Change of Job title

[lulu_bucket]

I was wondering if you could let me have an answer –

I started working at my hospital in 1996 had just over a year out end of 05 to beginning of 07 when I returned through the agency and then applied for the job as Medical Secretary/Waiting List Officer, was offered the job, accepted the job and had my contract with this job title.

In June 2009 my wage slip suddenly changed to Support Secretary not Medical Secretary/WLO

NOW I see on the Personal Development Review on e-ksf on 23 September 09 the assignment title has been archived (Medical Secretary/Specialty Co-ordinator) and on 13 November 09 the assignment title has been changed without my knowledge to Support Medical Secretary.

My job has not changed and my job title should not have changed and I am not happy with this at all and wonder if the hospital and my Support Manager are able to just change my job title. I have been told by many people this is not allowed – employment law etc etc and also by the Consultant I actually work for too so please let me know if I have a leg to stand on to get my proper job title back - !

[cassa333]

Have you asked your manager or HR department why this was done and a. are they allowed to change it without your knowledge, b. what impact it has on your pay scale and promotion prospects etc

[bednobs]

i wonder if it's because that job title has been streamlined, so that all people working in a similar job at the same band are the same?
Personally i can't really see much difference in the 2 job titles, and certainly there is not one that sunds more important than the other, however i appreciate this may not be your concern about it. you are doing the same job, with the same JD and same wages i presume?

Conversely i also work for the NHS but would like to change my job title butthey are curiously resistant,

[factor-fiction]

I don't see that you own the job title- the job titles are assigned by the employer. It is not unusual for job titles to change. Does the job description reflect your duties?

[kinell]

why worry about job title?

invest £25 and form a limited company..... you can pump your title up to whatever you like...... managing director / chief executive officer / medical secretary etc

my employer can call me by whatever title they like, it makes no difference to anyone and i wouldnt be so petty as to care as long as the financial rewards are at least the same

i know i am good at what i do and dont need a poncy title to prove it

seems to me there are lots of vain people out there who think being called a 'chief'' for example is preferable to a few grand on your salary

[buildersmate]

You put this in legal (amongst numerous other places) so presumably you want a legal answer.
You Job Title does form part of the requirement for an employer to put in writing to you under what is called a Principal Statement of Employment Particulars, so technically changing the description changes your contract (I summise - not 100% sure). But it's what you are actually being asked to do that counts. If that hasn't changed, this is hardly a big problem. What exactly do you want done about it? - if you resigned and claimed Constructive Dismissal at an ET I think you would lose.
Stop worrying about it.

[Ramsbottom]

I just asked this question to a Senior Human Resources Manager that I know that works for the NHS.

He says that strictly, in the legal sence , you can ask for your job title back as it is a change of your contract (and a rule of thumb is that one side can't unilaterialy change the contractual terms) unless there is a term in the contract saying otherwise.

However, with such a minor change (you're still admin staff, on the same band and doing the same duties) if Human Resources / the managment refuse to deal with it, then it is unlikely that your union will support your position. And if you took it to court the court will simply ask why you are wasting the courts time with such a frivolous matter.

So the question to you is: is it worth it? Ruffling a few feathers and paying any court and other legal courts on such a frivolous matter.