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Original poster

Asking to be made redundant instead of going down the maternity discrimination route? Advice needed!

248 replies

Poppysmummy92 · 15/02/2022 20:51

Hello!

Some back story -

I joined my employer in December 2020. In January 2021 I told my manager I was 20 weeks pregnant and after that it went VERY downhill. My manager left unexpectedly and didn’t tell anyone, so for weeks I was trying to find out what I was meant to be doing and who I was reporting to as at the time it was a 100% WFH environment so I was completely on my own. I didn’t really get any contact from anyone until March 2021 when I finally was given a stand in manager who swiftly hired my maternity cover and I went on maternity leave in April 2021. In October 2021 I had an email saying they had appointed a new manager and he would be in touch but I didn’t hear anything. In November 2021 I emailed my contact and said could someone please contact me as I was due back in January 2022 and I had no idea who my manager was and what I was coming back too but nobody replied. In December 2021 I raised a formal complaint with HR as I genuinely believe as soon as I told my employer I was pregnant they wrote me off, and the communication since I’ve been off has been shocking.

So anyway, fast forward to today and the new manager has finally been in touch. He was prompted off the back of my grievance! He called and said he was sorry and he would look at options for my return and look into the grievance. I didn’t have any review meetings during my time at the company so I’ve never been given the opportunity to tell anyone that the job is not for me and it’s not something I want to return to and I told the new manager I wasn’t keen to return. Again, he has vanished and isn’t replying to my emails!

I get the feeling he is waiting for me to get fed up and resign. But I want some sort of compensation for the stress they put me under and their incredibly poor practice. I really want to ask them to make me redundant, but is that even possible?!

I’m just wondering if anyone had any advice on what I can do. The grievance route will be very very long winded, I work in employee relations I know the process to an extent. I just want to make it easier for everyone and leave, but not empty handed!

Any advice I’d be forever grateful this is causing me daily stress!!

OP posts:
NumberTheory · 15/02/2022 22:28

I find some of these replies quite unbelievable.

OP was due back at work from maternity leave in January. Despite her contacting her work and raising a formal grievance no one got in touch with her until mid-February. No wonder she doesn't want to work there. Even if she'd been enjoying the job and there was no intentional discrimination, that sort of disorganization still had a negative impact on her because of her maternity status. It would make it very hard to rebuild any sort of constructive relationship.

Good luck with negotiating a settlement, OP.

cuno · 15/02/2022 22:30

OP why did you not return to work on the day you would have been due to return? If they don't communicate with you, you just return to work on the day.

Also you keep saying you have a claim, but surely a lot of what has happened in the past is now out of time so you wouldn't be able to take that to tribunal? It's usually 3 months, or 4 if you took it to early conciliation at the 3 month mark. Surely you know this because of your position?

FantasticFebruary · 15/02/2022 22:35

Complete CF.

NumberTheory · 15/02/2022 22:35

@cuno

OP why did you not return to work on the day you would have been due to return? If they don't communicate with you, you just return to work on the day.

Also you keep saying you have a claim, but surely a lot of what has happened in the past is now out of time so you wouldn't be able to take that to tribunal? It's usually 3 months, or 4 if you took it to early conciliation at the 3 month mark. Surely you know this because of your position?

I thought the time limit was 3 months from the last act of discrimination. Treatment in the last few weeks could well be included.
sanbeiji · 15/02/2022 22:36

@NumberTheory

I find some of these replies quite unbelievable.

OP was due back at work from maternity leave in January. Despite her contacting her work and raising a formal grievance no one got in touch with her until mid-February. No wonder she doesn't want to work there. Even if she'd been enjoying the job and there was no intentional discrimination, that sort of disorganization still had a negative impact on her because of her maternity status. It would make it very hard to rebuild any sort of constructive relationship.

Good luck with negotiating a settlement, OP.

Same. Unsure what all the vileness is for? If her manager was still ‘considering options for return’ then she hasn’t been given her job back which is surely illegal? @cuno please explain how you expect to ‘return to work’ if nobody answered her emails in a 100% remote job. It’s not like she could just waltz into the office!
TrippinEdBalls · 15/02/2022 22:37

OP why did you not return to work on the day you would have been due to return? If they don't communicate with you, you just return to work on the day.

