Worried work are trying to get rid of me because I am pregnant - help? (long)

[PreggersAtWork]

This is the second time I have posted this as name change didn't work last time! Hopefully I've got it right this time...

Original post:

Am a regular but have name changed for this.

Apologies if this is long and rambling. I do have some specific questions at the end, if any employment lawyers are around to help?

The background: I have been working for my company since April 2007. After a 3 month probation, I had an appraisal which marked me as ?Excellent? (out of Excellent, Good, Satisfactory and Poor) on all 8 benchmarks and therefore secured the position. In April 2008, I had another appraisal which marked me ?Excellent? or ?Good? on all 8 benchmarks, was confirmed to be a ?passionate?, ?diligent? and ?committed? worker, who performed well and exceeded expectations at all levels. A ?key team player? and an ?extremely hard worker?, I received a 25% pay increase to reflect my performance.

3 months later I announced my first pregnancy. I, in my mind, continued to perform well and volunteered for extra work to demonstrate my commitment to the company, and yet at the end of 2008, I was awarded a terrible bonus ? I would describe it as ?token?. I know we were heading into a recession and I should be grateful for any bonus, but the point was I was astounded that I had dropped in their estimation so far in 8 months, and had been given no indication that they were unhappy with my performance until opening my pay cheque. I had a difficult and frank conversation with my Managing Partner over the phone close to Christmas, and he told me I had underperformed on key projects and that I was working below par. I disputed this (for example the results on one particular project were a shared responsibility, and I said at the time I thought we were making bad decisions which would lead to poor results; I was over-ruled). I requested a formal appraisal immediately to address the problem, and was told I was not due one until April 2009.

As I would be on maternity leave then, I asked them to set me objectives until my mat leave started (Feb 18) and I was set these. In the 5 short weeks I was able to work on these objectives, I achieved them (in the main).

I went on maternity leave and returned on Sept 21. On Oct 21 I had to present all of my markets strategy and plans for 2010, and only had 3 weeks to prepare this in. I was given no help by my maternity cover who had been working with my market for the previous 7 months. I continued to work hard and asked for another appraisal in November as it was long overdue. I had no response. I found out I was pregnant again and announced my pregnancy on Jan 7th. I had my appraisal scheduled for Jan 11th. In that appraisal, I was marked as ?poor? or ?satisfactory? on every bench mark, and told I was not doing my job well enough and that I had to drastically change.

I refuted with written comments all the statements which were levelled against me as examples of my poor work (I have evidence to the contrary on every statement) and followed up with a suggested list of new objectives for February. They have agreed to look at those next week in a meeting on the phone, but have also asked me to come to the central office (in another country) to discuss ?work processes? and other ?areas requesting attention?.

So, I think this: I got pregnant, had a baby and they were pissed off. I came back and told them I was leaving to have another baby, so now they are trying to get rid of me (I don?t fit their company profile anymore and am inconveniently taking time off to have children which doesn?t fit with their view of my job description). I am worried that on Feb 5th they will issue me with a verbal warning so the first stage of dismissal is complete (it is followed by 2 more written warnings before dismissal).

I would like to know this:

1. If they are trying to get rid of me before I am due to take mat leave in early May and succeed, do you think I have a case for sex discrimination?
   
   
2. If they have given me this appraisal and we have agreed objectives for Feb (by late Jan), can they then ALSO issue me a verbal warning on Feb 5th when I visit them face-to-face? Shouldn?t I have time to improve my performance (which I am disputing is ?poor? or even ?satisfactory?) before a verbal warning is given?
   
   
3. If they do give me a verbal warning on Feb 5th, how long do they have to give me to ?improve? before moving onto stage 2 and the first written warning? The reason I ask this, is because I was thinking of taking my mat leave early (my mother is very ill and may not have that long left ? I?d like to use some of my mat leave time to spend with her and look after her as my parents are separated and she has no one to look after her) and so I believe (reading the company handbook) that I only have to give 6 weeks notice before going on mat leave, which takes me to March 1st. If I do do that, is there any way my line manager could issue me a verbal warning and 2 written warnings before I left, so they could officially sack me and then not pay my mat leave (6 months full salary), all within 6 weeks before I go on leave? Or am I ?safe? as this time period is too short?
   
   4)Because I haven?t had an appraisal for 21 months (and not for lack of me asking) and yet my contract states I should have one every 12 months and a salary review at the same time, are they in breach of my contract should they try and sack me for ?poor performance? issues?
   
   5)In the hand book it says they can skip the verbal and written warnings and go straight to dismissal for gross misconduct for a variety of reasons (drunk at work, on drugs, confidentiality breach etc) but also for ?serious performance issues? ? what could this be? I don?t they could possibly state this in my case, but now I am so worried and paranoid...
   
   That?s huge, and very boring if you?re not me. Sorry. If anyone got to the end and could help me out, I would be very grateful indeed!

[PreggersAtWork]

I've copied and pasted below what lifeistooshort posted in response to the above, but which was deleted because I reported my own thread because I forgot to name change... keeping up?

lifeistooshort said:

I am not an employement solicitor (just a normal one) but based solely on what you said, I would think that

1. you have a case for unfair dismissal
   
2. you possibly have a case for sex discrimination
   
3. they certainly are in breach of contract.
   
