It’s not in my job description!

[SydZ]

Who here regularly reads their job description, or knows it in enough detail, to regularly use that age old “it is not in my job description“ disclaimer to get out of doing a task asked of them?

I started my current job around 5 years ago and, apart from reading the JD in order to complete the application form, haven’t looked at it since.

I ask because I encounter a couple of individuals who, from time to time, start quoting sections from their JD, and even from the JD of others in arguing that they should not be doing a particular task. It often comes to the point of debating the meaning and context of a phrase and even specific words.

As long as what I am asked to do is reasonable I really can’t be bothered with that nonsense.

 

[Threevok]

Who here regularly reads their job description, or knows it in enough detail, to regularly use that age old “it is not in my job description“ disclaimer to get out of doing a task asked of them?

I started my current job around 5 years ago and, apart from reading the JD in order to complete the application form, haven’t looked at it since.

I ask because I encounter a couple of individuals who, from time to time, start quoting sections from their JD, and even from the JD of others in arguing that they should not be doing a particular task. It often comes to the point of debating the meaning and context of a phrase and even specific words.

As long as what I am asked to do is reasonable I really can’t be bothered with that nonsense.

It's full of Jobsworths here

 

[fossyant]

We have certain Teams that won't do jobs - but said job no-longer fits in any of the Teams, so someone needed to do it ? I just do what's needed to keep things running smoothly.

 

[matticus]

As long as what I am asked to do is reasonable I really can’t be bothered with that nonsense.

Yup.
Also, my job would me much duller if I never did anything new (even if that's changing-a-lightbulb type jobs!)

 

[annedonnelly]

Mine has recently been rewritten to add stuff that I (and my colleague) do. This is so the job role can be regraded onto a higher salary point.

Most of the job descriptions I've seen include something along the lines of "Anything reasonable that you're asked to do".

 

[Specialeyes]

With 36 staff we're not big enough to warrant that level of inflexibility - and indeed write the requirement for flexibility into everyone's contracts, every job description and every job advert.

We absoutely don't stand on ceremony - I include Milk Monitor on my list of responsibilities which can be more stressful than being a Director when the place runs on coffee!

 

[vickster]

Is this a public sector thing...I can't imagine any of my colleagues using a JD in that way, other than when discussing objectives, promotion, opportunities
Same with people refusing to work a bit outside their core 35 hours a week (that is written into contracts, especially as evening work can certainly be part of the job on top of 9-5)

 

[gbb]

There is probably an element of that though in a team of ~60 there are only two who usually try it on.

If I had my way there wouldn't be a place for such inflexible people in public sector roles.

You ( i ) meet the odd one.
My BIL used to be a factory manager, fairly big manufacturing plant. His ethic was, when you go into a new plant, and he gave this advice to his son who has become a site manager at a food manufacturing plant...first thing you do is identify those that will not comply, who shirk, who are obstructive to your aims as a senior manager. Get rid, plain and simple if they persist. Do not waste an ounce of energy trying to change people, those negative traits are usually life long, they will not change, do not waste energy vainly trying to bring them round.
Tough but i tend to agree. Ive worked with one guy, a good freind who was the most non compliant, arguementative, obstructive worker i ever knew. If he'd worked in a small company, people like him could cripple their employer. As it was, it was a big company, he kinda got away with it. Poor management (even though he was a really good friend...id have sacked him )

 

[gbb]

Not sure its a public sector thing, people are people, these traits are deeply ingrained. It may simply be you can get away with it more in the public sector.

 

[Accy cyclist]

Only on about this, this aft' in the shop I work in. A customer was telling us that he works in a care home and how certain staff say they can't/won't push residents in their wheelchairs as 'it might knacker their backs in'. Surely pushing residents in their wheelchairs is one of the main requirements of the job!🤔 Well, it was when I worked in an old folks home over 30 years ago. Mind you, he said it's a local authority (public sector) home, not a private one. I don't think they'd get away with such skiving with a private employer. The home I worked in was local authority and no way would staff have been able to play the bad back card, even in the public sector!. Maybe 30 odd years on the rules have changed? 🤔

 

[presta]

I've no idea whether I had a job description, so I don't know what it said if I did. Job titles used to get made up in order to get pay rises approved by Personnel, one guy had been promoted from Principal Engineer to Chief Engineer, then promoted from Chief Engineer to Principal Engineer, then PE<>CE etc etc several times over.

When I was a junior engineer I used to get all sorts of stuff because I was the cheapest member of staff in the department. I once got the errand of fetching the Land Rover after someone dumped it at our Leeds depot: it was a lovely summers day, train up, drive it back, great fun. (I don't know how top-heavy they are as standard, but by the time they have a 70' telescopic mast on the roof weighing a third of a ton, they're all over the place. )

My first job was PDS (post design services), which was sorting out other people's cockups after stuff had gone into production. I didn't want to do it at first, but enjoyed it, and in retrospect it was excellent experience as it makes you more careful and fussy how you design stuff yourself.

There were various jobs that most regarded as beneath them, and would palm off to an apprentice at the first opportunity, but I wasn't like that. Apart from enjoying doing the whole lot, I didn't want the job of sorting out a slapdash mess that had been done by someone who was poorly motivated. Laying out PCBs, building prototypes, and metalwork were prime candidates.

I used to know a couple of guys who worked at Ford's engineering labs at Dunton where it was heavily unionised:
Rick: "It's great! You don't have to do any work, everyone just sits around reading the paper all day".
Tony: "It's terrible, you can't get any work done! If you try to do anything the unions have them all out on strike".

They used to come our way head hunting, and paid good money too, but I couldn't be doing with that sort of place. Rick stayed, but Tony hated it and came back.

 

[midlife]

My actual job description is completely nebulous " I will provide advanced mandatory services"... And that's it as far as I recall. My contract of employment is a completely different animal lol.

 

[oldwheels]

I never really had a job description as such. As Distillery Manager I had to keep the place running and at the same time dabble in all sorts of experimental stuff. Everything from incoming barley and empty casks to outgoing whisky and by products as well as transport was my responsibility as well as office work and personnel management.
The upside was that as long as everything ran smoothly and efficiently I was virtually my own boss with no interference from above apart from the experiments we did under the Managing Director control.
A very hard job being in charge 168 hrs per week but I was young and enjoyed my work. A really great job until the Managing Director and main shareholder died when we were taken over by a variety of cowboy outfits.
I walked but the experience I gained was invaluable. An Excise Officer remarked that most distillery managers with 20 years experience really only had one year’s experience twenty times over but I never had two days the same.

 

[Brains]

Inflexible people gravitate to being public sector jobsworths because they don't fit in the more realistic and relaxed environments in the private sector.

I used to work in the Maritime sector.

My longest single working day was 50 hours (put your sox on on Monday morning, take them off on Thursday night).
I think my longest working week was 20 something days (circa 300+ hours).

Anyone who was not flexible enough to do silly hours when the time came would not have lasted more than a couple of months.
I lasted 44 years!

On the plus side I used all my 'TOIL' (Time Owed in Lieu) in one go and travelled around South America for 3 months, being paid every day of it!

 

[PeteXXX]

A true scenario where I used to work. Supermarket deliveries that involved presenting full cages of goodies to the rear of the trailer then back door man takes cages from there to the shop/warehouse.
Reverse procedure with empty cages.
Driver, being helpful, assists back door man to push cages across the yard. He hurts himself doing it and has to be driven to hospital.
He was off work for a while. Company refused any responsibility for his injury and any pay while he was off saying it wasn't in his job description, or role, to be doing what he did.