Is it legal for my employer to assign additional job duties that aren’t in line with my job description?
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Is it legal for my employer to assign additional job duties that aren’t in line with my job description?
I am an Administrative Assistant and though my job description says my employer can assign additional duties, does that include essentially assigning an entirely different job title/role? This role I am absorbing requires some HR background and has a pay rate of roughly 25k more than what I am making. I am essentially doing the role of an HR Generalist while being paid as and title reflecting as an Admin. While also being referred to in the work place as the Admin, HR and even Exec. Assistant to the CEO and the CFO. I have more than enough proof to show I am not doing the job description I was hired for and have been doing the job description of an HR generalist without the pay raise or title for well over 6 months, quite frankly for the last year. Additionally, in my offer letter, I am entitled to an annual review in which I am confident I would get a pay raise and my employer has pushed this meeting for literal months. My manager accepts the meeting and live time when we go to do it he always forgets he had it and there is always something else that is more important because he is the CFO and we move it. He also clearly isn’t prepared to give me appropriate feedback so it’s like even if he did show up, he wouldn’t be giving me the fair feedback I believe I deserve. For the past 10 months, I have been told that they would be hiring an HR person permanently, however I found out point blank from my manager that they had no intention of hiring them. So he’s essentially admitting to lying and letting me do this work while not paying me for it.
Asked on August 14, 2019 under Employment Labor Law, Massachusetts
Answers:
M.D., Member, California and New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 4 years ago | Contributor
Unless these actions violate the terms of an employment contract or union agreement, you have no claim here. The fact is that a business can set the conditions of the workplace much as it sees fit (absent some form of legally actionable discrimination). Accordingly, while arguably unfair, your treatment is legal.
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