Not being considered for the job...

[shep_no_platinum]

Hi guys,

So my wife is is currently seconded to a higher role within the same team she came from. She has worked in this team for 4 years and has achieved many qualifications related to said role. She has more experience than some of her colleagues who are doing the role currently and as a result the bosses give her more of the work. All her colleagues are men and all get paid more than her. She gets paid 4 grades lower, however due to her secondment she is getting stepping up pay (2 grades). Meaning there is still a 2 grade pay difference between her and her male colleagues.

Recently, three internal positions became available within the team and they were for what she is doing now, but permanent. She immediately applied by recommendation of her boss as he said "she would be best suited". She has found out today she isn't even being considered for the role as she "doesn't have enough experience" and to try again in a few years. She will continue to be seconded to the role with the chance it may or may not get made permanent, but at the lower grade... She is only seconded as the last person doing it had to retire due to ill health and age. She has since come in, got on with the role and exceeded expectations. Her performance reviews have been glowing and she she has received recognition and rewards for this.

As you can imagine she is severely upset and de-motivated. I have told her to stay positive, but she is a mental wreck and is so deflated. The worst part is, they are interviewing someone we know who has only just received the qualification needed and has no experience in the area of work or the business. They said if the external candidates aren't as good in real life as they are on paper, they will just offer them the role at a lower grade.

I work for the same company and see this thing happening time and time again. I am a union rep within the company and want to intervene, however I'm not impartial or unbiased regarding the situation.

Just after a little advice please guys on how to proceed.

Thanks.

 

[Yulaw]

You either accept there decision and stay in the current role or leave and find another job, they obviously don't value her as an employee.

 

[Freddie1980]

The reality it is no matter is your talent at a job isn't always enough to get on and progress your career, if your face doesn't fit then there's very little you can do about it I'm afraid. There's plenty of work out there at the moment, if her employer doesn't appreciate her and she's a good at her job then she should tell them to get stuffed and find a job were her talents will be recognised.​

 

[wolfie138]

welcome to the club of most of us. me and another guy I work w/ are the most experienced in our team, have been there the longest and are now the least paid on the team because everything the company told us about pay and conditions when we were getting transitioned was a ****ing lie and the only way to get more money is to go from our TUPE contracts to theirs, meaning a severe impact on pension rights and loss of other stuff. there's absolutely no reward or recognition for quality, business knowledge, or getting multitudes of thanks and glowing references from our actual customers. other teams haven't delivered **** in literally years because they're floundering about w/ idiots and inexperience and they're all generally getting paid many thousands more than us. one **** left his pay doc in the shared scan folder and they're paying him £500 a day. so as soon as I can find something else, i'm out the door.

 

[shep_no_platinum]

This is a big company with many employees. A very cash rich company and as such, most issues are usually dealt with by the unions. They have HR policies that counter everything they have done and said. In my opinion this is discrimination and they are doing everything which they say they don't and won't. It also clearly shows, they are going to get her to continue to do the role but pay her the lesser grade/salary. Which to me seems like cheap labour. The fact they have mentioned external candidates will still be considered and offered less money if they don't seem up to scratch, says to me they are going to pay them less too and get both individuals doing the role at a lesser salary. Cost saving.

 

[Quartz]

It also clearly shows, they are going to get her to continue to do the role but pay her the lesser grade/salary.

If she's continuing to do it for the lesser salary, why shouldn't they? It's just business. They will pay the least amount possible for the job. Your wife needs to find another job, and you need to support her in this. I'm sure other employers will be delighted to snap her up.

 

[shep_no_platinum]

Th

If she's continuing to do it for the lesser salary, why shouldn't they? It's just business. They will pay the least amount possible for the job. Your wife needs to find another job, and you need to support her in this. I'm sure other employers will be delighted to snap her up.

Thanks for this positive advice. I will continue to support her and help her in her search. Unfortunately, she loves the job, people and the salary is very handsome.

 

[Quartz]

Unfortunately, she loves the job, people and the salary is very handsome.

And the job and salary will be even better elsewhere.

 

[Meaker]

I got moved up to the role but my pay stayed at the lower level so after banking the experience I have corrected this issue myself

 

[dowie]

This is a big company with many employees. A very cash rich company and as such, most issues are usually dealt with by the unions. They have HR policies that counter everything they have done and said.

Well that seems pretty clear cut then... what did the union say?

I mean this seems like something for an employment solicitor to potentially look at re: the discrimination angle or a reason to leave the company and find a new job elsewhere if you're unable to progress there.

 

[Flaevius]

What is her role/line of work that it would take a few years to even be worth a consideration of moving up?

 

[OspreyO]

What is her role/line of work that it would take a few years to even be worth a consideration of moving up?

Sounds more like a public sector job to me. But some large corporations behave similarly.

But I've seen this this in both public and private. They pass over the experienced person A, hire an inexperienced person B.
Then expect person A to train up person B in all the stuff they should have known to get the job/interview in the first place.
As others have said she should move, if not to another job then laterally to another role in the same company under different managers.
Her current management is blocking her very obviously.

 

[Lopéz]

When I worked for a large international courier company this sort of thing was rife.
Second someone into a role, usually drag that secondment out far beyond it's intended duration, then when an equivalent/similar/the actual position became available, give it to somebody else, despite having heaped praise/recognition/good appraisal feedback on the secondee during that time. Temporary assignments were treated in a similar manner to secondments.

I'm not just talking about me by the way - this was everywhere, and usually it didn't seem to be anything to do with a "face fits" scenario; the people getting the short end of the stick were usually long serving/well respected/valued/highly regarded etc.

What I never figured out was the motivation behind it. Character building? Trying to make sure someone doesn't get an "easy ride"? Show of power? Cheaper/easier to leave someone on a temp assignment? Who knows.

There's only one thing to do in my view, and that is to leave.

 

[HangTime]

So to play devil's advocate: The reason behind it is if you give it to the secondee then you haven't really filled the vacancy, you've just moved it and you now have the problem of trying to backfill the secondee, which may be difficult in terms of finding the right level of skill/experience for that pay grade. By hiring someone else the theory is you've got two decent people instead of just one.

Of course it could backfire if the secondee leaves but some won't think that far ahead. It really depends on the organisation / managers involved, some will resist promotion if it reduces the short term aggregate skill/output of the team (because if you can keep a good person in a lower role, it lets you add senior people on top of that rather than having to bring in junior people).