Can work close regional office whilst I'm on mat leave?

[SecretSquirrelTV]

Help!
I have worked for my employer for 10 years and am 6 weeks away from having first child. And 2 weeks away from finishing work.

Work recruited for my role and opted for a permanent employee rather than fixed term contract. The intention being this person can cover my role but also do a bit of learning in a couple of different business areas so they can do a number of roles/as business expands, as well as assist me when I return from mat leave in a year. Which was verbally agreed by my line manager on the basis of 4 days a week.
This person wouldn't be working from my current regional office but our main office.

Fast forward a few months and it seems there are plans to close the regional office I work in at the moment and centralise to the main office (a 1 hour 20 min commute by train, plus driving, each way). This plan coincides with when I go off on mat leave (or within a month or so). This affects a handful of others who are predominantly sales people and who hot desk in the main.

I'm not supposed to know about the plans and I think this is why they hired a perm replacement for me, and not due to expansion etc like they said. I am currently training the person! I think they wanted them in situ & trained up as they must know I can't/won't commit to working so far away from home, when I come back.

So this leaves my head spinning in that I am about to go on mat leave (we only get stat) but expect that I will have to come back to a job well over an hour each way away from where I live.
Which leaves me with worries about childcare & work life balance etc.
What if I get a call from nursery to say I've got a sick child etc, husband is a regional manager so away from home city often.
I also mentioned to my line manager/a director about getting conf of the 4 day return in writing and he said 'yeah but you should add 'subject to board approval' on the email just so it doesn't look like I've just agreed it' even though there was no mention of this when we spoke.
After 10 year I can't believe they would treat me like this!

Can they do this?
Will I have to work back my maternity if I didn't want to work in main office upon return?
Can I apply for redundancy or something in this instance, if they are not offering me same working conditions I left with?

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks x

[RelaxMax]

Yes they can close a regional office, whenever they choose. It's very likely your contract says expressly that they can move the location of your work.

It's normal that requests to work part-time etc are dealt with when maternity leave is ending, and would be very unusual to have it officially confirmed before you leave.

If you're only getting statutory maternity pay, you won't need to pay it back if you decide not to return to work.

They can't change your role while you're on maternity leave but they can relocate you.

[RelaxMax]

Alppreciate that's not what you want to hear. It's good you have some advance warning though, time to start thinking about where to work next!

[SecretSquirrelTV]

It's nowhere near what I wanted to hear!
I just don't get it, what if the regional office was Birmingham and the main was London (it isn't admittedly)? How is that treating an employee fairly?

And do you know the position on being offered redundancy etc upon my return from maternity?

X

[RelaxMax]

It's normal for a contract to say they can relocate you within a reasonable distance - so they couldn't move your job from London to Cardiff for example.

But it sounds like your main office would still be within a reasonable distance.

My former employer relocated us all about 45 minutes away, there were people who left because of it but no suggestion of them getting redundancy or paid out. Their jobs weren't actually vanishing just moving.

[Bluntness100]

This is a reasonable distance and yes they can do it. There is a limit on it, I can't remember what it is, but it's something like 75 or a 100 miles from one office to the other, you'd have to check. If you elect not to work from the new office you would not be eligible for redundancy, as you would be resigning, I'm sorry,

[SecretSquirrelTV]

Thanks for your responses- albeit no tea or sympathy!

[Bluntness100]

I'm sorry op, but it seems a reasonable distance from one office to the other. As such when reasonable, companies are with their rights to do it. Please believe it's not personal and it's not about you. They are looking at the business, I'm sure they don't want you to resign, but they cannot decide on keeping offices open based on one employees needs, it has to be about the business needs.

If they do it, your choice will be work from the new office or resign. Is there a potential you could work from home?

[SandmanSlim]

it happened to me. DD was 10 days old when they told me. "Luckily" they moved the office miles and miles away so I got redundancy but I'm still cross. The good thing is you know early and can start to plan. I hope another more local job comes up for you.

[SecretSquirrelTV]

I'm not sure that a minimum of 2 hours 40 mins a day commuting is 'reasonable' to be honest.
It is an established office that three other people use very regularly so not solely about me, but impacts me the most.

I am about 99% sure I would resign, they have never been keen on people working from home, so suspect they would keep this stance.

The hard part is that I have 'stumbled across' this info, so can't even raise the issue really.

And there's the issue of having a year off on maternity & then starting to look for a new job after 10 years there & on a part time basis. So there's the fear of the unknown and everything else.

I know it's not life or death but it's scary & stressful!

