Secondment ending unexpectedly whilst pregnant

[mummymarz]

Hi, i'm pregnant with my 2nd child and are experiencing lots of stress due to my secondment abrubtly coming to an end. I only started in this role in Feb, after being moved from another secondment. The understanding was that it would be untill the other person's role is made permanent. Hours are great - 8-5 and no weekends.
Upon hearing the news that my current role will come to an end on 29/06, I've applied for 2 other roles and have been unsuccessful in both ("experience") even though I have experience for both roles. I now face having to go back to my previous permanent role, not the previous secondment, which means I'd have to work evenings and weekends again, which is very hard for me in terms of childcare, and no family to help out. I know I can apply for flexible working hours, but I'm not hopeful, as they've a track record for denying this due to "business requirements".

In my first pregnancy I was made redundant at the same company and followed similar routes, although that happened later in my pregnancy and I was able to take my maternity leave a couple of weeks earlier. I'm currently 18 weeks, which means I only need to work for another 4 months. I can't believe this happening to me again!

Any advise out there please?

[imadgeine]

Sounds like turning you down for those other roles could possibly have been on the grounds of your pregnancy, which is illegal. You might also argue that by refusing you these two jobs they are trying to force you to resign. Also illegal.

Do you have a union you could talk to? Or is there one you could join?

[mummymarz]

I could, but the thing is I didn't tell them about my pregnancy based on HR advise. But a lot of people knew, and you can start to tell, so it's not impossible for them to have known.

Thanks for your response!

[flowery]

I can't see anything in the OPs post indicating that her pregnancy is the reason for her secondment ending, or that she was not successful in her applications for the other roles for anything other than fair reasons. Her pregnancy might be relevant and they might have appointed someone less qualified/experienced to both roles but there's nothing indicating that so far.

mummymarz when was your current secondment expected to end, and what reason was given for it ending early - has the permanent person returned from whatever they were doing?

In terms of the other jobs you applied for, do you have any reason to believe the people appointed are less experienced than you or less suitable in other ways?

It sounds as though your own role isn't particularly great for you - how did you manage before you were seconded to another one?