To ask work to stop contacting me while I’m on Mat leave?!

[waitingforwinter]

Agreed before I went off at the end of last year that I’d be taking the full year and set a date for my return including the use of my annual leave that had accrued. All in writing etc.

I’m 7.5m into my leave. Have barely heard from them until now bar the usual emails updating in the covid situation.

In the last month I’ve had:

• HR email to ask if I still plan on taking the year or if I’ve considered taking just the 9m paid leave (as they’re struggling for holiday cover because a number of staff across the company left during furlough)
• texts from the area manager asking if I would use my KIT days to help cover some days she’s meant to be doing as she could do with being elsewhere those days (requesting I work 4 full weekends out of 7 starting 10 days after she text me plus another 6 single days over the next 3 months)
• text from my direct manager this weekend asking me to cover 10 other days over the next 3 months and to let her know “ASAP” as she’ll have to deny other staff their annual leave requests if I can’t.

Before I get on my high horse and complain - I am right in saying I’m entitled to the year aren’t I?! Stat Mat if that makes any difference so 9m paid at stat and 3 months unpaid.
I was planning on contacting them about doing some KIT days closer to my return to get back into the swing of things but I don’t think it’s right that I’m being asked to provide cover 🤔

Summer holidays have existed and there been a legal requirement since the 1930s. Bank holidays for over 150 years, compulsory education (and school holidays) since 1870. It's not as if your employer has not had warning of the need for holiday cover in summer time.

If you have been on maternity leave for 7 1/2 months, and let them know of your pregnancy after 12 weeks, they have had over a year to plan for a summer with you on maternity leave.

As noted above, seems to verge on discrimination. Be blunt in your response and ask them to stop harassing you.

And before they try to claim the pandemic as an excuse, remember it is 15 months since furlough started.

Sod that. I'd set up an auto reply to any communication from work that says.

"I am on maternity leave. Please contact useless-managers@mynameiscalypso

It doesn't actually have to be an auto reply - you can write it in response.

Please contact [email protected] even!

Sorry, I think I've tagged mynameiscalypso !

@MrsFin

I guess some people would complain if they hadn't been given the opportunity. "Work" can't really win, can it?!

Eh? What’s this nonsense?

@TheOrigRights

Please contact [email protected] even!

Sorry, I think I've tagged mynameiscalypso !

Ha, no worries! I did wonder for a moment what I'd done to be called a useless manager 😂

I blocked my manager when he did this to me. It's out of order. I'd actually wonder if I even wanted to go back to a job like that. They sound horrible.

Oh my goodness - I’m sorry but this is awful.

You are on maternity leave, frankly the only update you should be getting are business critical updates that you need to know there and then. Other than that - they should be leaving you alone unless you need to contact them for something.

I manage a big team, and have had several ladies on Mat leave over the years, and I wouldn’t dream of asking them to cover for my team - that’s my responsibility as a manager to find suitable and appropriate cover either through other depts, recruitment or agency staff.

Please don’t feel pressured to do anything, and also don’t feel guilty about declining either!

That's really shit of them op, especially the emotional blackmail.

Is it retail?

My BIL says this is one of the reasons he won't employ females (except for the pretty young thibg on reception)

[quote waitingforwinter]@gurglebelly No work email unfortunately so everything is sent to my personal email or texts/WhatsApp/fb messenger! I’ve had contact through them all![/quote]
I'd reply "Hi X, I am on maternity leave until Y date. I look forward to getting back to work at that time. I will not be accepting work related contact on anything other than my official work email address. Please do not contact me about work on my FB/WhatsApp/Messenger/Carrier Pigeon/Whatever as that is for personal contact only. Thanks"
Then on your work email put the out of office that someone else up thread suggested about emails being moved to your deleted items folder and if they want a response please email A or B or they can resend their message on M date (which will be a week or so after you get back, to give you a chance to catch up on whatever has happened in your absence).

Failure to plan on their part does not constitute an emergency on your part.

It's not up to you to fix what your management hasn't planned for.

Enjoy the rest of your maternity leave.

@Majorfluff

My BIL says this is one of the reasons he won't employ females (except for the pretty young thibg on reception)

Sadly this is probably very common. He's a pig for voicing it though.

