To tell my prestigious job to do one

[Magnoliamarigold]

I recently returned from my mat leave, my job is as a postdoctoral researcher at an oxbridge university. Lots of Nobel prizes and OBEs at the department. When I got it it was my dream job.

I'm pouring from an empty cup. Baby is five months old and refusing to go to her dad, I am doing all the night feeds. The other day I slipped down the stairs and fell with the baby in my arms, and my back is in a bad way.

Because the role is so prestigious, my employer takes the . During my mat leave I was asked to use up all my KIT days voluntarily, so that publications could still go ahead. It was non negotiable. I was not paid during my mat leave despite being told I would be. I told them I was pregnant at the beginning of the year, but when I was in hospital being induced I was still having to answer emails about my mat leave as the HR woman hadn't yet got round to it. I have been asked to work on bank holidays, I have been asked to work 4/5 days a week even though I am contracted at 2.5 days. My boss is a professor who has not taken one sick day, or annual leave day in the entire time I have known her. She works bank holidays and a lot of weekends. She works when she's on holiday. Work is her life. Most recently I have been asked to take on a large amount of work that I probably would have been able to do previously, but I am so sleep deprived, my brain is so sluggish, and frankly I can't be bothered anymore.

I'm fed up, and tomorrow morning I am having an ad hoc review with this professor - she is unhappy with my work since coming back from mat leave and is clearly making a paper trail to give me some sort of kick up the and get me working at pace again.

I'm thinking of doing one of the following:

1. Make a record of all the unprofessional things I have had to put up with and use an HR mediator (albeit it might be the useless woman again, and will cause me a massive amount of stress)
2. Tell boss, shove it, I am taking the rest of my mat leave, take the financial hit and will come back when the baby is 1.
3. Work with her to improve my outputs in a way that everyone is happy

Has anyone been in this position? What should I do?

I walked away from a permanent lectureship at a RG uni, due to similar issues. People told me I was crazy.

It was the best decision I ever made, life is far too short. 🌸

Hey,

Im an employment lawyer. Some concerning things but also some things that need further context as they could argue they have followed statutory guidelines.

You say you weren’t paid for maternity? I am assuming they paid you SMP though? If not then that is an issue. On the flip side, if they have stated they will pay you enhanced maternity pay, in writing (either in your contract of employment or somewhere else, offer letter, email etc) then you could have a claim. Or if you are aware of other women being paid enhanced mat pay and you haven’t then you could make a claim.

You also state about the KIT days, these days are voluntary so you can say no. They could successfully argue that you agreed to do them. In most cases to be successful in making a claim, you will need some proof that they have “forced” you to do them. By coercing you into it, saying you are risking your job etc or that it is expected from you. Would be helpful again if this was in writing.

Working over your contracted hours - most contracts will state that your hours are x but you are expected to work over this on occasion to fulfil the job. Check your contract and see what it says. One question that will come up is, are you willingly working these extra hours and if not are you getting paid for these additional hours.

Working bank holidays is fine, as long as you are getting this time off elsewhere or they offer over and above the statutory 5.6 weeks holiday and you working these bank holidays doesn’t take the time off you are allowed below that.

Once you are back at work from mat leave, they can expect you to be working at your usual performance (pre leave) as technically you are back as being a normal employee. However if there is genuine concern for you’re welfare and as you have stated above, you have effectively been forced to get back, then yes you could have a claim

See what they say in this meeting. Although in my experience, it doesn’t sound good. They could be setting the ground work for starting a formal performance process.

As others have said, start a log and start building any proof and evidence you have. From then, if you think you have a strong case, then find a lawyer.

Otherwise, if you can’t be bothered with the above. Tell them where to stuff it and move on. No job is worth being treated like shit. Particularly when you have more important things going on like your baby at home. You can always get another job. Prestigious or not!

Oxbridge is completely built on status: getting it, keeping it, one-upmanship with the other one. So much ego. And by the sound of it, you don't even respect the work that is going on or the people you work with. Why would you stay? I'd listen to your gut - being a good, present and well mother is far more important than this esoteric hamster wheel.

