1 in 7 women made redundant after maternity leave. Plus, new guest blog from Maternity Action

Yes, happened to me with my first child. Returned to work FT after 6mths, was told the week before I returned that my role was being terminated and that I would need to find another role in the company. I returned to try and do this, found the only roles available were lesser ones so went down redundancy route. Having had a second child and been out of work for a while (not through choice) I feel I face the prospect of my career being over at the grand age of 36. With hindsight I wonder whether taking the lesser roles/pay would have been the better option but it was a very difficult decision to take with hormones/child not settling. I accept my employer made a business decision but I still feel there must have been a better way.

Smithson 6 i'm not irritable?????? what an ofd thing for you to say. Im Honest. Just pointing out many posters have not answered the question asked and chosen to use it as a generic platform to discuss their perceived mistreatment and some rather irrelevant items about men being paid more. (Which might be relevant in another thread,, they are not relevant to the guardian article.) There is a distinct difference between 'made' redundant and pressured to resign and 'voluntarily redundant' Im simply keen the topic is not derailed by people who want to broaden the area of discussion, theres other topics for that. This is about being MADE redundant or the role changing significantly........

Well I am horrified :( No kids yet...

mungotracy dont be so irritable. Most people were responding to the questions which were- were you made redundant in maternity leave and if not had you job changed when you went back? Tis an interesting question.
Some people who did loose their jobs will have done so under dubious circumstances, others not and this is reflected in the range of replies. We are all aware that we can appeal to tribunals and other legal systems if we have been discriminated against but not everyone wants to as it is a long and tiresome process that can also affect your chances of future employment.

New job not newborn ffs!

It was strongly hinted that there would be no job to return to after my maternity leave. I had been in post for 13 years and just before I went off a newborn was advertised which comprised of 95% of my current work. When I asked what I would be doing when I returned I was told not to worry my head about that and to enjoy my baby

I resigned and consequently left a job in a place that I had loved and had been my dream job for years :(

I was made redundant 8 weeks after having a MMC. It was no coincidence!

Yep, me and the other two mums in my office were just made redundant. Local government. My boss who made the decision has two kids, he is a bastard!

Yup, my role was restructured (the only one) during my mat leave. I know this has happened to one other mum of my cohort and know two mums made redundant on mat leave. I have several female colleagues tell me they are putting off having children now for fear it will damage their careers.

It does surprise me at a personal level as I don't know anyone this has happened to in RL, apart from one person who requested 2 days a week, down from 5 days. They said there was a good chance they would make all PT redundant by the end of the year so recommended she stay FT. She said she'd take the chance, and then they did phase out all PT. The only other person I know was a Fixed income trader and then they made the entire department redundant, so that was that really. Then there are a few people who didnt really want to go back, so when the VR opportunity came up, they took it.

One of my close friends got made a partner at a magic circle law firm whilst on mat leave, although I know that's the exception, not the rule.

However, most of my friends have had positive experiences of returning to work and usually moan that their bosses are on at them to do more days rather than talking about redundancy

Redundancy happens to people regardless of their mat status. Maternity does not protect you completely from redundancies they must still be justified and anyone who solely made one mat role redundant would be in court in the blink of an eye. As it happens you have more protection for redundancy than a worker who isnt on mat leave. You also cant be demoted during maternity leave. You get the same job back....if however on return you fail to do the same job then yes you will face that. Sadly this article was very misleading and most of the other women posting on this board seem confused, most of them are claiming that their company acted illegally....which is unlikely...if they did its your own job to go and redress it... As to other issues if anyone actually has ANY PROOF that they are REALLY being paid less than a man for the same role with the same length of service then I really don't see why you don't do something about it instead of moaning about how unfair it is when there is a remedy.

Yes it happened to me. My role was changed and HR said that it had changed by a big enough percentage (by their definition) that it was classed as a "new" role therefore would be advertised and I would have to apply for it - if I wanted to come back - alongside other candidates. In fact that was wrong, and under UK legislation I had more protection when on maternity leave than any other employee against redundancy. I should have been reappointed without any need to apply (unless they could prove that i was not eligible to apply, which i was, as the role was the same role but with a slight change in responsibilities, but nothing I was not qualified or experienced to do, and it was at the same level). I took legal advice, and my lawyer negotiated a handsome redundancy payout which also "compensated" me for the mistreatment.

