Rehiring for my job on a permanent basis while I was on Mat leave

[questionsss]

I am due to return from Mat leave ( 1 year ) soon.

I've just learnt that they've rehired someone for my position and don't plan to move me or them when I return. The role this person has, is only for one person and before I left ( it was my role obviously ). This person wasn't hired as a maternity cover or anything, just a full time employee.

I fear that this might be difficult when I return, as there isn't enough work for both of us.

Is this a normal thing for my company to have done ?

Those that have said there is no right to return to the original role, this is only true in set circumstances. It doesn't apply if, say, the company have hired someone else to do the same role. This would be discrimination. If the role had become redundant for some reason, that would be a valid reason to move to a different role. That isn't the case here though, OP's original post does still exist, so any discussion about right to return to it is irrelevant.

OP, I would seek advice from ACAS and the maternity specific resources that have been mentioned upthread. It doesn't sound great for you, I hope you get it sorted.

You are misunderstanding pregnancy rights. Women protected by maternity rights can still be made redundant. In a pool situation, where two or more roles are being reduced, the woman with maternity protection, does not take priority. That would be discrimination against the non pregnant / not new mothers in the pool.

The maternity protection that is in force, is that, if the person protected by maternity rights, does not secure one of the reduced number of jobs, then she has priority over any other suitable role that becomes available and has the right to be appointed into a suitable alternative - she doesn’t have the right to claim one of the reduced numbers of roles in the pool.

Anyway OP, I think you should just see what happens. You are returning to your previous role, you have been away for a year, perhaps the business has expanded or plans to expand. There is no reason to fear the worst.

I think you will struggle to prove this is maternity related if thats what you're hoping for.
The company can argue that they hired an additional person in tht anticipation of extra business which hasn't materialised . That's not unusual in business.

I don't think the poster would struggle to prove it was maternity related. It depends on her job and workflow. If, let's say, she is in charge of payroll for the company and has always managed this solo, the company hasn't expanded significantly while she's been away, it would make no sense to have someone else in addition to her. The company owner couldn't pretend there was some business need to keep her maternity cover on permanently.

There are lots of roles within an SME which are delegated to a single person who is able to cope with the work without additional help. Even within larger companies, a single person might be in charge of a role within a department or wing of that business without needing anyone else. The company has behaved very poorly.

Sounds like you need to have a conversation with your line manager. Do you trust them?

How long have you worked there OP? Can you go in and speak to your manager or HR, basically tell them there isn't enough work for 2 roles and it's making things harder for both of you and what can be done?

Assuming you've been there more than 2 years, it'll be much easier for them to get rid of newer person as they don't need a reason or to pay redundancy within the first 2 years (assuming it isn't discrimination on the basis of sex, race, disability etc). Really not fair on the new person either though, what a ridiculous situation. Do you think they thought you'd give up your job or are they assuming you'll take another maternity leave soon?

They're saying that I am completely wrong etc. there is plenty of work for two etc etc.

But she is returning to the same role, it's just there's two of them doing it now, not just the OP.

@questionsss Ask your boss /HR what the plan is with the one role - two people are employed for.

speak to ACAS about what to do or ask and what your rights are.

It’s a moot point anyway - because the OP has gone back to exactly the same role. There’s just two of them doing it now, rather than one.

I think the OP just needs to speak to her line manager in all honesty. It’ll either allay her concerns, or not, and she take go from there.

I would hazard a guess and say they tried to recruit a maternity cover employee and couldn't find someone that only wanted to do a year, so they hired someone permanently.

Once you're back, they'll "realise" that two people to do the job is unnecessary and will go down the consultation route towards redundancy and make the new person redundant as it won't cost them anything in redundancy pay.

Yeah, I think you'd be better shutting up, getting on with your job as best you can and letting this play out.

Or look elsewhere...

If there’s plenty of work for 2 can you clarify job description.
Are there any courses or training you can do to fill time.
I wonder if they found it hard to recruit if it’s niche so feel better to have cover in case one if you is sick or has another maternity leave.

I'm currently part of a very similar situation except I'm the other person hired into a permanent role that was technically a maternity cover. The person has come back and we're in a weird job-share situation lol. No idea what's going to happen, but I also found out that I'm getting paid more than the original position holder to do the same job so it's very awkward right now for all involved.

To answer your question of is it normal, well it's happened in my company too! But I wouldn't say this is a normal situation to find ourselves in.

Bloody hell, that’s good. I had no idea right to return to same role wasn’t guaranteed for 12 months of leave. In my day we only got 6 months leave max and you had to have exact role - my company got into a pickle with that and I had to involve maternity rights organisation to verify my position. So, I was a bit gobsmacked to read that those rights weren’t extended when maternity leave got extended rights. Wtf. 🤦‍♀️🤬
I was about to launch into a rant , but seeing your information at least it looks like this glaring loophole will be closed potentially

So do you have clarity on that volume of work?

Because you could demonstrate that to your line manager. Using vague examples, if your role is sales / BD related, then arguably there's unlimited workload in speaking to people / researching a solution for them / submitting proposals etc (arguably not unlimited if you sell a specific widget that only 2 companies worldwide buy once per year ...) Deliberately ignoring for a minute ratio of transforming leads to actual sales ...

Or it's more task-based, that you process invoices and if company workload hasn't changed then one person previously processed 50 invoices in a day / week, now 2 of you are doing 25 each. So in theory you're finished early??

I know that's extreme examples of workload but can you demonstrate your disagreement to the line manager saying there's plenty of work for two?

Or they were hedging bets that OP wouldn't come back FT. Or would get pregnant again.

You won't know until you ask. Use one of your keeping in touch days to find out.

A year never seems very long, but companies can implement change fairly rapidly so you may find there's development work as well as business as usual work to do.

Are you planning to return full time? I ask because you're right that is 2 x as much work.

Someone took over my job when I went on maternity leave. They were seconded but they retained the original job when I returned, I did special projects. 12m later during my 2nd bout of maternity leave I was promoted. So you never know if this sort if change is going to be good, the same or big change/worse until you ask or return to work.

Good luck

1. You didn't leave. Yes you went on maternity leave but you were still employed under contract- make sure any correspondence you gave with them reflects this.

1. If they have given you the same job then they have done nothing "wrong". Hiring someone else to do the job too isn't wrong. I am guessing it is commission based?

Then get on with your job and collect data (sales figures or whatever) to compare to when you were the only one in the role. You can then either see it's fine and stop worrying, or show your line manager that there isn't enough work for two.

So you are coming back to work and have to do half the work for 100% pay

Sounds like a win to me 😆

What happens with your work load when you go on holiday ?
Surely it is good to have holiday, sickness cover in place

Perhaps they envisage an increase in workload around the time you plan to return? Or they realised there's enough work for 2 employees? Or they've hired the new person to cover your responsibilities while you're off, but when you return they'll fill another (possibly new) role? Perhaps one of your colleagues is leaving and you aren't aware?

This happened where I used to work and I was the 2nd person hired. The other girl was coping by herself and I did when she was off but it was also fine when we're both there. We'd both have time to do things that needed doing and the business grew.