Check if you have legal cover on your mortgage - if you have, it might pay for you get legal support.

IMHO, extricate yourself from this post in a way most advantageous to you. The way you are being treated is downright disgraceful.

I'm sorry you're going through this but, sadly, I'm not surprised. I have worked in HE for a decade, I'm in the third year of my PhD (on a similar timeline to yours - I'm 32) and I've left academia before I even started. After two and a bit years of research, teaching, marking student papers at 1am, conferences, and the constant pressure to publish, I realised I actually don't care enough to live like that until retirement. I recently gave up my funding to go part-time and I've returned to the 9-5, albeit in a more specialised and interesting area than my pre-PhD one.

A friend of mine got a lectureship at an Oxbridge uni a few years ago and left because she hated it so much. Another just left an RG to start her own business in the private sector. Yet another told me he simply doesn't sleep and is medicated because of the stress.

I have no advice but I'm here to offer solidarity. Academia is brutal and, in my experience, it's so much worse for women.

Forget the job and be with your baby. You’ll never regret it.

I'm not an academic, so this isn't job advice - but just a 'life' viewpoint. I hope this makes sense.

As I've got older, my perspective has changed so that I think my intelligence, abilities, energy and effort should benefit me. Of course, I have a contract with an employer to spend my time and effort on their goals in exchange for a salary - but what I achieve 'over and above' (through natural ability and hard work) should be to my benefit one way or another.

When I had DD, although it was tough (a young baby always is), I felt that for the first time in my life the hard work and extra effort that I put into all parts of my life were actually benefitting me rather than someone else (benefitting DD = benefitting me ). It changed my perspective forever.

Maybe this is obvious to everyone other than me! But I suspect not - we get so caught up in doing the right thing, in the gratification of respect from peers etc, that we don't count carefully enough the cost/benefit of what we're doing.

I'd suggest you think hard about what you are getting out of this. And what else you could do instead. And really think about what benefits you and your family most - what you want to do for you.

another academic here but not Oxbridge.

I'm sorry the lab and dept you are in are so brutal. there are academic jobs which don't require you to work 80 hours a week etc. So if academia is your dream, look for other options.

Also, people find it hard to hire good postdocs at the moment because industry pays more. So your Prof would be foolish if she drives you out - she won't be able to replace you. which means you may have more power than you think.

Do talk to HR and ACAS and to your Dept Athena Swan lead. And come over to the mumsnet Academic Common Room board (hidden under Work in topics) as well.

Sorry about this. Mat leave for postdocs is terrible or non existent esp if you are grant funded. But there should be HR policies around work / life balance and supporting parents and carers that apply to all staff regardless of how they are funded that you should be able to access. The research environment can be so toxic and stressful and you are in one of the most high pressured of all of it. Have your university signed up to the Wellcome research culture charter?

Also, try not to let the fact that it is very prestigious make you feel somehow grateful for whatever you can get. They are playing on this and exploiting you.

ACAS for sure

UCU union rep absolutely. Also check out Athena Swan and if they have signed DORA / HR Excellence in Research Award (probably not as Research councils only require Unis that are not Oxbridge to have these).
And very unmumsnetty hugs.

If you are RCUK funded do have a look at their funding terms too. They have started speaking about equality a lot, not sure how they are attempting to monitor though.

Stay and fight it.

PM-ing you OP

And another thing you may need to consider is that leaving academia almost out of the fresh PhD is the best time to start career outside of academia. You did mention you really like the department and I m guessing your field of research as well, but if you stay in academia you will feel (and, frankly, be) underpaid for what it is.

