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 🤔

If you work in retail please join usdaw the union and get advice ASAP.

@Majorfluff I’m afraid your BIL sounds like a twat 🤔

Send this to them:

Rules number 1 & 3.

But, in case the rules aren’t universal:

1. Failure to prepare on your part does not constitute an emergency on mine.

2. forgiveness is easier to obtain than permission

3. you will get over it.

YANBU, set up a separate email account, send it to them and tell them this is the only method of contact you will be accepting until your return. Then check it as and when it suits you.

I do have some sympathy for employers in this situation. They're trying to plan.

But surely they have all the information they need to plan, which as the OP said before she went off and has since reiterated is that she's intending to take the full 12 months. It's not as though she's been dithering about it or has changed her mind last minute and left them in the lurch. It just sounds like their only plan was to badger her into coming back early.

KIT days are keeping in touch days, for your benefit over may leave, not for operational cover for the business

It's a shame you aren't in a union. Maybe consider joining one to protect yourself going forward. But in the meantime, contact ACAS for advice on your rights and expectations.

I imagine they'd suggest you contact HR repeat your mat leave arrangements and ask HR to talk to the managers to request they stop contacting you about operational issues whilst you are in mat leave.
Forward on screenshots of it if it is via text or fw emails. HR will not want this to happen and would be worried about discrimination claims.

However they are contacting you, send it to archive. You don't have to read these.

HR get a bad rep, but they are there to advise the company on their legal employment duties. They will want to know, be factual , don't hedge around it saying 'I understand, I don't mind' yada yada...
it will help the company and those managers long term in their careers not to make potentially costly mistakes when they haven't understood Mat Leave rights or what KIT days are for. It is not for business operational cover.

(My HR colleagues are all about grrr-ing and protecting the business from discrimination claims, when they see something brought to their attention that is so ill thought out by managers)

I’d send an email to everyone who’s been asking you to work, copying in HR saying something like:

I’ve received numerous requests from different people within the business variously asking me to return to work earlier than I planned, to cover annual leave during my maternity leave and to use my KIT days in a way I wasn’t intending.

This email is to clarify once that more my return to work date remains , I am not available to provide cover for staff absence before then. I will let you know by when I will be able to use my KIT days to ensure I’m as ready as possible to return to work when my maternity leave finishes.

I would also appreciate if in future that all communications are sent to my email address rather than by text.

Their problem not yours. Set up an autoreply message "this mailbox will be unattended until X date"

No "sorry I'll be.." or "I am on maternity leave..." Etc just write it like a computer automatically generated it.

Then ignore ignore ignore

do have some sympathy for employers in this situation. They're trying to plan. I'm sure I'll get crucified for saying that though.
If you really don't want to be contacted at all by them, you need to tell them this in no uncertain terms.

They plan for you not to be there. End of story. KIT isn't for covering shifts.

[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]
Put in place a separate email for work-related email and ask them to use that alone. Tell them you will not be responding to texts, WhatsApp, messenger etc. Put the out of office message on the new email address.

I'd be annoyed to but sometimes it's worth considering if you want your colleagues to welcome you back.

@Majorfluff

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

🤮

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

he's a twat and i hope any men who become fathers take parental leave

"Hi, I'm really sorry but I don't have any childcare in place to cover these days, due to covid nursery are quite strict on numbers/dates."

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

'Females' used like this tells us everything we need to know about him.

[quote waitingforwinter]@Majorfluff I’m afraid your BIL sounds like a twat 🤔[/quote]
I won't disagree there!

They're obviously a bit desperate, and a single enquiry as to whether you would be interested in doing any KIT days is not unreasonable. Possibly each person separately thought "I wonder whether we could persuade waitingforwinter to help out" and nobody thought to talk to anyone else before trying you.
I think you just need to send a firm email to all of them saying that you don't intend doing any work, even KIT days until at least .

I would say something like "im afraid i cant do X and that means people cannot take annual leave. However i need to ask that you and the company stop asking me to provide cover. I am on maternity and i am trying to adjust to being a new parent and being asked to cover shifts is additional stress that i cannot cope with. I will be on touch when i finish maternity leave on X, or before if i feel able to.

Just a note though: I wouldn't use words like "sorry" "afraid I can't" and especially not "due to childcare"

Go with something like "I had planned the KIT says to give us the best way to prepare us for my return from maternity and I'll keep to that schedule."

No apologies, no "please" - deffo no childcare - and make it about you and your employer getting maximum possible benefit from what you already planned.

Then set up a rule in your inbox and send all messages there for you to check at your convenience. Don't reply to mails unless you really have to

Are you planning to go back part-time?

Knew this would be retail. I've always worked in retail and crap like this is one of the reasons I'm desperate to leave it behind.

Join USDAW and join them now!

I wouldn’t say I can’t get childcare, or they’ll keep asking you for future days, hoping you’ll be able to get childcare for those. I would email saying that you are on maternity leave until xxxxxx and won’t be available for any work events, cover or anything else until that date.

I'm not sure they can even legally ask you when you are coming back.