AIBU to lose my rag completely with my employer?

[Edumacator]

I was a science teacher in a secondary school. When I fell pregnant, I told my employer early on because I had a high-risk pregnancy and needed lots of appointments as well as obvious issues of my role (chemicals, fire, fumes but also working in a school with poor behaviour and very frequent physical alternations and incidents). Within a week, my school posted an advert online for a new science teacher to start as soon as possible. I raised it and was told that they’re intending to expand the department - first time that’s been mentioned and the school isn’t growing in student numbers (it’s not a school of choice locally). Not to mention, they wouldn’t expand a department mid-year because they’d have to reshuffle all the timetables and room allocations etc. But, the state of teaching being what it is, they didn’t get any applicants so no one was hired. I’m currently on maternity leave and I won’t be returning - I have a job that’s not in teaching lined up. I just gave my employer my notice to leave at the end of the Easter holiday - giving the required notice. Just got my payslip via email and the bastards haven’t paid me anything this month. AIBU to be absolutely sick to death of this shit now?

The OP says she’s going to contact her employer, she’s literally asking what tone that contact should take. Repeatedly slamming at her for not contacting them when it’s 100% apparent she’s imminently contacting them is ridiculous and futile. No one, literally not one person, thinks she shouldn’t contact her employer - it’s not exactly high-level strategy that’s only occurred to you. Even if you did think you’re the only person to come up with the brilliant plan (despite it clearly already being a plan in the OP), you didn’t need to state it so many times. Your comments were rude and you know they were, if they weren’t then your tone wouldn’t have changed so suddenly when PP called you out.

Has it occurred to you that, seeing as your answer was so so so so obvious, maybe it wasn’t the question actually being asked?

You do realise not all companies require you to pay back even enhanced maternity pay? My company pays 9 months at 90% and you are not required to pay back if you don’t return.

In answer to your actual question, no you should never 'lose your rag' at an employer. Remain calm and professional at all times, because it is the right thing to do, and because you may need a reference.

Yep, my company is the same (although not as generous with the enhanced pay) and don't think it's uncommon.

Anyway neither here nor there since the op has clearly stated it's smp only. Best to contact them initially asking if they've made a mistake and then escalate if they try to get out of paying it. YANBU to be peeved. Always a ball ache to sort things like this out.

Wait so you went on maternity. They said about a role at the school. You said that wasn’t ok. They said they were expanding

but then you put in your notice anyway?!? So wasn’t it good practice that they’ve advertised for a new teacher?!?

No. I was six weeks pregnant and told them that. They put up an advert for my role with an immediate start date, having not previously given any indication that they were intending to expand or hire anyone else and having not tried to recruit anyone at the last term. The role wasn’t for maternity cover or for when I should be off, it was for when I was still working. As a teacher, considering how schools work, there simply wasn’t a science teacher job for anyone to do without taking over from someone else - and no one was leaving. My HoD didn’t have budget for an extra member of staff. But, no one applied for the role (which isn’t uncommon for science teacher positions). Many months later, I went on maternity leave, which I am still on. I told payroll and HR that I’m wasn’t intending to return so I declined the enhanced maternity package. I found another role and then told SLT that I won’t be returning. They still haven’t managed to recruit anyone to replace me or to cover me during my maternity (despite having nine months notice that I was pregnant before my maternity leave started) and have now been looking for a science teacher for over a year.

How the hell is it wrong in any way whatsoever?

It's STATUTORY Maternity pay, not enhanced, no cost to the employer as it's claimed back from the government.

What date did you start mat leave @Edumacator I worked out 39 weeks pay up until 31/3 as starting 22/7? If that’s when you took leave from then they absolutely should still be paying you, and even if that’s finished it sounds like you should still be getting accrued annual leave payment?

I work in a school as well. They forgot to pay me my accrued annual leave at the end of my mat leave because HR ‘just forgot about it’. Schools do seem to be a bit shit with mat leave (we didn’t even have a maternity policy when I had my first mat leave, then they asked me to ‘have a read through one they’d made’ after my mat leave!). There was a high staff turnover in HR which didn’t help either. They did resolve it and pay me the same week though. Hope it gets sorted ASAP.

From Citizens Advice...

As long as you’ve already qualified for statutory maternity pay you’ll still get it if you leave your job. The reason you leave doesn’t matter - it’s the same whether you resign, are sacked or are made redundant.

May be worth querying it with them

@Edumacator when did you start getting maternity pay?

so you told them you weren’t going to return from 6 weeks?

I don't think you've answered when your new job starts?

Also, assuming you're waiting for a response from the school, I'd ring payroll back and ask them to clarify exactly what info they were sent for processing this month - they must have received some instruction in order to have stopped paying your SMP and it would have to be something more than 'we've decided to stop paying OP' so ask them to explain what they were told by the school!

Based on your question, I think YABU, given that you haven't contacted them for an explanation of what they have done. It might be a mistake that they're happy to rectify once you've pointed it out.

I don't understand why you are concerning yourself at all with the fact they recruited for an extra person . Sounds like a sensible management decision in the circumstances and for all you know they may have had other confidential reasons as well.

I started in September. I’m only permitted to leave my job at either Christmas, Easter or the summer holiday so I’m not getting my full statutory entitlement because I’d have to go back to them between it finishing and the summer holiday if I did.

Speak for yourself. If I hadn't received pay during maternity leave, I'd have been fucked.

Frankly, you sound a bit entitled. You quite rightly gave your school advanced notice of your pregnancy and then got upset because they advertised for a replacement teacher. Now, you have decided not to return and are still raging at them. Why not give thought to : the children who now don't have a science teacher, and why not just politely ask why the deductions (if they are such) have been made. Schools can't just decide to take tax off, that is down to HMRC based on info provided, I would have thought you would know that. Now, calm down, lots of women have babies, please don't make it even more difficult than it is for other female staff at your school.

No she told them she was pregnant at 6 weeks they started trying to replace her at that time and failed

But why is that a problem?

Where did it say they were trying to replace her? They tried to recruit a member of staff. For all she knows they may have had a multitude of other reasons to do this of which her pregnancy was just one factor.

I have no issue with being replaced if I’m not there. I do take issue with being replaced when I am there because I had the audacity to have a baby.

You’re right though, I should’ve put my students ahead of my family and stayed childless so they don’t go without a teacher 😂How on earth am I making it more difficult for female staff at the school to have babies?!

WHAT?!! What a fucking load of nonsense. So a teacher isn't allowed to quit her job?

OP I'm sorry you're getting these responses from anti-maternity rights deranged posters.

You'll be surprised at just how many mistakes pay toll can make during maternity leave. Hopefully you've called and sorted it now.

Because I somewhat relied on the job for that money thing we use for food and heating and the mortgage so if they sacked me because I was pregnant then I’d have been a little bit fucked.

Recruit a member of staff for a role that was currently occupied then

It wasn't advertised as maternity cover
It wasn't budgeted for
It wasn't actually needed at the time because they already had someone working there doing the role
It wasn't advertised as support for existing staff

2 questions, 2 answers