She says it was a 100% WFH position - what would returning to work without managing to make contact with anyone beforehand have actually looked like?

TrippinEdBalls · 15/02/2022 22:40

@NumberTheory

I find some of these replies quite unbelievable.

OP was due back at work from maternity leave in January. Despite her contacting her work and raising a formal grievance no one got in touch with her until mid-February. No wonder she doesn't want to work there. Even if she'd been enjoying the job and there was no intentional discrimination, that sort of disorganization still had a negative impact on her because of her maternity status. It would make it very hard to rebuild any sort of constructive relationship.

Good luck with negotiating a settlement, OP.

Sadly I find it unsurprising because I've seen the abuse that women who take jobs while pregnant get on MN before. Apparently it's terribly unsporting to not give the employer a fair change to illegally discriminate against you.
Allmyarseandpeggymartin · 15/02/2022 22:40

I’ve dealt with a situation where a staff member requested redundancy when we were pursuing a capability case related to many absences.

We didn’t give her it as her as her role was not at risk. We did agree a without prejudice settlement but it wasn’t much (a few thousand) and we did it to get her off the books as she was a CF that knew every HR loophole. Is this arrangement what you mean?

I have to say op I think your case is extremely thin

Saffy321 · 15/02/2022 22:42

Eek - there are keeping in touch days which the OP's manager should have been organsising.

cuno · 15/02/2022 22:44

@NumberTheory
When I was in court for maternity discrimination one of my claims was out of time by a couple days. Judge used her discretion to include it because it only missed out by such a short amount of time and started off a chain of events of which the rest were in time. There was more than 30 different counts, and just one count was out of time. So if this has been going on for what sounds like much longer than a year, then most of the claim would be out of time which can damage her case.

Regularsizedrudy · 15/02/2022 22:44

Hi op, I hope I can help but have some questions.

Did you qualify for mat pay from your employer given that you were 20 weeks when you started or did you just get smp?
Did you state you planned to return after maternity or that you were going to leave? This should have been asked of you to provide.
It does sound that wrote you off as soon as you disclosed your pregnancy. Did they do any kind of pregnancy risk assessment?

DanaCScully · 15/02/2022 22:45

@TicTacHoh

Start a new job, then tell them one month later you are 20 weeks pg. Go off on (presumably) paid maternity leave for 9 months and then tell them you don't want to come back. Wonder what payment they will give you for this....

They were really lucky to have you Confused

This.

If I were your new manager is terminate your contract perfectly legally as you haven’t been there 24 months and I bet when you were there you were always off on maternity appointments.

JurgensCakeBabyJesus · 15/02/2022 22:47

Speak to acas my friend's sister was given £5k after being offered a job then having the offer withdrawn whilst pregnant, she claimed it was because they found out through a personal source she was pregnant, I think it's more likely it was due to bad off the record references as she's left her previous two employers on bad terms and her old manager is friends with the prospective manager's wife, rumors of some dodgy sales stuff going on etc, but they still gave her the money to avoid the press/tribunal costs.
If comments like that were made that indicates discrimination and whether intentional or not, not maintaining contact, changing your line manager several times without notifying you and then not following the prices for your return to work in that context, doesn't look good.

Blossomtoes · 15/02/2022 22:48

Personally I’d be tempted give you £5k to leave,

I would too. It’s women like this who fuck things up for all of us. All that’s happened is that the employer has been pissed about for over two years. It’s got to be the worst recruitment decision they’ve ever made.

LadyCleathStuart · 15/02/2022 22:48

@Saffy321

Eek - there are keeping in touch days which the OP's manager should have been organsising.
You have to request them though they aren't mandatory, I never did any. So the manager didn't have to organise them as standard however OP can say that she was unable to arrange any due to lack of communication.

I don't think the company acted well here at all but OP still sounds grabby and is quite clearly not being totally truthful as she doesn't actually seem to know much about HR and conveniently pulled a discriminatory message out of the bag when the responses didn't go her way.

