To think they are going to fire me when colleagues mat leave ends?

[NameChangedMay]

I started a job last August - permanent position and was told it was to expand the team. I realised on joining that one of the team members was heavily pregnant and about to go on mat leave, so other than a short handover there was still only 5 of us when she left to have baby.

earlier this month she gave notice to return to work full in mid-August. Over past weeks few my manager has been picking up on small mistakes and micro-managing and basically giving the impression he’s not happy with me. Nothing was mentioned before other than encouraging feedback.

The team are excited to have the colleague coming back and went out for lunch with her on a KIT day without me. i feel I’m just going to be cast aside now she is coming back, and they don’t need me any more so they will find a silly reason to fire me.

can they do this?

Hi OP, unfortunately yes they can really. Your full employment rights don’t kick in until you’ve been employed for 2 years, before that time they can pretty much just let you go without having to justify a reason.

Thank you, I’m really annoyed as I think they have basically employed me as maternity cover and didn’t say that. She is basically coming back and I think she will take my job.

I'd start looking for a new job now. How awful of them.

If you've passed your probation then no, they can't fire you for silly reasons. If you passed you would be a permanent employee, if that's what your contract states.

The two year thing refers to redundancy pay if you were to be made redundant. Which would be a huge, time consuming process for them, taking a minimum of 6 weeks.

This is incorrect.

This really isn't true.

https://www.acas.org.uk/dismissals/unfair-dismissal

Hmm, I guess it's possible op but at the same time it seems odd that they wouldn't have just advertised your post as a maternity cover to begin with if that was what they were looking to do?

Is it possible that you're reading into this, perhaps your manager is in a bad mood for other reasons or perhaps you're making those few silly mistakes because you're worrying about this?

If they were am established team before then I can understand why they met up when she was on maternity leave- if she organised it she may not have thought to invite you as she won't really know you as well as the others.

I think if it were me I would try not to over think it, focus on performing well (just in general not just due to this) and in the meantime keep an eye out for other better opportunities which you should be doing anyways if you're interested in career progression. If your manager is giving mom constructive criticism I'd ask for a meeting and discuss it directly and ask for clear feedback and directions that you can implement to improve your performance and meet their standards.

This isn't true.

You're right, @OldSow . What OCDmama said was incorrect. (I really wish people stop giving incorrect legal/financial advice to posters. Unless one is an expert or highly knowledgeable in a field - in this case employment law - they should be careful not to mislead others).
OP, sorry to hear that (and many of us have been in your shoes - so don't beat yourself up about it). Start looking for a new job. It happens. Sending you hugs.

Funnily enough, I’ve been in the exact same situation!

Hired as a permanent position. Colleague went on mat leave a few days later.

At first boss thought I was wonderful. As the end of mat leave approached, she became more and more critical and used the positives that she first really liked about me as negatives. It was genuinely bizarre. But I guess she didn’t want to recruit for a temp position as in my industry it would involve a salary she couldn’t afford.

I ended up walking out as I was so sick of it.

Anyway, I now earn double what I did there. Meanwhile they were fined over a regulatory issue I highlighted when I was there

karmas a bitch!

They don't need to find fault or artificially magnify minor errors - any employee who has been with the company for less than 2 years can be terminated for no reason at all, and the only protection is if you have any reason to believe the decision was based upon an illegal discrimination against a protected characteristic. Sorry.

Best start job hunting.

If you are ethnic minority or have any other protected characteristics you can claim discrimination within the two year period, but I'd start job hunting.

What bad advice.

The OP can only claim discrimination if she believes they have actually discriminated against her on basis of a protected characteristic.

Nothing in the OP even remotely suggests they have

If you are actually permanent and not employed as maternity cover then I would not assume they will get rid of you unless you are told anything