IrishRookie
Longterm Registered User
Hi all,
Excuse the slightly long winded description but I want to explain in as much detail as possible.
We all understand the need for some flexibility but I'd just like to raise an issue that has become all too common lately and I'm wondering what the great hoards of CPW have to say on it, if anything at all. It is the issue of security guards becoming the easy target to do every ad hoc non security related job that may spring up leading to many increased duties with zero pay increase.
Up until last week I was working in a corporate security environment. The site was a commercial office block with a couple of multinational tenants and 3 large adjoining retail units and 4 residential apt's on the roof.
This job was 45 hours per week with no breaks, lunch to be eaten at the reception desk.
It was contracted as security/reception and was Mon to Fri, normal working hours. When I first started here over 3 years ago there was a permanent building manager on site to ensure to efficient running of the buildings facilities, cleaners, security and to ensure residents and tenants had a permanent point of contact from one end of the week to the other.
I was working in this building for about 3 months before the building manager had to have a serious operation that meant he would not be able to work for a minimum of three months. Long story short, I stepped up and took over the managing of the daily tasks in the building. Diving straight into the deep end and taking on almost all his duties.
The building manager returned to work after the 3 months and noticed how I was running things, shortly after this he began to come to work later and later each day and some days didn't come to work at all. By the time I took a stand and said I wasn't willing to manage the building anymore without an increase in pay the building manager was only coming to the site 2 days per week, sometimes 3 days or half days should I say.
When I raised the issue with both my employers and the building manager I was basically told that I was expected to do all the extra duties without any increase in pay. I refused and declared I would return to working to my contract which was purely security related.
This caused major upset with the building managers company calling my company claiming I wasn't doing my job etc. Which left me in a position in which I had to explain to my employer again that it actually wasn't my job to manage the building and take out of hours calls from contractors to arrange works. Or from tenants and residents about problems with the buildings facilities. He reluctantly agreed with me but then stated that if I wasn't going to do the job (manage the building) the client wanted someone who would. So they were left with no choice but to move me to another site. Not wanting to cause any major upset I reluctantly accepted what I had been told.
Recently I started work on this new site, it's a private hospital. I am now expected to do four 10 hour night shifts with no night shift allowance.
The duties are as follows, to do a cardiac response test calling and bleeping all medical staff in the hospital upon starting shift, monitor the building management system and respond within 20 mins to any alarm raised from it, monitor the hospitals blood monitoring system and call the hospital wards if a fridge is left open which happens regularly per shift, check water pressure gauge pressure whilst on patrol and lock up, as well as checking blood fridges to ensure the nurses closed them properly, check risers whilst on patrol.
Clean lobby area before the morning admissions arrive, take cash from and load cash into the parking ticket machines, take calls from patients family and Doctors at reception and transfer them throughout the night to the wards. Take in hospital admissions and go through relevant VHI paper work and fees in the morning before the reception staff come in, Also I'm expected to sell newspapers which are available at the reception.
The vast majority of the above duties have nothing to do with security and it appears both the site security manager and the company I work for are afraid to say no to any client, as a result I feel it is cheapening the work of a security guard.
Has anyone else noticed this trend, do you think it's acceptable?
Regards,
I_R
Excuse the slightly long winded description but I want to explain in as much detail as possible.
We all understand the need for some flexibility but I'd just like to raise an issue that has become all too common lately and I'm wondering what the great hoards of CPW have to say on it, if anything at all. It is the issue of security guards becoming the easy target to do every ad hoc non security related job that may spring up leading to many increased duties with zero pay increase.
Up until last week I was working in a corporate security environment. The site was a commercial office block with a couple of multinational tenants and 3 large adjoining retail units and 4 residential apt's on the roof.
This job was 45 hours per week with no breaks, lunch to be eaten at the reception desk.
It was contracted as security/reception and was Mon to Fri, normal working hours. When I first started here over 3 years ago there was a permanent building manager on site to ensure to efficient running of the buildings facilities, cleaners, security and to ensure residents and tenants had a permanent point of contact from one end of the week to the other.
I was working in this building for about 3 months before the building manager had to have a serious operation that meant he would not be able to work for a minimum of three months. Long story short, I stepped up and took over the managing of the daily tasks in the building. Diving straight into the deep end and taking on almost all his duties.
The building manager returned to work after the 3 months and noticed how I was running things, shortly after this he began to come to work later and later each day and some days didn't come to work at all. By the time I took a stand and said I wasn't willing to manage the building anymore without an increase in pay the building manager was only coming to the site 2 days per week, sometimes 3 days or half days should I say.
When I raised the issue with both my employers and the building manager I was basically told that I was expected to do all the extra duties without any increase in pay. I refused and declared I would return to working to my contract which was purely security related.
This caused major upset with the building managers company calling my company claiming I wasn't doing my job etc. Which left me in a position in which I had to explain to my employer again that it actually wasn't my job to manage the building and take out of hours calls from contractors to arrange works. Or from tenants and residents about problems with the buildings facilities. He reluctantly agreed with me but then stated that if I wasn't going to do the job (manage the building) the client wanted someone who would. So they were left with no choice but to move me to another site. Not wanting to cause any major upset I reluctantly accepted what I had been told.
Recently I started work on this new site, it's a private hospital. I am now expected to do four 10 hour night shifts with no night shift allowance.
The duties are as follows, to do a cardiac response test calling and bleeping all medical staff in the hospital upon starting shift, monitor the building management system and respond within 20 mins to any alarm raised from it, monitor the hospitals blood monitoring system and call the hospital wards if a fridge is left open which happens regularly per shift, check water pressure gauge pressure whilst on patrol and lock up, as well as checking blood fridges to ensure the nurses closed them properly, check risers whilst on patrol.
Clean lobby area before the morning admissions arrive, take cash from and load cash into the parking ticket machines, take calls from patients family and Doctors at reception and transfer them throughout the night to the wards. Take in hospital admissions and go through relevant VHI paper work and fees in the morning before the reception staff come in, Also I'm expected to sell newspapers which are available at the reception.
The vast majority of the above duties have nothing to do with security and it appears both the site security manager and the company I work for are afraid to say no to any client, as a result I feel it is cheapening the work of a security guard.
Has anyone else noticed this trend, do you think it's acceptable?
Regards,
I_R
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