Occupational hazards: some employers hand out fancy job titles as a zero-cost motivational tool, while others use them to attempt a laudable culture change, But, as Charles Orton-Jones explains, the usual outcomes are cynicism and confusion.
| Author | Orton-Jones, Charles |
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Job titles matter. Sad, but true. They matter to the holders. They matter to status-obsessed metrosexuals who lurk at cocktail parties. And they matter--nay, they are of supreme importance--to companies that want to put a price on your head.
Insurance firms are obsessed by job titles. They employ scores of PhDs to apply esoteric algorithms to determine how likely it is that you will crash your car. They have decreed that your job title is the surest indicator of your prang-ability.
Should you try to get cover for a small hatchback--a Fiat Bravo, say--tell the insurers that you are a firewood merchant and they will marvel at your driving skills. Crash? This man? Never--he sells firewood. Your annual premium is likely to be a paltry 170 [pounds sterling]. If you tell them that you've now left your career in kindling and have become a bishop, just watch that premium soar by 200 [pounds sterling]. Purely because of your new occupation Whether the insurers fear divine wrath or have learned of a secret street-racing fad among the clergy, we do not know, but the algorithms decree that you're that much more dangerous. It gets dafter: become a golf caddie and your premium shoots up another 200 [pounds sterling]. A welder, and your premium passes the 1,000 [pounds sterling] mark. And, if you're unlucky enough to be a stuntman, you will pay 12,437 [pounds sterling]. A year. For a Fiat Bravo.
The law is starting to take a professional interest in job titles. Private investigators are regulated by the Private Security Industry Act 2001. Certain groups, such as journalists, market researchers, accountants and lawyers are exempt from this legislation, despite the fact that they conduct similar activities The solution? Private detectives have simply rebranded themselves.
Directors are governed by the Companies Act 2006 which sets out a range of responsibilities. These include the dub act in good faith to the best interest of their companies; the duty to avoid conflicts of interest; the duty not to profit unfairly from their offices; and the duty of care. Breaking this law can result in fines injunctions and disqualification from running a company, yet the term "director" is often used to add lustre to distinctly non-directorial positions. For example, junior members of staff at PR firm Golley Slater are called account managers. They are supervised by account directors. Needless to say, these "directors" are not registered at...
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