, weren’t you expecting to be job hunting and interviewing now anyway?

I agree with most of your post, but would like to point out that in large organisations you absolutely can “just upgrade someone” in the sense of giving them a pay rise and asking them to take on more complex work, or recognising that they’ve already taken on more complex work and therefore deserve more money. In my 25,000 person organisation we do it all the time, especially if somebody good threatens to quit.

@Franjipanl8r I was told it would be extended but as this is a new role if don't get it I'll have to find a new job which I only found out yesterday.

In this economy, I would never believe “your contract will be extended.”

This. Not until I see ink on paper.

You need legal advice, they can't just let you go at the end of the fixed term because of your length of service.

See below from gov.uk

This technically isn’t true. I work in colleague change in a large corporate, in parallel with HR and unite etc. This scenario is common, the way it’s being handled isn’t however.
We often assess roles and responsibilities across a given role. If the new JD has a greater than 30% change to current responsibilities, the role will be assessed for re grading and the colleague will need to apply for the higher grade/new role.
What ‘should’ happen, is the colleague should have clear guidance on what happens across all possible outcomes and be given notice of being ‘at risk’ if they are unsuccessful.

The sensible option would be to do both and keep your options open but your current workplace sound like they are being petty, which is undermining your confidence and therefore is the sign that you need: run for the hills, go for the other job, be better appreciated and get paid more for it