My employer recently "demoted" me and another dozens of people in my department...I was hired in 2020 as a Senior Software Engineer, with a certain internal level (let's call it "Ln").
My contract explicitly stated "Senior Software Engineer", and my internal job title on the Intranet.
A few weeks ago HR calls me, and tells me that they realized that they made a mistake when hiring me and another dozens of people 2 years ago...you can't be a Senior in Ln, you need to be Ln+1, which implies higher pay and more paid holidays.
So...instead of bumping me up to Ln+1, they removed the "Senior" title from my job description on the intranet.
Now...I don't care too much about job titles, but I care about contracts broken unilaterally, and what's going to appear on my Zeugnis the day I finally leave this place.
Can they actually do it, or do I have a legal ground to oppose it?
Why not sit down with your boss and discuss with him that you think it’s time for a promotion and a raise. Emphasis that it has nothing to do with HR’s screw-up other than to give you the impetus to talk to him. Have good reasons why this makes sense including examples where you went beyond your job description, and agree to take on additional responsibilities with the promotion.
In my experience HR will never reverse a decision like this. They like things to be neat and tidy and to do so would make them look stupid.
Now, this doesn’t take care of your colleagues but that’s their problem.
I think it the level you were hired at that matters, not the job title.
I was hired at level 8 (say) in a company as "Head of...". While negotiating my future with the company (I had a serious dispute with my boss and his boss - I thought they were incompetent idiots and they didn't), they suggested I simply stop being Team Leader and become an ordinary team member.
I said this is change of contract (Änderungskündigung) which requires a complete different process. No no, they insisted, both Team Leader and team member are level 7.
I said - I'm level 8. Head of. That's how I was recruited.
At that point HR shut down the conversation as they realised my bosses had fubarred (and demonstrated the accuracy of my assessment).
So - change of level is serious. Change of job title, not.
Hi OP, sorry you had to go through this, highly disappointing. It was very stupid of them to mess up but also the way they are dealing with this is just inviting unhappiness. Personally I would have let sleeping dog lie and corrected for the future hires but I guess they are a little OCD and wanted all to be exact and in order at the expense of employees.
In Switzerland however there is not mich you can do about this stuff unless they are changing your pay/benefits with it. In that case there is also not mich you can do but they need to give you notice equivalent to your notice period. If you are not happy you can leave.
The market is sided with the employers on these matters which is a price they pay with the high wages and the high wages are a compensation to us for our "expendability"
And most of the time your own performance isn’t even the main item - you have a set number of roles at a certain level, you can’t just promote people willy nilly, that’s not how it works.
If they have offered a role at an HR level that is above what is agreed it shouldn’t have made it this far, it’s a bad miss from HR (or HR Talent Management more likely) itself.
My advice would be to accept the change. Any other approach is going to break the relationship with you and the business.
I think the whole discussion made by HR is silly. Even assuming there is something to "fix", the proper way would be to adjust the contract and not just the intranet. I don't understand what they tried to achieve, except distract and demotivate employees.
If the contract is unchanged, the Zeugnis must reflect the contract and not the intranet. Maybe this will generate other discussions later?
As unconfortable as it is, I would give it a thought about clarifying this. Or ask for a Zeugnis right now, it is my understanding that employees can ask it at any time.
It sounds like your role isn't right in the job architecture, job grading or banding or whatever term they are using. If you ask, they might share the two specifications, allowing you to consider how your roles, responsibilities, activities etc fit with the job grading used, ie old job title versus new job title.
You might be able to ask nicely to have your Zeugnis/testimonial amended to reflect your "old" job title as well, when you come to leave.
Much depends on asking nicely and not getting too disgruntled and loud about the whole thing. It's a nuisance cos you've been getting on with your job. But, you're salary is unchanged and, if you like your boss and colleagues, I would concentrate on those elements.