Mickarooni · 15/02/2022 22:49

Even if nobody had made contact, I wouldn’t have waited. I’d log on to my emails or my system, contact IT, do as much as possible to show that I was ready for work. The length of time is not excusable on either end!

cuno · 15/02/2022 22:49

And I assumed there would be an office of sorts regardless of whether OP is working remotely or not, so she could have turned up on the day she was meant to return to work and then it would be up to them to accommodate her. Perhaps I was wrong in thinking there was still an office. Though of course it's really bad of her employer to not respond to emails and such, but there are ways for them to try and make up excuses and they can be really crafty which is why I thought turning up would make things clear. I'm also wondering has OP just been going without pay between when she was meant to return and now?

cuno · 15/02/2022 22:51

I bet when you were there you were always off on maternity appointments.

How many maternity appointments was everyone else having for their pregnancy?! I was on consultant led care and I think I only needed to be off twice for an appointment!

Zolla · 15/02/2022 22:54

I got rid of someone like you from my team. She openly hated her job. Went down an enormous grievance route stating the company had discriminated against her mental health. She lost. Predominantly because I had written evidence of her stating how much she disliked her job. I had several Proseccos in celebration. My life is vastly improved without her in it.

You were due back in January - why the hell didn’t you log on & get bombarding your manager, saying hi to team mates on teams etc.And if all that failed, I’d not get off the phone to HR until my return to work was sorted for the following day. You are a grown up.

You are subject to a law that entitles you to minimal contact during maternity leave. I didn’t hear from my employer until a month before I was due back. I dropped my manager a WhatsApp to have a quick call to arrange dates & have a catch up on stuff I’d missed. I refused to do KIT days, I did catch up stuff when back as normal.

By all means do a grievance but I’d not hold my breath. A good lawyer would cost you. Just get a new job 🙄

Chestofdraws · 15/02/2022 22:55

It’s a week for every year op. So you’d get a weeks wages if you win.

Marvellousmadness · 15/02/2022 22:57

". But I want some sort of compensation for the stress they put me under"

Hahahahahahhahahahaha that's rich coming from you jezus

Geezabreak82 · 15/02/2022 23:03

If your employer makes you redundant that could add fuel to a maternity discrimination case, especially if they go on to replace you. What you are really looking for is to be paid off in exchange for not bringing a maternity discrimination case based on how you’ve been treated to date. To achieve that you would need to lay out your case to your employer and either ask directly for a pay off or pursue the grievance in the hope they will eventually offer a financial settlement. You might want to invest that money in training because for an employees relation expert you seem to know very little about how redundancy works or about maternity discrimination.

TokenGinger · 15/02/2022 23:04

@Poppysmummy92

I’m not asking for legal advice, I know the legal side I am trained in HR and work on grievances for a living! I’m just asking if anyone has ever suggested redundancy without redundancies happening in the business or if anyone has any advice on maternity discrimination as it’s not an area I’m that clued up with. All of my knowledge is on bullying type cases. I am not a money grabber I just know employee rights and from my experience in the company there has been multiple occasions where they’ve preached contact.

Please save your anger my post is not worth the energy!

You're trained in HR, but not aware that you have no entitlement to redundancy pay if you have fewer than two years' service?

🤥

Also, you're a CF to take a job and not tell them that you're pregnant until you've taken up post, then take maternity leave, then expect a payout at the end.

No wonder there's so much discrimination towards hiring pregnant women.

stevalnamechanger · 15/02/2022 23:06

@Poppysmummy92

To give an example to those who obviously need it - my old manager sent a message to a group channel instead of directly to her manager saying “it’s all I need, she’s going to do fuck all now she’s pregnant” and I saw it.

So yes, I do in fact have a case, I’m not just whining because they didn’t contact me enough.

I’m not going to comment anymore on it, I will just keep an eye out for helpful replies not those who are jumping the gun without knowing the full story

You didn't mention this in your post .

I'd go down the discrimination route based on this alone

Flickflak · 15/02/2022 23:07

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