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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

anyone else been screwed over by their employer while on mat leave?

43 replies

sweetuphoria · 26/04/2011 11:04

All through my mat leave I have been open and honest with my boss telling her I would like to return part time due to childcare issues. She's said on numerous occasions that I shouldn't worry about it and that she wants me back in any shape or form and can work round me. Now 1 month before I am due back I get a very formal letter in the post saying there are no part time jobs in the company and job share is not possible. She didn't even have the guts to call me and explain. Nice.

OP posts:
squeakytoy · 26/04/2011 11:07

Is it possible she has not had the final say in this, and perhaps feels bad about it.

Original poster
sweetuphoria · 26/04/2011 11:10

Yeah I understand that but I would've accepted it if she had called me to explain - I guess what makes it worse it that we were friends.

OP posts:
Mumofaflump · 26/04/2011 11:11

They need to have damn good reasons for saying that. As far as I know your employer has to work around you or provide conclusive proof that to do so will prove detrimental to the company.

Challenge your HR department. Just ask them why? What are the reasons and rationale behind this decision?

SardineQueen · 26/04/2011 11:14

Yes. Before I went on mat leave i had many conversations instigated by my manager in which she talked about how it would be working with a baby, and that she guessed I would want to work 3 days, that's fine etc etc.

I duly put in my flexible working request for 3 days and when I went in for my "back to work" meeting I was told that part-time was not an option and my only alternative to full time was to resign. So I resigned.

After that HR tried to do me out of a load of money.

So you're not alone. I'm sorry this has happened.

raedrenn · 26/04/2011 11:14

Have you put in a formal request for flexible working?

FabbyChic · 26/04/2011 11:15

Friends and bosses don't bode well, she cannot treat you any different to other staff, you have to be treated like an employer, however a heads up would have been nice.

FabbyChic · 26/04/2011 11:16

Employee sorry!

hairfullofsnakes · 26/04/2011 11:17

Definitely follow the advice given about contacting hr. They should work with you but many employers find ways to be unaccomodating

My previous employers tried to stiff me when I told them I was pg! Arses!

Original poster
sweetuphoria · 26/04/2011 11:19

They put in the letter that a job share would be detrimental to the productivity of the business. I called ACAS for advice and they said that this is a valid reason even though I personally think its rubbish. They are advertising another part time job on a lower pay scale which I am going to ask them to give to me. If they refuse this then I have a strong case against them

OP posts:
GiddyPickle · 26/04/2011 11:19

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

porcamiseria · 26/04/2011 11:21

I dont see this as screwed over TBH, flex working is NOT a right and it does not always suit business. I had the same (promised 1 day off a fortnight, then got told a big fat NO). I dont think it will help you to be a victim in this and see yourself as being screwed. try and have open dialogue and see if you can have another solution
4 day week, or
different hours

also dont get why you can have childcare if you work FT?

I am sorry this is gutting for you, but time and time I have seen women enagege in battle over this and it never helps them

hairylights · 26/04/2011 11:24

i can really understand your frustration, having been assured they would

However, just some clarification on some points.

Your employer does not have to grant flexible working - they have to consider it, and if they are unable to accommodate the request, they must be able to justify that for business reasons.

Informal chats and meetings do not constitute a trackable flexible working request - they should be formalised and put in writing.

Original poster
sweetuphoria · 26/04/2011 11:24

I did make a formal written request and then subsequently had a meeting to discuss how this was going to work. My boss seemed very positive in the meeting, then two weeks later I received the letter

OP posts:
GiddyPickle · 26/04/2011 11:28

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

hairylights · 26/04/2011 11:33

You have followed the correct procedure - and so has your employer. Two weeks is a good timescale for them to have turned around a decision - they dont have to do it that quickly.

I guess this a lesson in not doing this stuff informally (as you say you'd discussed it over a period of time before putting the request in formally) and (I see this an awful lot) not assuming you have the right to flexible working when you only have the right to request flexible working

vic77en · 26/04/2011 11:34

Yes. Similar to my circ, except they were never positive about me returning part-time. The letter 2 weeks later is them following the process.
However how can they say there are no part-time jobs in the company if they are advertising a lower level part-time role?
Definitely call them today and follow up with a letter saying you have seen this part-time role advertised and are interested in discussing it with them.

