Back at work after mat leave. Changes to my responsibilities

[Confidencecrushed]

I came back from Mat leave to find out that I will not be responsible for the clients I had before. No one mentioned it before during the keep in touch days. Apparently some senior stakeholder gave negative feedback, but no detail was shared, my immediate point of contacts were very happy. I feel mortified because I have been there for more than 6 years, always had glaring reviews from clients and also in appraisals (always a top player in the team) , spent time during maternity to advance my professional development and now I am just filling in the gaps here and there. There is no confidence in me anymore, I am just useful for non client facing operational and people stuff. I am trying to look at things unemotionally but I just feel finished politically and think I need to find another job. Just feel like an idiot because I only took a short maternity leave and have already committed to the nursery…what would you do in my shoes? Please constructive feedback as I already feel pretty crushed

Happened to me and several other women I know when returning from maternity leave. You can either fight it or look for another job. I’m really sorry as it’s shit

I can understand them not wanting to keep chopping and changing as the client may not be impressed however won't you now build up a new client base?
How long have you had off?

Have you returned on reduced hours? So many women I know (myself included) were given reduced responsibility if so (with no consideration given to even trying to make things work).

I'm in a different profession to you however, I was in a leadership role (in school) and went on mat leave. I had no responsibilities at all upon my return purely because I had a baby.
The response was...we didn't think you'd want it. I did kick up a bit of a fuss but to no avail. I just accepted it as I went on to have another soon after.
It's very unfair and should be discussed with you. It's discrimination at the end of the day.
I'm sorry this happened to you.

How long was your "short" maternity leave? If 6 months or less I'm pretty sure that you are legally entitled to return to the same post. If 6-12 months then it doesn't have to be exact same post, but should be similar otherwise it's discrimination.

What you've described sounds like discrimination due to maternity leave. If be contacting ACAS or Pregnant then Screwed for some advice on where you stand legally.

Yes how long was the short post.

Would they have done it if you hadn't been off?

Short leave even

You don't have to put up with this OP @Confidencecrushed .

Contact Pregnant Then Screwed https://pregnantthenscrewed.com
or Maternity Action https://maternityaction.org.uk who can advise you accordingly, and for free.

Best of luck! And keep on advocating for yourself!

How short is a short mat leave? If less than 6 months then you are legally entitled to return to the same job. If more than 6 months it’s same or similar job on no less favourable terms.

Either way it sounds like discrimination. Speak to ACAS.

This happened to me, my whole job was gone when I returned after mat leave. After a year of informal disciplinary meetings and trying to force a sales target on my admin role, I raised a grievance with the board.
I got help from acas etc and others, and my colleagues gave statements and backed me up.
My grievance was upheld,I agreed to mediation to resolve it.
Misogynistic manager refused and retired early in a wee sulk.
Best thing that ever happened, business has grown exponentially and I'm now assistant manager.
Pregnancy us a protected characteristic, you could try talking to acas?

Yes, it was less than 6 months. I returned full time. But if it’s a client asking to have someone else, isn’t it just a business decision?

I’ve been searching for any threads on what I am facing and found yours. Would love to know how it all panned out for you?