New Employer Lied to me!!!!!

[pinkdressinggown]

Sorry this is a long and complicated one!!!!

I started a new job less than 3 months ago; the recruitment process took 5 months from start to finish and applied for the position through an agency as I d not think the employer was taking applications direct.

The job I originally applied for was a more senior position and although I was joining a new industry the level of responsibility within that role was more in line with what I had been doing other the past 2 years.

There was a lot of waiting around in the recruitment process, hence it taking 5 months and I literally had to jump through hoops, 2 online exams, an assessment day, role plays, face to face interviews. I was then told that I was successful with my application by the agency however because I had no experience in the industry I would have to go on a development plan first with the company for 18 months to learn about what they do but after that I would then be given my full job title and be placed into the position I originally applied for.

I was happy to accept as I was really excited about the company and what they had to offer, I asked for the development plan to be put into writing in my contract but was told by the agency that they had spoken to the company and this wasn't standard practise but my development would be measured by my manager (one of the senior managers in the department) by monthly one to ones and measurable objectives.

I was given my contract, my manager title and confirmed my start date directly with the company. I asked what my mangers name was and was told it was "Sarah”. On my first day I arrived and went to the a HR induction in the morning and was told that my manager would be picking me up and taking me to my desk. A man appeared who said his name was "Joe". Introduced himself as my manager and gave me his job title which was the same job title I applied for (Team Leader of one of the 10 teams in the department). I asked him if he was sure he was supposed to be picking me up and explained that I was expecting someone else and that it said in my contract that I would be reporting into "Sarah". He said he would clarify with the Head of Department "Rachel" and see what was going on.

He told me that he had spoken to "Rachel" and that I would be temporally reporting to him as they wasn't any work for me but I would be later doing some work directly for "Rachel" and "Sarah". I was happy with this and my first week was spent going round all the different teams learning how the department functions etc.

A month passed and I was still on this team, doing a remedial job I used to do when I first left school! I was not really learning anything as "Joe" is quite inexperienced in terms of people development and every time I asked him a question he had to clarify his answer with "Rachel". It got to a point where basically he was just a go between me and her so I invited "Rachel" for a chat to let her know my concerns.

In the chat I was told that there was no plan ever for me to go on a development plan, that I was never reporting into "Sarah" and an error was made on my contract. The lady who dealt with my paperwork in HR had now left so they couldn't speak to her about my offer or find any of my paper work, including my original application or CV (how convenient). I asked her about the project work and she said this wasn't the case but maybe sometime in the future and I was to stay reporting into a person who technically speaking is on the same level as me!!! She also admitted that this wasn't the first time a person had been told something like this and HR was investigating as the other person had walked out!!!

I have now found another job and have handed my notice in.

My questions are:

1) Is the employer, agency or myself at fault here?? They seem to be hiding behind the agency but surely since it is there position they should be monitoring the communication from agencies to potential new employees.

2) How can my Line manager's Job Title on my contract be different from the one I am actually reporting into, is this allowed??? I thought you could only change an employee’s contract in writing and with notice.

3) Where has my paperwork conveniently gone to? Should I do a data subject access request and see for myself? It’s a big place (over 2000 employees) so I bet who ever deals with the request will not know the lines I have been spun!

4) Is there anything I can do, I have now handed my notice in but this is only the short version of the story I have been put through so much embarrassment and anguish (I have even had personal remarks about me made by "Joe") I feel like I can’t let this lie.

[pinkdressinggown]

"I was given my contract, my manager title and confirmed my start date directly with the company". Should read "I was given my contract, my Line Manager's title and confirmed my start date directly with the company"

[rebel11]

Hi Pink

 

Welcome to CAG

 

The guys will respond shortly.

[honeybee13]

Hello there and welcome to the forum. I'm sorry to hear your tale of woe. It's good you have a new job though and I hope it goes well for you.

 

In terms of taking it further about your soon to be ex-employer, what are you looking to achieve please? You probably don't have any recourse to a tribunal because you have been there under a year, so may not have anyone else to complain to. You could lodge a grievance before leaving, I believe, but that could be long-winded and possibly stressful for you.