Original poster
sweetuphoria · 26/04/2011 12:00

Thanks all, interesting to hear other peoples take on it, I guess to some extent I expected too much, although I will be very annoyed if they do not let me have this other job that they have advertised as they blatantly lied saying there are no part time jobs in the company

OP posts:
porcamiseria · 26/04/2011 13:13

happens all the bloody time. lets hope you manage to get that job, they are meant to give priority to internal people so fingers crossed

Prunnhilda · 26/04/2011 13:20

Yes this happens all the time. It is endemic.
I was not that much of a feminist until nearly every one of my friends while I was pregnant experienced some sort of discrimination while pregnant or on maternity leave.

Original poster
sweetuphoria · 26/04/2011 13:29

They really shouldn't be able to get away with this sort of thing in this day and age.

OP posts:
porcamiseria · 26/04/2011 13:29

DONT use the wording that giddy suggests (sorry giddy!) way too alarmist

the problem is we now have a world where most women work, and have worked bloody hard to have good jobs. Then we trun around and say "hey, I want to do my job, 3 days a week". I just dont think business can cope TBH, my boss said no to 1 bloody day a fortnight! Its hard, hard for Mums but i9t is also hard on business too

SardineQueen · 26/04/2011 13:31

I like the way that the companies are supposed to give proper consideration to the request... yeah right... and if they don't what are we supposed to do? Sue the pants off them? Not a very likely reaction from the average new mum, is it.

Stats say that 10s of thousands of women lose their jobs when they get pg every year still. The fact that rules are there doesn't mean much really.

InMyPrime · 26/04/2011 13:35

Same here, Prunnhilda, didn't really think that discrimination against pregnant women / women on maternity leave was really an issue these days until I and my friends started our families and suddenly fixed term contracts were not being renewed, part-time hours were refused etc. In my own case, I'm 17 weeks pregnant and just as I was going public on my pregnancy at work, at 14 weeks, I was called in for some random chat with the director of our division who informed me that my role was under consideration for redundancy. I was Shock as no-one else is being made redundant at the moment and their own financial plan says that staff activities will be reviewed from 2012 with a view to making 'staff cost savings' in 2013 so the timeline doesn't even make sense. They're claiming the strategy for my team 'isn't working' but no-one else in my team has received redundancy notice or even notice of a change in team structure / strategy. The funniest thing is that the strategic plan for our team for 2011 that we agreed in January has me leading on a number of projects for the year! Nothing has changed in the team externally either e.g. sudden loss of income or contract etc.

It's all so monumentally dodgy, I've lodged a grievance with our parent organisation's HR director (as the director of our division is the most senior person in the organisation so it can't go any higher internally) and am awaiting the outcome of the investigation at the moment. All a huge amount of stress that I don't need... I'm still in shock that an employer would even try this on in this day and age as is everyone I know. Most employers at least pretend to be following procedures and the law so they can't get caught out...

Sorry for the hijack, OP, but Prunnhilda's comment struck a chord. Hope your situation is resolved - it sounds like a good idea to go back and point out that they are advertising other part-time positions so clearly the statement in their letter is a lie inaccurate.

chunkythighs · 26/04/2011 13:38

I can beat that- In the space of a month my husband died and my mother was diagnosed with cancer. My area manager called me in and assured me that not only was I to take a full year off, he would organise a transfer closer to my home town (I commuted 90 mins each way) and he would ensure my new position was social working hours (I was working 25hr shifts and I had a baby).

Fast forward a year I contact my manager and he denied all knowledge of our conversation and informs me that if I can't return I can always resign Angry. So much for 10 years service! I haven't worked in almost 2 years. One thing to lose my husband but my career too?

Hoping that karma will beat him about the head some day soon.

darleneconnor · 26/04/2011 13:41

30000 women lose or are forced out of their jobs every year in the UK due to pregnancy. This is not at all uncommon.

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