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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To feel annoyed that I missed out on a job because I am a woman

320 replies

curtainsy · 20/06/2019 19:28

I've just started back at work after 12 months off for maternity leave. Before I went off I had a meeting with HR and my manager to go over my rights etc. One of the things HR said was that they have to keep me informed of job vacancies.

I have now started back and found out that a promotion came up within my team 2 months ago. Four colleagues applied and one of them was appointed. AIBU to be absolutely raging that I wasn't informed?
I don't actually know what to do about it as it's all been done now and he is in this new job so I feel like complaining is pointless.

OP posts:
TriciaMcMillan · 21/06/2019 07:04

Jesus wept 'it would be completely unreasonable' doh!

yesteaandawineplease · 21/06/2019 07:07

yanbu op.

I'd definately be having words with hr along the lines of " I was a very strong candidate for this role and I have been disadvantaged because I wasn't given the opportunity to apply interview"
in an ideal world they will recognise this somehow and reflect it in your job or provide a similar opportunity.

Mummyshark2018 · 21/06/2019 07:19

Astounded by the responses on here. Is it really 2019??
OP- it's a clear case of discrimination, whether it was conscious or not is irrelevant.
I would be majorly pissed off if this was me and would be absolutely taking it up with HR. Get some advice from ACAS or your union (if you're in on). Good luck! I personally would not sweep this under the carpet.

swingofthings · 21/06/2019 07:32

Whilst on maternity, you are still employed by the company. You are entitled to the same rights as others so why do you expect special treatment?

If you were keen to be considered for a promotion, it was your responsibility to look for jobs being advertised or keeping in touch and asking if anything was coming up. You could have emailed your boss or a colleague or HR to forward any internal communication about jobs to your home email.

It easy to cut all contact on the basis of being on maternity leave, but don't then complain that you missed on something. And it's not discrimination, the same would happen to employees who take time off on a sabbatical.

furryleopard · 21/06/2019 07:40

Just to add I'm on maternity leave now (well until a week on Tuesday I am) and my current line manager has emailed me every job I might possibly have wanted in my team, every bit of team news eg who's got various jobs, line management changes, the news of a colleague's baby's arrival, the news that my other colleague got engaged, work stuff he thought I should know, we met for lunch the other month, I've taken the baby in twice and I did a KIT morning a few weeks ago. I couldn't have been more kept in touch with!

Also I've emailed him needing info on holidays and he replied. I requested some specific time off on my return for childcare and could he double check it was on with our big boss.... 2 hours later.. yes she's fine with that, we all are, go ahead.

It's literally that easy to do it properly. I hope you get somewhere with it OP.

ivyleaf4 · 21/06/2019 07:55

@swingofthings except by law it isn't the OP's responsibility...

crankysaurus · 21/06/2019 08:00

Is also definitely be having a word with HR.

GraceSlicksRabbit · 21/06/2019 08:08

You could have emailed your boss or a colleague or HR to forward any internal communication about jobs to your home email.
Swingofthings it’s in the first paragraph of the OP

Before I went off I had a meeting with HR and my manager to go over my rights etc. One of the things HR said was that they have to keep me informed of job vacancies.

They promised to do that. Why would she then have to contact them randomly to remind them to do it?

Starfish85 · 21/06/2019 08:09

So much of this thread is just disheartening to read but goes some way to explain why women are so underrepresented at senior levels. Know your worth women and expect more from your employers...or at the very least expect them to adhere to the legal bare minimum ffs.

Contact ACAS and see what they say then take this as far as you can. An apology will not suffice as this could affect your career for years to come. Totally unacceptable.

Benes · 21/06/2019 08:17

Some of the responses on here are really depressing.

And wonder why were still have huge issues with the gender pay gap.

Op you absolutely should have been told. I would raise it with HR.

swingofthings · 21/06/2019 08:34

The law says you can't be treated unfairly and they have to be kept informed. They have done that. OP had access to internal bulletins that informed of job advertised. The fact that OP didn't take steps to ensure she could still access these is not the fault of the company.

It would have been illegal if they had taken her off the email list, or told her she wasn't entitled to apply, but they haven't done that.

GraceSlicksRabbit · 21/06/2019 08:38

You’re being deliberately obtuse swingofthings. It’s clear as day that HR knew she would not be accessing internal emails while on leave and undertook to inform her separately about job vacancies.

Otherwise they’d have said “we’re legally required to tell you about job opportunities. Please be aware that we consider including your work address on an internal email to discharge that duty, and it is your responsibility to check your internal emails and come in after 6 months to reactivate your system access”.