   I would asap:
   
4. get any evidence you can in writting (e-mails showing refusal to give you an appraisal, feedback for appraisals etc)
   
   
5. Make sure that you take anyone you trust for any work related hearings. Ask your HR manager who you are entitled to have with you
   
   
6. get yourself a reputable employment solicitor specialising in pregancy discrimination/ dismissal asap (one firm I know of that is reputable in this area is Russell Jones and Walker)
   
   I would however
   
   
7. be aware they will try to shred you in little pieces and your whole working like will be under a magnifying glasses and scrutiny. It will be very unpleasant and stressful (can you live with this pregant)
   
   
8. your solicitor should try to negotiate a good reference if you settle. As otherwise they will screw you on future reference. Also in an interview explaining that you left your last job because you sued them is not always the winning chip
   
   
9. the best you will get his a payment. Even if you keep your job, your life is going to be a misery
   
   
10. it will be a nightmare to prove
    
    Good luck, I know how unfair, stressful and generally horrible this is. I hope you come on top
    
    --
    
    Thank you lifeistooshort, for posting so quickly. I guess the biggest thing which has really upset my DH (and me, but he's really angry about it) is that my confidence has already taken a huge battering from this. I've always prided myself in the work I do, the relationships I have at work, and my reputation as a team player who gets the job done. Now I'm questioning everything, and wondering if they're right and that I really am rubbish at my job and deserved that awful appraisal. DH is livid I am now doubting myself rather than being the confident person I used to be.
    
    So if the best I can hope to get is a payment, with a reputation and confidence level left in shreds due to nasty truibunal in the middle of my pregnancy / birth / mum's illness -- do you think I should just request my mat leave starts as soon as poss (6 weeks from now) and hope I can get away before they try to officially dismiss me? So that I get my 7 months off paid mat leave - and then I resign when I get back? DH thinks this is "letting them win", and that it's a principle thing, but I just don't know if it's all going to be worth it, trying to sue them (they are a very wealthy company and will throw very expensive lawyers at this).
    
    Think I am just going to request mat leave from March 1st and say good riddance...
    
    (but will defo take your advice and send all emails etc to personal email so I have paper trail of all of the above).
    
    Thanks life, and Jenny - from the original thread! Here's hoping #2 doesn't take 80 hours to work her way out...

[jennylindinha]

Hi Preggers, 80 hours - yikes! Maybe number two will be a bit quicker

Hope you get some good advice on here... Just try not to get too stressed, you need to be calm and happy for your sake and your family's. I guess you should just keep that in mind if you go down the tribunal/suing route. I think that if you can get your maternity leave ok, then at least that gives you some more time to think about it.

Mind you, you don't know for sure what your company's plans are, but it doesn't sound too good.

Best of luck anyway, x

[needahand]

Hi Preggers

it is lifetooshort here again. Used my own log in because I had just started a new thread calling for you and I don't want to give you new name away by replying as lifetooshort again.

It is a really difficult situation you are in and I know exactly how you feel, having been in the same with my DD. I too could see it coming and wondered if I should sue. It would have been reasonably easy for me to prove. However, the stress of it all meant that I went in labout with DD at 32 weeks luckily the hospital stopped the labour, but after that I decided that my DD was more important. Also I was quite new in my career then and this issue of reference would have been a big one for me (and the legal profession is quite small so it would have known etc...)

However, I always felt that I sold myself short and that I let them get away with it to perhaps do it to someone else. I know what you mean about the confidence, but eventually I was so angry I decided I wouldn't let them get to me.

If you win, you get a payment but it is also a recognition that what they did was wrong and that you are a valuable employee(assuming that you go to trial and win...not settle) but a trial where they will try to dish as much dirt as they can will be really stressful.

Also I would be careful as to what sites you connect to when you are at work (no mumsnet!) and also be very careful with your personal e-mails as they might monitor them

My career suffered a little in the beginning, but because like you I am good at what I am doing, with hard work and determination, I have managed to claw my way back and am now ahead of my peers...so don't dispair and have faith in your abilities.

Of course you can always take you maternity leave early, not resign, return after you have baby 2 and if you are treated badly then sue them for unfaire dismissal if they try to get rid of you

This said only you know what is best for you. I am really feeling for you as it is not a nice position to be in.

[Boobz]

Thanks needahand.

You're right, I don't need the stress of it all. I think I am just going to take the mat leave early, spend some time with my mum, and then try and save some cash over the next few months which means that I can take a couple of extra months off when the mat leave runs out in Oct and not go back to work until baby is at least 6 months (like I did with DD - which was a struggle in itself leaving her so early, but thinking of going back to work when she was only 4 months? I don't think I could do it...)

I only do personal emailing from my hotmail account, but I do log on to mn and facebook etc, as I work from home and my computer is not logged into their system at all, as far as I am aware (but I'm not a techy geek, so I'm not sure if they can still monitor me, website wise...)

