Accepted offer letter, position changed

Question

I accepted a job offer with a company I am really excited to work for, I won't start the position for another month. I was in a senior level management position and decided to step down to a less stressful position.

In this interim I have been contacted weekly with additional responsibilities and duties that are being added on to my new role. Originally after accepting the offer I asked for a clear outline of duties and expectations, and all the things they have added on are the exact things I had asked about initially. Originally they said those responsibilities did not apply to the position I was accepting.

I explained to them the new additional responsibilities change the position and make it a senior level position (which was exactly what I did for my previous employer). They claimed they were unaware of the different titles and job responsibilities associated with each title. I love the company and am fully capable of doing the job with the added responsibilities but am wanting to renegotiate our original contract.

This position has changed from mid level management to senior management which has a substantial pay difference. I negotiated the original salary based on the original position. Would this be unprofessional on my part to attempt renegotiating at this point?

Answer 1

It is not about whether it is unprofessional to start negotiating. They have already started renegotiating the position by changing the responsibilities. The only question is how you respond to this renegotiation.

All the usual approaches to negotiation apply. Treat the situation as if you had been offered a new job with new responsibilities. You can negotiate salary, conditions and everything else that you could have negotiated at the start, and ultimately accept or reject it as you wish. (I'm not saying the company will see it like that of course - they may try to persuade you that you should stick to your side of the agreement even when they are changing theirs.)

You are obviously at a bit of a disadvantage if you have already resigned from your current job, but that doesn't affect the 'professionalism' of negotiating. Also as the other answers say, a last minute change of job description is a huge red flag, indicating something from serious disorganization within the company (at best) to deliberate bait and switch tactics (at worst).

Answer 2

Have you put in notice at your current company yet

Having a job significantly change is a red flag - a big red flag. If you have not put in your notice, you are in a significantly stronger position.

You should also heavily consider not working for this new company.

It is completely professional to renegotiate if they have significantly changed the job

If you've already quit your old job, this may present an issue though. The new company may decide to not hire you if you try to re-negotiate. It's stupid as they significantly changed the job, but it could happen.

That said, it's probably worth calling them and finding out exactly what is going on. Lead with "When I interviewed, it was my understanding my job would involve X, but now Y, and Z were added. Did I misunderstand something?" From there, you may be able to get a higher salary.

If you'd be underpaid for your job, you'll likely leave very soon anyway. If you want to give the new job a chance, it's worth seeing if they can raise the salary.