I was lucky though. HR department were a bit thick and hadn't checked UK legislation (they were using the "global" policy), - in the words of my lawyer "it's a black and white case of discrimination, they would lose if you took them to tribunal" but i didn't want that stress, and neither did they so they settled.

I think in many cases the redundancy is cloaked in business restructure etc, so it's less easy to claim / prove discrimination. In my favour was the fact that emails from HR and my manager proved they were effectively going against the UK legislation (they didn't realise it at the time) and couldn't claim otherwise when the evidence was produced.

I should add that it was only my role in the department that changed, so less easy for them to claim a business case for the change. I actually put it to them after we'd settled that they'd tried to be clever and get rid of me because I'd indicated I wanted to return part-time. I still think that's true.

It happened continuously where I worked.
Was used in conjunction with a complete refusal to offer flexible hours on return from mat. The excuse provided was that as it was a sales organisation it was impossible to provide the service required on PT or reduced hours.
Our CEO said openly that a woman's mind would never fully be on her job on her return from mat.
My role was reduced due to a restructure that I wasn't informed about until my return. They had decided my new role on my behalf as I would never be able to manage my old role with a new baby
HR advised that I could take the role or take redundancy as the company had now restructured. HR Director said that it was a good deal as my new role had less responsibility but with the same salary.
I realised that she might not have my best interests at heart...

I had the opposite experience. When I was on maternity leave for DC2 half of my deptment was made redundant. I was told I was exempt and protected from redundancy because I was on maternity leave, I was the only person in my deptment not included in the process.

I was gutted because I really wanted to be made redundant but wasn't allowed to even volunteer myself, which would have spared somebody else, who might have really needed the job, from being made redundant.

I wasn't made redundant but my career was down the toilet - I was constantly sidelined and passed over for promotion and my boss was constantly moaning - I took voluntary redundancy in the end and moved on.

I have seen this happen to a number of women, but very often it has been exactly what they wanted. Women who were planning not to return, being offered a pay off to leave is not really bad news for them.

Obviously there are others who would have dearly loved to go back, but most of the people I know have considered it very good news indeed. Usually their managers have done them a favour by making sure they were on the list, rather than discriminating against them because they have become mothers.

Happened to me. I'd been back 4 months on part time hours (was originally full time and then some) in a slightly different role. Myself and 3 other females all aged mid 20's to mid 30's got the heave ho.
I'm currently on mat leave again and thankfully was part time to begin with and work are looking forward to me returning. My current employer was rated quite highly in the '100 Best Places to Work in the Public and Charity Sectors' by the Sunday Times.
I am appalled at what I have read on here, whilst I appreciate a lot of people are losing their jobs at the moment simply due to the economic climate, there is absolutely no excuse to penalize people for having children or requesting flexible working.

Yup me too. Went back to work and was made to interview for my own job within 4 weeks of returning. Faced taking VR or being made compulsorily redundant. Fought back, kept job. Not been promoted ever since.
It's frustrating and builds anger and resentment that present itself in many different ways.

I was made redundant whilst on mat leave with DD2, but in contrast to a lot of posts here, I feel it was entirely fair - 55% of my department was made redundant. All of the positions the same as mine were made redundant, and my peers only stayed if they took a different job. I was pleased to take the redundancy payment as I was stuck in a rut with that company and was pleased to have the kick up the arse I needed to move somewhere else.

Happening to me at the moment. Currently on mat leave and work are "restructuring"...my job is the only one affected (surprise, surprise). Options for return involve pay cut. Currrently seeking advice from ACAS and UNISON.

I am currently on mat leave with dc2 and I was treated appallingly by my boss during my pregnancy to the point I had to take sick leave and have meetings with my boss' boss and the hr Dept . Thankfully while on mat leave my boss has been "relocated" so I am hoping things will be better when I return.

I was told I was to get a promotion then announced I was pg with dc1 . Promotion was never mentioned again . I was barely out the building to start mat leave when my young single no-intention-of-having-kids colleague announced she had been promoted.

I have a similar story.

I was demoted from my senior leadership position after having a miscarriage and complications following the erpc.

I've just returned after mat leave and instead of returning to my class, they're keeping my replacement on and I am in a vastly different role with no real 'base.'

Happened to me. I found out I was being made redundant from a coworker who had heard it from one of our clients. I was told two months later. Disgraceful behaviour. I didn't fight it, I was too knackered at the time.