Office worker - right to refuse to move?

work in office doin admin for managers. there's 5 of us all on same contract. 1 does reception has done since she started 3 yrs ago that's what she signed up to do! She's had enough saying she wants to progress & move onto bigger and better things (our manager said she can't progress anymore) yet told us she'll be taken off reception desk. it's to be decided who'll replace her. been told that cos I'm fulltime, noone else is, (there are 5+manager in total) I may have to do her job on reception permanantly as well as do my own work. I think this it totally unfair as I'm gonna struggle to do everything & cover reception aswell + it' like a demotion, I don't see why I should move. I want to progress too & don't feel it's fair for me to be forced to move when there are others in office too. Why should being part time (part timers do minimum of 23hrs-30hrs) mean they don't have to do it. Contract mentions covering calls & reception which we all can share so can I be forced to move?

Sounds like you have good grounds for a pay rise. You may want to check your contract of employment, you'll probably find an "and any other duties determined by management" or similar tucked away somewhere.

You definitely need to rethink this job.

Not because they're asking you to move, but because of why you don't want to move. There are 2 ways to look at their request: 1) You're doing a great job and indicated you can handle the additional workload. OR 2) You're not really meeting your job performance standards and they're trying to find a better fit for you - without having to let you go or criticize you personally.

It's not what happens to us, it's how we deal with it. You don't sound happy about the additional responsibility. Managers often don't plan well and don't use their employees as assets. They move them around as they see fit, without much consultation on the why or what ifs.

Discuss your concerns with your immediate supervisor ONLY. No fussing to your coworkers, clients, etc.. Be ready to accept the answer he/she gives you without reading too much into. Is this a window of opportunity or a closed door?

Hmmmmm - given the 'mobility' clause in your written terms and conditions, you don't have the right to 'refuse' to take on (some) of the tasks of Receptionist. However, you cannot do BOTH jobs and therefore need to ask your Managers which task is more important to the organisation - that of receptionist or whatever other tasks, your written terms and conditions specify???? If you 'cover' the Receptionist's duties, then you need to make it VERY clear that you are NOT undertaking your other duties at the same time and that you are only 'covering the Receptionist's duties 'under protest' and the company should NOT consider that you are doing so permanently.

In order to do all this, you need to institute your Company's Grievance procedure and put all this IN WRITING (KEEP A COPY FOR YOURSELF)!!!

Good luck.

It seems unfair but in reality it isn't. You're an admin. When there is no receptionist the admin is expected to fill that role as well. In any place you ever worked, did any manager EVER do receptionist duties? Probably not. They're managers...the ones in charge, they shouldn't have to be doing low level receptionist work unless there is noone else to handle it. IMO, you either need to suck it up and just do the additional work or find another job.
I'm an admin also so I know how it is. ...but I'm more than just the admin. I'm also the receptionist, counter sales clerk, and permit clerk (handling city permits/inspections). In addition to that I'm also the IT person handling PC repair/upgrades, desktop support, and programming for the in-house software.