HR mucking me about...
Discussion
I applied for a position with an engineering company as a Technician. The job was close to where I live and although I have an Engineering degree and possess a good amount of experience in related industries. I was happy to 'get my foot in the door' and in due course if an engineers role became available I would certainly be very interested to move into that.
I was interviewed several times by different people within the organisation and the interviews seemed to go very well. The subject of pay and 'how much would I like' came up. As I mentioned I have moved into his line of work but have several years worth of relevant experience and have until recently been working offshore where pay rates do not translate very well at all to jobs ashore.
I asked for some guidance on what the pay scales commensurate with that post would be and I did not get any assistance at all!!
I found a technicians role advertised for a competitor with the pay band stated as being between £23,000 - £29,000. I used this info and I requested £27,000 from my prospective employer.
My first day was last Monday and I was asked to sign my contract of employment with the job title 'Engineer', not technician. I queried this before signing and I was assured by the HR girl that the terms Technician and Engineer were used interchangeably within the organisation and that the job was the same.....so I signed a 'provisional contract of employment'.
I go to meet my new colleagues and it transpires that the roles of Engineer and Technician are not interchangeable as suggested!!!!!
One of the Engineers has handed his notice in, the company have seen that I have the correct background to step into his role (which is nice in some respects).
I have been asked to take on a role with more responsibility, costing, meeting clients, analysis, design and lots of report writing which are tasks that do not fall within the role of a Technician.
With this change in role I asked if I was eligible for a higher level of remuneration and I was told it was not possible.
I asked to see a job description for the role of Engineer, I was supplied with a very vague document which does not specify the additional responsibilities listed above but they are in fact part of my new role and are daily tasks that the engineers presently undertake. I asked why they had changed the title when they considered the roles the same and I received the reply "because of your degree and years of experience".
Using the same organisation which I used to indicate suitable pay scales as reference I find that they are offering 'Engineers' between £5,000 and £12,000 more than what I am presently being paid.
I like the place and the guys I am working with but unless something can be resolved I feel that it is something I shouldn't compromise on.
To summarise:
1. HR do not acknowledge that the Engineers role and the Technicians role differ.
2. They are unable to supply a detailed job description/person spec for the role of Engineer.
Does anyone have any thoughts or experiences to share
I was interviewed several times by different people within the organisation and the interviews seemed to go very well. The subject of pay and 'how much would I like' came up. As I mentioned I have moved into his line of work but have several years worth of relevant experience and have until recently been working offshore where pay rates do not translate very well at all to jobs ashore.
I asked for some guidance on what the pay scales commensurate with that post would be and I did not get any assistance at all!!
I found a technicians role advertised for a competitor with the pay band stated as being between £23,000 - £29,000. I used this info and I requested £27,000 from my prospective employer.
My first day was last Monday and I was asked to sign my contract of employment with the job title 'Engineer', not technician. I queried this before signing and I was assured by the HR girl that the terms Technician and Engineer were used interchangeably within the organisation and that the job was the same.....so I signed a 'provisional contract of employment'.
I go to meet my new colleagues and it transpires that the roles of Engineer and Technician are not interchangeable as suggested!!!!!
One of the Engineers has handed his notice in, the company have seen that I have the correct background to step into his role (which is nice in some respects).
I have been asked to take on a role with more responsibility, costing, meeting clients, analysis, design and lots of report writing which are tasks that do not fall within the role of a Technician.
With this change in role I asked if I was eligible for a higher level of remuneration and I was told it was not possible.
I asked to see a job description for the role of Engineer, I was supplied with a very vague document which does not specify the additional responsibilities listed above but they are in fact part of my new role and are daily tasks that the engineers presently undertake. I asked why they had changed the title when they considered the roles the same and I received the reply "because of your degree and years of experience".
Using the same organisation which I used to indicate suitable pay scales as reference I find that they are offering 'Engineers' between £5,000 and £12,000 more than what I am presently being paid.
I like the place and the guys I am working with but unless something can be resolved I feel that it is something I shouldn't compromise on.
To summarise:
1. HR do not acknowledge that the Engineers role and the Technicians role differ.
2. They are unable to supply a detailed job description/person spec for the role of Engineer.
Does anyone have any thoughts or experiences to share
I'd feel bad for the guys I'm working with. The team consists of 6 including myself. With one leaving and if things dont work out for me I'll be going too it will hit them pretty hard I should imagine.
This doesnt change my stance but its a shame when a potentially decent workplace is mucked up by poor HR.
This doesnt change my stance but its a shame when a potentially decent workplace is mucked up by poor HR.
HR dont recognise it as a different function
You have a banana and an apple.. HR just see two bananas
You have a banana and an apple.. HR just see two bananas
brickwall said:
Tricky one.
I'd perhaps position it as you're happy to take the role on the technician salary on a provisional basis, but with an agreement that after 3/6 months of you doing the engineer role, you have a performance review and if they are happy with your performance then they move you to the engineer position with full salary/benefits etc.
Then you can say to them that if after 6 months they're not happy with your performance then it'd be better for everyone involved that you leave anyway. Forces their hand - either you're good enough for the engineer role (in which case you should be paid as such) or you're not (in which case you shouldn't be doing it).
I'd perhaps position it as you're happy to take the role on the technician salary on a provisional basis, but with an agreement that after 3/6 months of you doing the engineer role, you have a performance review and if they are happy with your performance then they move you to the engineer position with full salary/benefits etc.
Then you can say to them that if after 6 months they're not happy with your performance then it'd be better for everyone involved that you leave anyway. Forces their hand - either you're good enough for the engineer role (in which case you should be paid as such) or you're not (in which case you shouldn't be doing it).
I'm 34 I've been in Engineering 10 years. I've had design roles, project management experience of safety critical items to the value of £5m including the overseeing of validation and testing.
I took the job as tech to move up as I thought the work they did was interesting and something I can move up from both in pay and responsibility.
I took the job as tech to move up as I thought the work they did was interesting and something I can move up from both in pay and responsibility.
I have tried to negotiate a performance related pay increase upon successful completion of my probationary period. It was explained that it was very difficult for them to do..
I explained that it wasn't really my concern if it was difficult.
I'm looking at taking the other offer I have.
As I have not signed any document mentioning notice period.. what am I obligated to give?
I explained that it wasn't really my concern if it was difficult.
I'm looking at taking the other offer I have.
As I have not signed any document mentioning notice period.. what am I obligated to give?
Apparently I am getting paid an Engineers rate. They claim that the pay structure they have is well aligned with the rest of the industry (which my findings did not agree with). I was also told that my perspective of pay rates was distorted because I'd worked offshore. Even though the current offering is less than my last onshore Engineers role which I left in 2011.
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