Then on your work email put the out of office

She says she doesn't have a work email address.

So the amount of contact isn't the problem in my opinion, and the email from hr is totally normal. But the content of the other two contacts is a fucking piss take!

Sorry also although th hr email is fine you're obviously perfectly within your rights to say no. I think if a buisness was struggling with staffing it's a normal approach to contact staff on mat leave. But obviously needs to be very much no pressure on you. It's not your fault they are struggling.

@TheOrigRights

Then on your work email put the out of office

She says she doesn't have a work email address.

Sorry - I read that the OP's work were contacting her on anything other than work email not that she doesn't have any work email at all. @waitingforwinter - if you don't have any work email, just have a standard reply ready to go like "Hi X, I'll be back in touch with you when I'm due back in the office from my maternity leave (around October some time). I look forward to catching up with you then" Keep it generic. Keep it bland. Don't answer any of their questions as you're on maternity leave and are allowed to enjoy that time.

How about something like "sorry to hear about your difficulties, but I have made it clear from the start that I would taking a year of maternity leave. I would appreciate it if people would stop contacting me during my leave"

@Garraty47 I wondered if it was retail or an industry along those lines, too. I spent 4 years in retail (3 as management and would never dream of doing what has been done to OP) and it just sounds about right; sadly.

If you have a union, speak to them.

If not, just tell your employer you're not available to cover shifts when you are on maternity leave.

I agree with a previous poster, they could well be trying to trick you into taking too many KIT days then turn round and say you ended your mat leave because of it.

@Majorfluff

My BIL says this is one of the reasons he won't employ females (except for the pretty young thibg on reception)

Absolutely pathetic. Does he also not employ people at risk of heart attacks, cancer, MH issues, car accidents? I mean, all of those things can see work absences for very long periods. Twat.

@Garraty47 @MrsToothyBitch Retail assistant manager yes. Most weekends etc that I’ve been asked to go in and cover I’d be left fully responsible for all aspects of running the shop and managing the team (3 of which are brand new and still going through training). Worked 3 months in the last 18 due to furlough and Mat leave so i intended my KIT days to be used to get me back into the swing of things with the systems/learning new products/getting updated on covid policy etc - not being flung in at the deep end with summer weekends and a bunch of new staff on my own!

@DynamoKev Yeah I did look that up when I was asked to do all the days. Whether they think it doesn’t count because the paid part of my Mat leave is finished I’m not sure 🤔 I certainly won’t be working them out of principle anyway!

@newnortherner111

Summer holidays have existed and there been a legal requirement since the 1930s. Bank holidays for over 150 years, compulsory education (and school holidays) since 1870. It's not as if your employer has not had warning of the need for holiday cover in summer time.

If you have been on maternity leave for 7 1/2 months, and let them know of your pregnancy after 12 weeks, they have had over a year to plan for a summer with you on maternity leave.

As noted above, seems to verge on discrimination. Be blunt in your response and ask them to stop harassing you.

And before they try to claim the pandemic as an excuse, remember it is 15 months since furlough started.

@newnortherner111 Yeah my pregnancy was certainly announced to them in plenty of time! Much earlier than I’d have liked actually but I had to remove myself from face to face duties at the start of the pandemic before furlough began!

You are only allowed to have 10 KIT days during your maternity leave - so them asking you to take 20 would be breaking the law. Also, I don't think they are allowed to keep hassling you like that during your maternity break. You are not being unreasonable - ignore them or ask them to stop contacting you until you are ready.

@MrsFin

I guess some people would complain if they hadn't been given the opportunity. "Work" can't really win, can it?!

@MrsFin Had they emailed asking me if I would like to organise any KIT days over my last few months Mat leave then I wouldn’t have had an issue. Contacting me 3 times asking me to cover because they’re short staffed and telling me others won’t be able to get holidays if I don’t it what’s annoying me!

Obviously you aren't being unreasonable!

I'd send a blanket email to them all saying you will contact them if and when you'd like to do KIT days. Also, KIT days are limited to a max of 10, and I'm pretty sure (although not 100% so worth researching) if you go over that you can risk losing your smp. So what they asking you for is not acceptable anyway and I would say that to them