They knew exactly what had to be done by law here, they just did not put the system in place to make it happen.

Streamside · 21/06/2019 08:51

I work in a similar setting and trawls would always have been sent to our home addresses should we have been off sick or on maternity leave.Every trawl notice emailed to us always included a line stating that line managers should always ensure those who were off or without access to the email system should be informed.Without a doubt you've been disadvantaged.

HorridHenrysNits · 21/06/2019 08:53

A lot of the posters responding here could fit their knowledge of employment law on the back of a postage stamp. OP should've been informed.

Ellie56 · 21/06/2019 10:16

A lot of the posters responding here could fit their knowledge of employment law on the back of a postage stamp.

Quite. I find it so depressing as it means if this kind of thing happens to them they will just accept it.Sad

OP in between all the drivel there are some very well informed posts and good advice, especially BetsyBigNose on the previous page. You should certainly take this further. Your employers are well out of order and have behaved unlawfully.

notacooldad · 21/06/2019 11:49

Petitprince

Did you not do keep in touch days OP? These are useful for this kind of thing, and can keep your work login active while you are off. You can take up to 10 and they are paid at full rate.
Dont, whatever you do, mention Kit days!!!!!
I mentioned it and nick wanted to know what what my knowledge on women's employments rights were ( funny she never asked anyone else who came out with a load of cobblers like you need to get your feet back under the table before applying for promotion) , made assumptions about my user name, and started question my views on a fictitious wife of mine!!

I agreed the employer should be the one making sure the OP was in the loop but there has been a communication failure, deliberately or accidentally we don't know. My point was you can't always rely on other people to do what they should, even if it is illegal and she should have that information as this case proves. I shared an observation that I had seen at work and hadn't thought about previously.

My person view is that the OP should go to her union if she is one and get advice and take this a lot further.
I also think she should have a quick check in Spam or trash emails to make sure an email hasn't gone straight to that box, although I'm pretty sure she would have already done this.

Nicknacky · 21/06/2019 12:00

notacooldad I apologise for making any assumptions about your username. I think you were quite happy to carry on with that whilst still posting nonsense.

notacooldad · 21/06/2019 12:17

Nicknacky

notacooldad I apologise for making any assumptions about your username. I think you were quite happy to carry on with that whilst still posting nonsense
It's fine, to be honest, yes I did it keep it going because I was annoyed at being the only one seemingly being picked up over a comment when others were posting the most outrageous attitudes that belong in decades long gone. ( a couple of gins as yesterday was the start of my long weekend off didn't help!) I kind of knew it was because of my name but my name is from a particular incident that still makes me laugh!!
I still think the OP needs to take this much further!!

StealthPolarBear · 21/06/2019 12:26

I've never seen such a long thread on mn filled with such outdated, incorrect attitudes. I honestly thought most mners were a bit more clued up on this stuff.

BowiesJumper · 21/06/2019 12:31

Have you raised this with HR and your manager? I would at least flag that you are disappointed and would have liked to have applied. Hopefully they'll realise they have done something very wrong and at the very least rethink future procedures. Although that doesn't help you with the job!

JellyBaby666 · 21/06/2019 12:32

Have a look here OP. pregnantthenscrewed.com/

It's bullshit, and I'm sorry it happened. And I'm sorry you've had to read pages and pages of people telling you just didn't try hard enough - you were treated unfairly.

optimisticpessimist01 · 21/06/2019 12:35

Sorry OP, if I knew internal promotions would be advertised through only e-mail I would check my emails once a week. I have the same system password reset which I can do through logging into the system at home and doing it.

Unfortunately, you are correct to be annoyed, I would be too. But a business cannot ring individuals who are off every time there is a job vacancy

GraceSlicksRabbit · 21/06/2019 12:40

Except that THEY TOLD HER THEY WOULD CONTACT HER!

Why is everyone missing this point? Regardless of what may or may not be the standard or “minimum effort” way for them to fulfil their legal responsibility to keep her informed, they told her expressly that they would keep her informed. As they knew she would (a) not be obliged to check work emails ever if she didn’t want to and (b)would lose access to the system after 6 months, it is clear that they intended to keep her informed by personal email/phone/post to home address. This didn’t happen.

SavingSpaces2019 · 21/06/2019 13:24

This isn't sex discrimination.
If a man had been off longterm with no access to his work emails i highly doubt they would have emailed him separately on his private email.

lottiegarbanzo · 21/06/2019 13:30

Yeah cuz men are always going off on pre-arranged maternity leave, innit.