[SecretSquirrelTV]

Thanks SandmanSlim, it's just not very nice and I'm both cross and upset.
They are happily letting me travel over to the main office 8 months pregnant to train the new person, all the while knowing I'm ultimately going to quit in a year when I come back from maternity leave & need to get a new job, but leaving them with a fully fledged replacement!

[shouldwestayorshouldwego]

At least in your new job search you know that you are looking for part time so there will be no expectations that you will magically squeeze your full time role into three days without losing any roles. You can look for something which might be little more flexible than your current role. At least for the first few years you can look for a nursery near your work rather than near home - it is different at school age. Only having statutory pay does mean that you could go back sooner if the right job came up. Still a frustrating experience but there might be some silver linings.

[BikeRunSki]

My office was closed when I was on maternity leave with my second child. I was included in the consultation, albeit I didn't pay much attention once I'd gone on ML.

1hr 20 mins is not really an unreasonable commute - judging by many posts on here over the years, it's fairly normal for many Londoners. In a "nursery emergency" situation though, it is likely to be quicker out of rush hour My DH works away a lot too - I share the pain and fear of being the only grown up around, and at work.

Our office move increased my commute by 30 mins each way (from 40 mins to 1hr-1hr 10 ish), and moved to somewhere where we had to pay to park after having had free parking for years. The new office is a hot desk office.




I suspect you'll find that your employment contract allows your employer to do this with proper consultation. You've no real reason to suspect them of trying to oust you by moving offices though, and bringing in your replacement before you go on ML.

It's normal to talk about return to work, working hrs etc towards the end of ML. This is for your benefit, so you can decide once you've had your baby, adjusted to them (and your) needs etc. Your employer doesn't have to approve your request to change your working hrs, you need to demonstrate that there will be no detrimental impact in doing so ( is there a possibility of a Jobshare?) could you work from home once a week to reduce travelling time? Compressed hours?

[ZenNudist]

Im sorry this is happening OP. Your dh could look to get more flexible work arrangements if hes more established in his job. Ask him if there are other people doing his job more flexibly. It doesnt just have to be on you to deal with sick child etc. Id have thought youd have to be careful with any new employer not to take the piss.

Start to think how you can share responsibility when you are back at work. You dont have to have it all figured out right now but don't just accept pt work and default carer role.

[Redlocks28]

My DH's commute is 2 hours door to door (4h each day) so yours wouldn't be insurmountable. Can see why you're fed up though.

[ilovesooty]

I can see why you're unhappy but the commute in itself doesn't seem unreasonable. JSA claimants are expected to apply for roles 90 minutes away.

[thekingfisher]

Secret squirrel - things are not quite as cut and dried as others have made out.

Firstly check your contract for clauses that relate to where you work - what does it say.

How long is your commute now?

As a mother with childcare responsibilities it may be that it could be argued that the move is unreasonably far given commitments like nursery etc. There is case law regarding moves of this type and it is certainly not a like it or lump it scenario. However it is very much dependent on your commute now and how you conduct that and what it will be.

Regardless they will need to consult with you as it would be a contractual change and would suggest you use this time to consider the points above

With regard to your flexible work request this must. Ensubmitted using the formal flex work guidance - look on acas website - they would need to respond to you but others are right in that this is generally undertaken before you come back not before you go and you would think about submitting at application around 3 months before your return.
Make sure you take any copies before you go of correspondence relating to the flex work agreement with your manager just so you have a record of it.


Have to sign off now but hope this helps.

[SecretSquirrelTV]

I just assumed I was more 'established in my job' and had offers to leave which I didn't take in the last couple of years, so that I could build up more kudos before taking a year off and coming back part time.
The train commute would be 1.20 but daily inc driving it would be likely be nearly 3 hours, my current commute is 25 mins by car! And yes whilst I sympathise with husbands and Londoners, this is purposely not the life I have chosen. But is now being thrust upon me!
I earn £35k a year not £55k!

Thanks thekingfisher, current commute is about 6 miles and 20/25 mins in car each way, so this move would triple it a day and some!

I need to check my contract, but also worth pointing out is that I actually undertook this commute for about 3 years for the company, and then over a year ago, they sensed my frustrations and offered me to move back to the regional office, which is where my original role had always been.

In terms of childcare, it would mean dropping our baby at nursery by 7am at the latest and I would, all being well with trains and utilising an early finish, likely only collect at 6:30.

The London life is not for me, so whilst I understand many people do this and commute 4 hours a day etc, it's not for me!
I earn the least out of my husband and I by around £20/£30k so seems unrealistic to impact his salary or earnings.