How long did you take off with your DD, and how long did it take to get back to an even keel, IYKWIM?

[Boobz]

Oh for fuck's sake, I've done it AGAIN! You see, work are quite right, I am RUBBISH!

Sheesh.

[lifeistooshort]

and here I was worried I might give the name change away .

They got rid of me before I went on maternity leave. I had to start looking for a new job when DD was 3 months old as I had a gap on my cv. Each time and interviewer asked me about the gap and I told about DD I could see their attitude changing and crossing me off their list. I took me at least a year and a half to get a decent even keel (and another two to get ahead) but it was different for me, I had a gap on my CV. Took me 3 months to find a job in what was a buoyant market at the time.

Another solution might be to take legal advice, threaten procedure, get them to settle and give you a nice settlement sum of money and bind them to give you a nice reference. Or just approach them and say I know what you are doing, I won't let it lie, if you want me to go pay me off and agree in a binding contract a good reference

You need 4 things 1) healthy baby 2) money 3) sanity 4) confidence. The challenge is to work out what is the best way to get there

[flowerybeanbag]

I'm going to answer your specific questions:

1. Possibly, if they give you a warning or dismiss you and you have reason to believe this and possible previous events are because of your pregnancy. Have you got any actual specific reason to believe that or is it just the timing of things?

1. No. If they are going to issue you with a formal disciplinary warning you will need to be invited to a disciplinary hearing with adequate notice, and given the right to be accompanied, etc. Yes you should be given time to improve and you will have had less than a month since your appraisal. This doesn't necessarily mean they couldn't give you a warning but they can't do it at that meeting because you have not been informed it is a discplinary hearing or given a chance to prepare.

1. As I said, they can't give you a warning at the coming meeting, but even if they did, you should be allowed a 'reasonable' time period to improve before another warning is issued. They certainly couldn't get two more warnings and a dismissal in before March. Dismissing someone for performance problems take ages as you have to go through several warnings before you can dismiss and give objectives and time to improve each time. There's no question of them dismissing you before March 1st.

1. Hmm. Not so sure about this. I mean, yes, your contract says an appraisal annually, in April, but you were on maternity leave in April last year. Ideally they should have probably done one before you left on maternity leave, but to be fair, if they had performance concerns they were right to raise them as soon as possible, outside the appraisal process if necessary. I'm not saying those performance concerns were justified, of course, but because you were on maternity leave when your appraisal was due, I think it's a bit of a stretch to argue your contract was breached.

If you didn't have an appraisal before you left, one should be done after you return, but again to be fair, it should not be done immediately you return. It's better practice to give you time to settle back in and achieve something after maternity leave before assessing your performance. As you only returned from maternity leave at the end of September, I wouldn't agree that your appraisal was 'long overdue' in November. You requested one and it was eventually scheduled for January, 3.5 months after your return. I actually think that's not bad at all, as it gave you a reasonable opportunity to prove yourself on your return from maternity leave. If they'd done an appraisal in November, 6 weeks after you'd returned from maternity leave, and had raised performance concerns, you could have strongly argued they did it far too soon and didn't give you a chance to achieve anything.

1. I wouldn't worry about that, it doesn't sound as if they could reasonably claim gross misconduct in your situation.

On the face of it, in terms of timing and procedure, I don't think they've done anything wrong as yet. However based on what you say, it does sound as though they may be treating you unfairly compared to other individuals or indeed your own treatment before your pregnancies, so you may have reason to believe this is related to your pregnancies.

If your company only require 6 weeks notice to bring forward your maternity leave dates, and you want to go early anyway, then I would suggest you do that. I would suggest you go to the meeting in February and see what happens. You don't have a case for unfair dismissal at the moment, because you haven't even been issued any formal warnings let alone dismissed. You may well have a case for sex discrimination if they are treating you less favourably as a result of your pregnancies.

Assuming they don't actually dismiss you, which seems unlikely, the other thing you could consider is constructive dismissal, which is where you feel your employment relationship with them is untenable and you have no choice but to resign. That's very very difficult to prove as it is subjective, but it could be an option. You would be expected to try and resolve your issues internally as much as possible both for sex discrimination and constructive dismissal, which would usually mean a formal grievance, giving your employer every opportunity to put things right. I'm assuming you haven't raised a grievance or made any formal complaint about your treatment as yet?

[Boobz]

Hi Flowery - thanks for responding so fully!

So, it all seems like they haven't done anything "wrong" yet - except they are trying to say I am terrible at my job when I am, in my opinion, actually one of the best in the company.

I realise they haven't issued any formal warnings yet, but it does feel like it's going that way.

I haven't lodged any formal grievances yet, as once that starts, I think it's a slippery slope to be being seen as the trouble maker and non team player, and I don't want to give them any ammunition.

I am just going to take mat leave early and cut my losses I think; I don't want to work for these people anymore anyway - it doesn't seem to matter how hard I work, they are not going to appreciate it or help me further my career at this company. Sigh.

So, I shall be writing a letter to HR on Monday saying I want to take early mat leave. Do you think I should say I am going earlier than planned for "family reasons" or just leave it blank?