 

I'm not sure there's any way for you to be compensated if that's what you want, or if there's anyone you can report an employer to for dubious practices. Are they part of any professional organisation?

 

I expect the guys will be along later to comment for you.

 

HB x

[pinkdressinggown]

Thanks for the reply, I am just looking for someone to put there hands up and accept they are to blame, instead of the feeling of humility that I have right now, for example telling all my friends and family that I have been offered an amazing opportunity for it to all be blown up in my face. It seems to me from my experience with it all, which is hard to get across on here unless I wright 100 pages of text, is that they have messed up my paperwork and have made excuse after excuse to cover their tracks, every time I have asked a question about what am I actually there to do, what is my job (as I am an additional to headcount plus on a higher salary than the other members of the same team) what is my purpose in the department I get a conflicting sexplanation as to what is goin on! It amazes me that the ead of Department admitted that another person had the same issues and walked out, this cmpany employees 2000 people in there headoffice which I am based and is the number 1 company in their industry!

[SarEl]

My questions are:

 

1) Is the employer, agency or myself at fault here?? They seem to be hiding behind the agency but surely since it is there position they should be monitoring the communication from agencies to potential new employees. The employer appears to have been clear about the role and I cannot see any evidence that they led you to believe anything that wasn't true. They cannot monitor communications between you and the agency - that is between you and the agency. If there is a "fault" here it lies with the agency, but I do not see what you can do about it at there appears to be no actual loss incurred. You understood that you were going in at a lower salary and at a lower graded job than the one that you applied for, and at best you may be able to show that some of the things they said were misleading - something which is hard to action. Some agencies excel at this type of practice.

 

2) How can my Line manager's Job Title on my contract be different from the one I am actually reporting into, is this allowed??? Yes I thought you could only change an employee’s contract in writing and with notice. The employer does not have to make minor changes such as this in writing or with notice. Effectively, how they structure their management is up to them.

 

3) Where has my paperwork conveniently gone to? Should I do a data subject access request and see for myself? It’s a big place (over 2000 employees) so I bet who ever deals with the request will not know the lines I have been spun! They probably never had it! Most agencies edit what you give them and pass on a version which has no names or pertinant details to identify someone (to stop employers cutting them out of the loop) and as such what they got probably wasn't even kept. That isn't uncommon. When I take agency staff I never keep the stuff that the agency sents me as it is worse than useless on a personnel file - I get people to fill in new starter forms with the relevant information.

 

4) Is there anything I can do, I have now handed my notice in but this is only the short version of the story I have been put through so much embarrassment and anguish (I have even had personal remarks about me made by "Joe") I feel like I can’t let this lie. I doubt that you have much choice but to do so. You could submit a grievance, but most of your complaints are against the agency. If this is the second time they have done it to the employer, they may start to consider whether they want to continue using an agency that is costng them money and not turning up the goods correctly (I would)

 

Sorry, but I don't see much here that you can do. I am afraid that agencies often misrepresent things, but always manage to wriggle out of any liability for it. The lesson is - don't use agencies. There are a few great ones, but I am afraid they are few and far between.

[pinkdressinggown]

Hi Sorry its really difficult to get my full message across here as the issue is quite complicated etc so I thought I would just clear a few points up:

1) Is the employer, agency or myself at fault here?? They seem to be hiding behind the agency but surely since it is there position they should be monitoring the communication from agencies to potential new employees. The employer appears to have been clear about the role and I cannot see any evidence that they led you to believe anything that wasn't true. They cannot monitor communications between you and the agency - that is between you and the agency. If there is a "fault" here it lies with the agency, but I do not see what you can do about it at there appears to be no actual loss incurred. You understood that you were going in at a lower salary and at a lower graded job than the one that you applied for, and at best you may be able to show that some of the things they said were misleading - something which is hard to action. Some agencies excel at this type of practice.