My head is still spinning that this has happened to be honest. X

[SecretSquirrelTV]

Ps my commute would be well over 3 hours a day door to door, I wasn't thinking when I wrote that line, likely 3.5 hours a day x

[Charlieiscool]

I don't know why you think they couldn't close a regional office just because of you being on maternity leave.
It is awful for you but you have plenty of time to figure out what to do.

[lightcola]

I've had to look for new jobs during both of my maternity leaves for various reasons. It's hard work yes but doable. My advice to you is to start researching the companies you want to work for and get a clear idea of the work you want to do. Have your cv ready now whilst your head is in the game as in 6 months time you'll be all wrapped up in baby and will hardly remember who the colleague you sat next to was. Good luck.

[MoveOnTheCards]

Hi Secret, I can't offer any advice on the HR point or contracts etc but I decided as I went on mat leave to change jobs as soon as I could on my return as the company I was with (for 12 years) just seemed to be a bit of a poor fit for me post-baby. (Their attitude, logistics etc we're just the worst combination). I started to interview just before my may leave came to an end and I can honestly say, while it was daunting, it was also the best thing and it really did make me feel like I was in control of my career/job (and God knows with a new baby control is something you don't seem to have or feel much! ).

Please try not to get too stressed about it now, from what you say about going part time, this could be a good opportunity for you to 'reset' your working life. Good luck with it all!

[littleredlipstick]

I wasn't on maternity leave but my old company changed our base to a 3 hour commute each way on public transport (I don't drive) and that was deemed reasonable. I even had the union involved and they couldn't do anything to help me, I ended up applying for as many jobs as I could to get out.

[MaverickSnoopy]

This happened to me when I was pregnant. I actually went into labour when I got the news it was so stressful! It's been a while but at the time we had clauses in our contracts to say we would travel/work in other offices. However it couldn't be enforced as the distance was considered too great between the "old" and new location. They were actually about 60 miles apart but the commute one way took 2 hours and so it was considered unreasonable. Everyone who didn't relocate was given a settlement and time to look for other jobs. We also got training and support on interviews and applying for jobs as well as establishing ourselves as freelancers if we wished. It was a very robust package and we were very lucky. My actual commute whilst working at the old office was actually 1 - 1.5hrs even though the office was only 7 miles from my house.

I actually think that you're in a great situation under the circumstances. You're going on maternity leave and so time is on your side. You can use it to job hunt once things have settled down. Also bear in mind that you won't be face to face with these people so as and when you receive communications you can respond after giving it some thought.

In your shoes I wouldn't push the 4 days a week thing. You can make one request a year for flexible working. You could wait and see how this pans out and then apply to do 2 days at home and 2 days in the new office or some such. There is nothing from stopping you from doing this mid way through your mat leave and looking for a new job in tandem. I am speaking from experience. I've just finished my second mat leave and new that due to the commute I couldn't work full time in my current role, so I applied for flexible working (3 days a week) towards the end of my mat leave but before I did this i signed up to agencies, started applying for jobs and started doing some freelance work (no previous experience). My flexible working application was rejected and so I resigned. I have now been offered a job with a work life balance better than I ever anticipated and am still fairly successful at freelancing too, trying to build it up as a second income.

I guess what I'm trying to tell you is that everything works out one way or the other. You just need to think this through and use it as an opportunity to do what you want to do. Before I left my current role I was so bound by "the norm" working full time and being PAYE but my circumstances made me think outside the box to get what I really wanted. I've not "won" yet, I'm not saying that my life will be easy now, but I have finally reached a level of relaxation around work and not letting myself get stressed about these things. I used to stress about everything but now I have to believe that everything will work out, because it will.

Take a step back and try not to worry so much. It will be ok and remember that time is on your side here. At least you are going on mat leave and not being thrust into this now.

[SecretSquirrelTV]

Charlieiscool, I don't think they can't close a regional office, but I am upset by it as it's a change to my life and what I've been told up until now. They still haven't even told me about it.

Thanks moveisonthecards it's just daunting. I've just imagined have a year off and come back and carry on- it's just been quite disconcerting to think in month 9 or 10 of mat leave I'm going to have to start looking for a new job. But I'm taking some heart from the fact you found it a positive change and are not jaded by it.

Littleredlipstick who needs to deem the commute 'reasonable'? That's one point I don't understand!

Thanks all x

[SecretSquirrelTV]

Thanks MaverickSnoopy, another positive view.
Hopefully it will be a positive experience albeit one brought about by others rather than myself! X