Are you currently on maternity leave? If so put an out of office reply saying you are on maternity leave and leave an alternative person to contact.

stop working for free. If you keep doing it then they will keep expecting it.
KIT days should be paid so put it in writing to relevant departments.

do you have legal cover on your car or home insurance? If so you can ask them anything and it’s a usual thing to add at renewal time.

block their number so they can’t even text or call you about work as they should be respecting your electronic data under gdpr and not storing your details on their personal devices. Make it clear you will not be responding to messages.

m it’s their choice not to employ a maternity cover.

finally if you died tomorrow, your job would be advertised by the end of the week so don’t feel guilty

OP, come across to the Academic Common Room on Mumsnet if you haven't already - there's lots of us who can help and who are really familiar with academic careers (the good, the bad, and the downright illegal ).

I'd be interested to know what your contract says, what the conditions of service say, what the maternity leave policy says and what the contract underpinning the bid funding the post doc says.

I think your first steps are to politely ask for all of those things. I would be minded to ask to speak to the Director of HR for the College or in Central services.

Did you notify the college/University 15 weeks before your expected date of delivery? Was a maternity risk assessment done? Did you have 26 weeks' service when you reached the point at which you were 15 weeks prior to EDD? Did you provide a copy of your MatB1? If you didn't meet the threshold for SMP or contractual maternity pay, were you eligible for Maternity Allowance?

All of the above questions need answers and exploration before threatening tribunals for sex discrimination. Be calm and forensically find out what your statutory and contractual rights were/are before going in all guns blazing.

It sounds very difficult and very unclear but it is impossible to advise you without the full factual information.

I wish you well.

Option 2

I am sorry you are going through this. Your post raises so many issues. Women like you should not be pushed out of academia so, while I understand your desire to walk away and focus on your family, I would also love it if you could fight this. It is a long time ago now, but a fellow student of mine was all but kicked off her Oxbridge PhD when she became pregnant. She quit because they became hostile as soon as they found out, accused her of not being serious about her career and basically made it impossible to continue.

You have taken very little maternity leave. You have not been paid for it (have you had the government maternity allowance?) You are paid for 2.5 days a week, yet you are being expected to do more than full time job. Not only is that impossible with a 5 month old, but it is impossible on an academic's salary. Its not like corporate lawyers who get paid enough to employ nannies around the clock. This needs to be addressed. You deserve to keep your post-doc fellowship, work only the 2.5 days a week you are paid for and receive the maternity pay they said they would give you.

Your little one will never be this age again. Return to mat leave, take the financial hit, enjoy your baby. It sounds like far too much stress at the wrong time. Choose what makes you happy.

Oh and speak to 'Pregnant then Screwed'. They're a great charity and will be able to help you understand your rights.

Namechanged for this. I spent many years as an in-house therapist for faculty and staff at an Oxbridge university, and worked with hundreds of people in similar positions to yours. In most disciplines, postdocs are treated like absolute dogshit.

People struggle on under utterly appalling conditions - overwork, chronic career precarity, really awful pay, bullying & harrassment that are never properly investigated or addressed, all sorts - because of the pervasive message that you'll never have it better anywhere else, you are lucky to be here at all, etc.

Many universities do offer a better work-life balance, and better terms & conditions. Jobs outside of academia meanwhile will feel like a walk in the fucking park.

If you want to get out, get out. You've demonstrated that you have the intellect and perseverance to get this far. You've won! You can cash out now and go do something that leaves you with more vitality and joie de vivre at the end of the day. You don't need to spend the rest of your life stressed out and miserable and climbing the greasy pole, never feeling good enough.

It sounds to me like you're just not ready to go back to work yet... After 12 months off you may well be raring to go!
I wouldn't give up on your job just yet, I'd request a proper 1 year of Mat Leave - and PAID.

@NamechangeOxbridge partly I am so glad I work for a Post 92.

Most post docs are on about £33k to £35k. It is a route to an academic lecturer post. My ds is doing it and is thrilled to have got a post doc and is living a good life and being treated fairly. Not Oxbridge though.

After a few years a lecturer will be on £50k, they will get one to two research days. They get significant flexibility regarding working from home when not teaching and always have. 35 days holiday, plus bank Holidays, 6 months sick pay, still brilliant pensions. It isn't a bad whack at all.