In Terms of the employer being clear about the role, I believe they haven't I have attempted to informally discuss my role with my line manager, however he couldn't answer me and instead kept going back to the head of department, I was then told by my line manager I would be doing work (more in line with the kind of work I was told I would be doing on acceptence of the offer) directly for the Head of department and the senior manager (the one I though I was reporting into) but this did not happen so I arranged a meeting with the head of the department who then back tracked on everything the line manager had told me and said none of it was true and that there had been an error on my contract in terms of my line manager. In terms of salary I was happy to accept a lower salary as I thought this would be only for 18 months, but the salary offered was still higher than the basic salary for the job I am currently doing.

2) How can my Line manager's Job Title on my contract be different from the one I am actually reporting into, is this allowed??? Yes I thought you could only change an employee’s contract in writing and with notice. The employer does not have to make minor changes such as this in writing or with notice. Effectively, how they structure their management is up to them.

Thank you for clearing this up, I thought that the job title of a line manager was not an implied term in a contract and that any changes to this would be subject to consultation and usually part of a more formal restructuring process, I will take this onboard in case I experience anything similar in the future.

3) Where has my paperwork conveniently gone to? Should I do a data Subject access request and see for myself? It’s a big place (over 2000 employees) so I bet who ever deals with the request will not know the lines I have been spun! They probably never had it! Most agencies edit what you give them and pass on a version which has no names or pertinant details to identify someone (to stop employers cutting them out of the loop) and as such what they got probably wasn't even kept. That isn't uncommon. When I take agency staff I never keep the stuff that the agency sents me as it is worse than useless on a personnel file - I get people to fill in new starter forms with the relevant information.

I have dealt with agencies myself in terms of recruiting new employees and I agree that they are stripped of personal details, however they still have the name of the propective employee, I also filled out a company application form as part of my offer pack.

4) Is there anything I can do, I have now handed my notice in but this is only the short version of the story I have been put through so much embarrassment and anguish (I have even had personal remarks about me made by "Joe") I feel like I can’t let this lie. I doubt that you have much choice but to do so. You could submit a grievance, but most of your complaints are against the agency. If this is the second time they have done it to the employer, they may start to consider whether they want to continue using an agency that is costng them money and not turning up the goods correctly (I would)

The company has a list of preferred employment agencies and I do not believe from the feedback I had in my meeting with the head fo the department that it was the same, unfortunately these days, including me when I have hired in the past, using an agency is the only option you have when finding employment. The last time I recruited for an employee (August this year) I did it without an agency to save costs and had 100 cvs sent to me via email in one day! I think its getting to a stage where recruitment agencies ned to be better regulated but I think that is a whole new debate!

My key points are which probably I didn't get across very well in my original thread are:

If it is the agency who spun me a line to get their commission (which I originally thought was the case) then why:

A) Am I on quite a considerable amount more in terms of salary then those who are on the same job grade as me

B) Why does it say I am reporting into a senior manager on my contract

C) Why did the line manger I have been assigned tell me that I would be on his team on a temp basis and would then go work directly for the department Head and Senior Manager on my contract

I just feel that as such a long time elapsed since I was offered the position (not down to me but there impossible HR department) that along the line the requirement changed but it was too late to retract the offer. As I pointed out earlier I am additional headcount not a replacement.

[Greer8472]

This will not help your situation pinkdressinggown but I know how you feel. I myself have been miss informed information by an agency which I applied for. On their web site with the job advertised the description says: "Dismantling IT Equipment, Data wiping hardrives (full training given), basic data entry on a keyboard, wrapping of pallets, any other general warehouse duties as and when they arise". From this it was my understanding I will be doing those roles or take an active part within these roles. What I have actually done for the last 3 weeks, Wrapping of pallets & half a day of data entry with no training what so ever.

As was so desperate to get a job to get away form the job centre I have to stick with this job regardless and in the mean time will be looking for a new one. I don't know why agencies are advertising job with roles that do not apply. This should not be and this needs to be regulated in someway in my view.