So I need an unreasonable check, not sure if this is the right place but it's about returning to work after mat leave, and feeling like I've been unfairly treated, so maybe? Here goes (btw I'm new so not up to speed with all your acronyms and lingo, sorry!)
TL:DR I've not had a major, career defining project returned to me after maternity leave and the cover woman is getting all the credit, affecting my career and professional reputation.
So... I work as a marketing exec and for over a year before I left for maternity leave I was working on a project that was my idea, that I had pitched to higher ups and stakeholders to get approval. This project is fairly ground breaking for my team, I won't bore you with details but for context it should get a lot of attention and respect from the corporate overlords, it has the potential to bring in millions in revenue over the next few years. I spent months and months researching all the content, working to get the project off the ground and through all the office red tape. I spent months more after that developing content with graphic designers and videographers, creating plans for the webpages and writing out all the text for them, getting each approved by the various higher ups. It was a monumental effort from me, having to pitch and get approval at every point, and I got to very near launch time, with almost everything ready to go. Then I went on Mat Leave for 18 weeks, the minimum time my company offers. The woman hired to cover me oversaw creating the page that is to host all this work based on the plans and text that I left her, (webpages are easy to make, we have a team that does it for us, she just had to make sure they followed my instructions) and the creation of the remaining videos (again just making sure the videographers stuck to me briefs), however she did each of them wrong, missing the main point and strategy entirely (not her fault, my manager was fully briefed and should have guided her), but my point is the small amount that she did do had to be adjusted when I got back. Since I got back I have been put on a secondment with another team for 4 days a week doing work that is urgently needed but way below my pay grade, and would have been a fantastic opportunity for one of the entry level employees. The other day of the week I am meant to be working on my project but so far Mat cover lady (who has since been given a permanent position in the team as someone else left, even though it's against company policy, all positions should be posted openly for applicants, no promotions) is still taking the lead on the project, even though she has this new role and should be continuing the work from that person's campaign plans, so it's not like she doesn't have her own work to do. And she's having to be spoon fed by me because she still struggled to grasp the concept of the campaign. What's got my goat though is she gets to give the update in every team and department meeting (up until now all my work has been mostly behind the scenes as it's such a long tailed campaign, now things are finally getting exciting and close to launch I had been really looking forward to finally showing my team all the work I've done), and she is doing the launch announcement both internally and externally, (which I had to edit massively and she's still not getting the strategy right) and my name isn't even mentioned, other than occasionally i get to give an update on the plans for stage 2 of the campaign, which implies I've only just joined the campaign. This is a career defining moment for me but her name is being slapped all over it now it's finally going live and being shared, when she has given a minimal contrubition, and not even done that well. My director seems to have forgotten that any of this was my idea or the scale of my efforts, and talks like it's all mat cover lady's work. I feel like i pushed a boulder up a mountain then mat cover lady pushed it the final 10 yards to the summit, and is getting all the credit. What feels really unfair is had I not gone on maternity leave I would remain in sole ownership of the campaign (and the glory lol). I know I pitched to some superiors so they may have vague recollections of me talking about this campaign, but we're a huge company and that was well over a year ago now (closer to 2) and the project has evolved so much since then it's unlikely they'll even remember me, this project was going to put my name on the map. know I'm probably coming across as super petty but last time I applied for a manager's role I was turned down as my campaign (the only thing I've worked on for over a year) didn't have any results yet as it hadn't launched, so not only do I feel I'm being deprived of the recognition I've earned, but it'll genuinely affect my career prospects in the immediate future no longer having ownership of this campaign. UK law requires that those returning from Mat leave get returned to their old role, but between the secondment and being pushed out of my campaign I feel like this qualifies as not being returned to my role, so would I be being unreasonable to go to HR? Although either way going to HR would burn bridges with my director and likely affect my chances of getting a new role. I also don't want to make the mat cover lady feel bad, none of it is her fault, she's just doing as she's told, it was my manager's job to oversee handing jobs back to me. I'm probably just being bitter and emotional, which is why I need your verdict!