Maternity discrimination?

[Lawgal448]

I've NC for this as concerned that linked with my usual username it could out me.

I'm a solicitor. Had DC1 in March 2016 and went back to work in January after nearly 11 months off.

The usual career path for solicitors for those who aren't familiar is trainee (for two years), then associate, then senior associate, then partner. No set timescales for being promoted but I'd say 5/6 years is normal for promotion to senior associate.

Just before I got pregnant I was doing well at work and in my annual appraisal raised the prospect of promotion. I was told they were very happy with me and we set a few objectives which if I met in the forthcoming year meant I would be promoted in a year's time.

I went off on maternity leave about 7 months later, by which time I'd met some of the objectives but not all (couldn't meet financial target for example because I went off several months before the end of the financial year).

Came back (full time) and hit the ground running. Had a review this morning at which I said right let's talk about promotion then and was told that although they're very happy with me and everything I've done since I got back, they can't put me forward for promotion yet as I'm not yet profitable.

To put this in context, like most people I tagged accrued holiday into the end of my maternity leave. That means I had 6 weeks of having a target but during which time I wasn't here to meet do any work to meet it. Then when I did get back, I had no workload (they didn't take on anyone to cover my absence) so it's naturally taken a few months to get up to speed again. I was fully profitable again by last month, but the fact that I had 3 months of not being (1.5 of which I wasn't even here!!) means I miss out on a promotion.

AIBU to feel like this is a huge slap in the face? I'm not an employment lawyer but my friend who is says it's indirect discrimination, because women who take maternity leave and/or have childcare responsibilities are less likely to hit financial targets.

I don't quite know where to take it from here, it will do me no favours to wave the discrimination card around and I can't realistically look for another job as it wouldn't be the right thing to do by DS right now. But I'm just so pissed off and aggrieved. I've worked so hard since I got back and have been told I'm doing everything right.

Not even sure what my AIBU is tbh. AIBU to think this is maternity discrimination and it sucks?!?!

It does suck. Unfortunately women do take a hit career wise when we start a family.. The push for equality is on everyones agenda, but in reality it is not equal and imo will never be.

Just to add, I have recently come back from maternity so I know where you are coming from and have had to show I am not dead weight in the workplace.

Have you asked them when you can expect promotion? They said a year originally, you left on leave about halfway through that, so theoretically around 5-6 months might seem about right for promotion. You also said you hit ground running, but then said you had no work for a month and a half coming back.

You need to repost in the legal section as there are a couple of excellent employment lawyers who will hopefully be able to advise you. I do agree that this sounds like discrimination however I'm no expert and I don't know how they categorise maternity leave vs 6 weeks of holiday.

Also you have to think about what you want to gain from any attempt to fight it.

Surely they should have pro-rated your targets, they can't expect you to meet full year targets if you are not working for the whole of that time.

Thanks, I have excellent access to employment law advice through various friends at other firms. I don't honestly think it's something I want to pursue formally as I don't think it will do me any favours at all. Quite the opposite probably.

user I meant I hit the ground running in terms of immediately throwing myself back into work, doing loads of business development etc and actively building up my workload. It would have been very easy to sit back and coast along but I'm ambitious and don't want that. However no one can go from zero workload to fully profitable instantly, it takes a few months to have a steady stream of work.

They haven't given me a timescale, but promotions only happen at the beginning of the new financial year which is July for us. So they've basically said it's not happening this year, which means the earliest it can happen is next July.

I am not a lawyer so this is purely just my opinion of the facts presented. There is probably some discrimination here or at least failure to recognize the obstacles of timing and may leave on your career plan.

Going by just the numbers, yes you were only profitable in the last month and providing promotion on that basis might be setting an unwanted precedent. It would be unfair to others (though it is unfair to you) to promote you on the basis of one month and unless there was an outstanding performance they wanted to recognize. However I don't know if the workload was addressed when you came back - though it's unlikely you would have joined and focused straight on the promotion- I guess it was something that arrived at review time.

Given you're stuck there, perhaps the best way at forward is positive drive. Are the annual reviews set in stone? Could you arrange a review in 6 months time to perhaps discuss the promotion or at least get an assurance that you're on track? The reasons would be as you've laid out (lack of workload putting you behind target , achieving target in just the last month) and also your future commitment to career progression. (Which benefits the company) to th company and your development as an jndividual of value (and all of that crap). Don't waive the discrimination card but you can show your appetite for prpgression and getting back to your career path, and oh bummer how you've missed work and being valuable and useful. I've seen in the past how individuals who keep going on about wanting to be promoted (in the right way of course) get what they want much quicker.

Hope that helps in any way.

Oh bummer, you've updated on the annual reviews whilst I was dribbling out a reply.

Yes generally you'll need to be billing at least 4 times your annual salary to take the step up (I assume you mean to Senior Associate). The other thing is that time out for whatever reason albeit maternity or sabbatical does impact on your pqe. As it refers to post qualification experience rather than years since you qualified.

How long have you been back?
I do get both sides, and I think it is difficult to justify a promotion when you havn't been at work or more importantly met all of the objectives set in your appraisal.
Also was it a definate agreement that promotion was guaranteed on successful achievement of the objectives or that it would be reviewed with a view to promotion on achievement?
Dont let it eat you up, Im sure you will get the promotion and like PP has said another 5-6 months and itll probably be all sorted.

Thanks DasPepe. I rang DH to rant/cry at lunchtime and he said the same really about continuing to be positive and work hard despite the perceived injustice. Although we usually only have annual appraisals and promotions, it's a good idea to ask for it to be reviewed sooner than that as a one off. I should have suggested that in the meeting but I was feeling so annoyed I wasn't really thinking clearly.