Employer Added Additional Job Responsibilities after I Accepted

Question

I recently accepted an offer for a senior leader position from a Fortune 500 company. After much deliberation I decided to accept the offer. A few days later I gave my employer at that time 2 weeks notice of my departure. After those two weeks I took a week of vacation to get my house in order since the new job required relocation.

72-hours before I started the new job I got a call from my new manager that there was a restructure going on, and he wanted to give me additional responsibilities because a senior leader had decided to leave the company, and instead of hiring a replacement for her, they thought they could save money by just combining her role with the role that I accepted. No pay increase. The manager asked if I'd be okay with that. Keep in mind, at this time I had already left old employer so I effectively had no job to support my family. I live in small-town America and there are zero opportunities in the town I live in. So when the manager asked if I'd be okay with the changes I said it sounded like a good opportunity, but didn't say yes. Later I texted him and asked if I was in a 'holding pattern' until a new offer could be arrangement in light of the doubling of the job responsibilities. He said that that wasn't necessary since the restructure was finalized and approved yet. I started the job the following week. Two days later they announced the org changes and my new (dual-hatted) role. I spoke with HR after the announcement was made. He said that the Compensation department thought that they overpaid for me, so they felt justified in doubling up my job responsibilities. Do I have legal recourse against this employer? Since the offer requires a relo there are clauses in the offer about paying back relo money and a sign-on bonus if I leave within two years. Are those clauses null and void since the role on the contract is significantly less than what they gave me 48 hours after I started?

Answer 1

Unfortunately for you, yes your company can re-evaluate your position and add duties changes at the needs of the company responsibilities to your job.

In the case to be honest, I think your lucky to have a job at all with the restructure the company did. In some cases, since you have no seniority with them, they could have just said goodbye to you and left you in an even worse position.

IANAL, but I do not believe you will have any sort of legal recourse here as most states are right to work states and most times you can be let go altogether without reason.

In short, your situation sucks, but its not unique in the USA by any stretch and to a point your lucky to have a job. I would work the job as is for 6 months and then evaluate your position. This happens more frequently than you might think, but it still stinks none the less.

Answer 2

Essentially what you're looking for here is negotiating language.

I would give it a couple of weeks.

During that time, keep the issue "live" but without being a whiner.

Keep generating language like

• "This dual-role is certainly a nice career challenge!"

• "Holding up fine, but the dual-role is a lot of work, I may need an extra assistant, particularly for xyz issue."

Then, take the tack that it's simply too much workload for one manager so a solution needs to be found.

Call a meeting and lead with ideas like ..

• "It's definitely a challenge for one of me to take on this dual-role. What should we do about this?"

• "I'm concerned that anyone! can really perform well enough in this dual role. I'm feeling ok but will definitely need some feedback from management."

You're a senior manager now, your role isn't to whine and ask for more money or ask for anything. Your job is to be "part of the fabric", get everyone talking, ask questions, and develop a solution.

Note that it's perfectly possible you'll have to move on to another company, if so just give yourself a few months enjoying the skills you are learning, and then do that.

Really it seems like a great opportunity to be a hero, and to be really proactive, taking ownership of the situation.

Answer 3

Before considering anything legal (You may want to update your question.), you need to focus on negotiating this situation. Personally, I don't feel like this employer is acting in good faith and you're already off to a bad start because of their actions.

Tell them you think they've done a "bait and switch." Everyone gets new responsibilities, but they're doubled yours. It seems excessive, so review the list of responsibilities and see if any can be removed. They may say no since somehow all of this is engraved in stone.

Next, ask how long this will last. When will the next restructuring occur? What will be the criteria to determine they've given you too much to do? What are the consequences if you can't do two full-time jobs. I think it is important for you to say things like "two full-time jobs" and "doubling the amount of work." How many hours a week do they expect you to work?

If they indicate that these aren't really two full-time jobs, then they let people for some time without doing enough work. My guess is there are others at this company not pulling their weight (this is not your assessment, but only a logical conclusion to this situation), so who can you utilize if things are too much?

For your own sanity, go through the list and try to see if you can drop the things you don't like to do. Time is a factor, but I feel like I'd rather spend more time doing things I enjoy. Nobody wants a headache, but getting rid of one feels pretty good.