Settlement figure for maternity discrimination?

[GoldieLocks09]

I’m due to take part in a ‘without prejudice’ meeting with my employer in the coming days. Ultimately my position at the company is no longer there and they have not followed recent maternity laws as they:

1. have offered me a job that is not suitable at all (lower level, much less senior)
2. told me I can apply for a more senior position (but backhandedly told me I wouldn’t get it)
3. made the decision 9 months ago when I first went off and have only just told me

and there’s a few other things but I don’t want to be too outing..

I think both myself and the company know the outcome and that there will be a settlement. My question is how much should I push for?

I earn approx £120k OTE (bonus & basic salary), have already lined up childcare and paid a 6 month deposit, missed out on my annual bonus last year because they didn’t pay me it as I was on maternity leave, been there 6.5yrs and have a 3 month notice period. AIBU to go for a full years salary plus bonus and my notice period?

Can anyone share examples of what they’ve received as a settlement (or a friend of a friend, etc?) or how I’d go about calculating it. I’m aware I could get more taking them to a tribunal but for ease & the ability to get passed this awful period I’d rather just settle but for as much as I can?

I'm absolutely not a lawyer, but I am involved in equity and discrimination a tiny amount for my work. So, I could be wrong!

I thought you still got your bonus as usual when on maternity leave, so ask about that as a separate issue

I also thought that there is no upper limit to the amount you could receive for a discrimination case. That would only be relevant if you end up in court, but might be worth keeping in mind when you see what they offer. You could argue that your chances of finding another job are minimal so they need to provide you with an income until retirement age. Obviously, that only works if true.

It also sounds like they're not sticking to the correct process by rushing this.

Personally, i'd go to the meeting and refer to it as a preliminary discussion. I'd also make notes and even record it if possible. I'd refuse to agree or decide anything, insist on written confirmation of what they say and offer, then tell them you'll be taking this to legal counsel.

Good luck, it sounds horrible for you.

I’m sorry you’re going through this. It must be very stressful.

But you are doing yourself and your family a disservice by not instructing a solicitor. Yes it takes a little time, and costs some money, but the difference in payout could be tens of thousands of pounds. Surely that’s worth pushing back on the settlement meeting date and getting proper legal advice for?

If they take you to tribunal

employers don’t take employees to tribunal……..

the rest of your advice is also 💩

OP.

Going back a few years now and I was working for a local authority (being deliberately vague here) I settled out of court on a maternity discrimination and constructive dismissal claim. I got 2+ years pay (again being vague) and wasn't required to pay back enhanced maternity pay or childcare vouchers.

My advice would be and IANAL
Get yourself decent representation. This isnt something you can fight yourself.

Evidence absolutely anything and everything. In my case I had absolute rock solid concrete evidence of what was going on which is part of the reason I was able to get what I did.

Never agree to anything on the day. If they make you an offer, ask to take it away with you/think on it

Don't forget that you can also include injury to feelings. Again, if you have any evidence of this then find it or use it.

Will you return to work in the same sector? I never returned to work in that particular department, again something reflected in the award.

Get a reference 'on file' included as part of the award.

Last of all, look after yourself. It can be a brutal process to go through.

I think it's worth looking at what a tribunal can award and compare to any offer they make.
https://workingfamilies.org.uk/articles/calculating-damages-and-compensation/

I have no idea I'm afraid but when you get your next job please join a union. It's less than 20 quid a month and when I had issues they paid for a solicitor and barrister for me.

If this is a without prejudice settlement, you have to have a solicitor. The documents have to go through solicitors (recent experience of this!).

Get yourself a good one, we doubled what they were offering because they knew they’d lose massively at tribunal. Our solicitor was amazing. 1 90min zoom call and 3 emails. She found enough fuck ups in everything they’d written within that time and it was done and dusted.

You need to instruct a solicitor, and then time limits can start to come in - our solicitor told them to get fucked on the time limit they tried to impose and deliberately delayed for more money.

If its redundancy then its a different kettle of fish.

Good luck OP.

ETA - they also have to cover some of your solicitor fees, they came back with a number, our solicitor told them where to go, told them they minimum she was going to charge and they upped their offer and paid for everything bar £50.

Agree you need a solicitor.
If I were you I would start with the following calculation and demands:

1. Last year’s bonus paid in full (this is a no brainier they can’t not pay it just because you are on mat leave!)
2. Full notice period paid in full (so 3 months) plus pension contribution for that period
3. This year’s bonus paid pro rata for the % of your bonus year already passed plus notice period (so over 75% of this year’s bonus if you run Jan-Dec)
4. Any sort of LTIP, stock etc paid in full for last year and as per point 3 above above for this year
5. If you have other benefits like car allowance or health insurance, this to also be covered for notice period plus whatever extra period you ask for
6. legal fees covered to a capped amount (£600-1000 in my recent experience)

To me, all of these are no brainers that they can’t argue against (well they can, but any decent lawyer would argue them down).

Question then is what else. I would ask for 9 months and accept 6, but it’s a bit finger in air time. This is why you need a good lawyer.

Also consider:

1. agreed form reference
2. agreed form company comms
3. do you want to keep a work mobile or phone number?

good luck OP

Why don’t you say why instead of just calling other people’s advice shit?

Slow down op. You don’t have to dance to their tune.
‘dear manager, there is a lot of conflicting information here, there’s what you are telling me about my job was made redundant, while I can see that you seem to have omitted every step of a redundancy process, and also there seems still to be my maternity cover doing what looks like my job. Please bear in mind I know my job quite well so the role context is familiar to me. I need time to process this and seek advice. I will not be available to meet next week, can I suggest any time from late <date 2.5 weeks from now> that is within my usual working hours? You have known all about this for 9 months and I found out a week ago, so that seems to be a very reasonable time frame given the information gap and also the various conflicting information here.

I thought if you had been off more than 6 months they didn’t have to guarantee you the same job on your return just an equivalent?

have they offered anything?

Sorry I see they have … took a while to read all posts. Is the job you have been offered the same pay? You say it’s less senior but in what way? Are you managing other people? Is someone new managing you?

I think you need to be quite careful here.

Please, and I can’t stress this enough, get a shit hot lawyer. If you have to go to this meeting alone listen but don’t say or commit to anything. Just take notes and say you’ll be taking advice and will get back to them. Can you take a colleague/union rep into the meeting with you?

Get. a. lawyer. Even if it means delaying. My DH recently hired one for redundancy. £500-£1000 is no big deal when you’re leveraging for a £150k payout.

Long version

OP it’s a Without Prejudice (WP) meeting. They are going to tell you how much they are offering. Just listen. You don’t need a solicitor there (and no employer would allow it) and you won’t commit to anything.

However, have some initial chats with solicitors so you know who you would like to instruct.

Depending on the WP offer you can get your solicitor to either (a) advise you on the Settlement Agreement if you are happy with the package (employer usually pays this); (b) to continue the WP dialogue and improve your offer; or (c) go nuclear.

Any meeting that is not WP should be handled more carefully and you should make lots of noise and articulate that you consider you are being discriminated against.

However your post clearly states the meeting is a WP one so show up and see what’s on offer.

No offer is binding until you agree it and get advice from a solicitor (your solicitor has to countersign the Settlement Agreement) which takes at least a week.

Short version:

WP meeting = listen, Find out what’s on offer, give them a hard stare, say you’ll take advice. Then hand it over to your solicitor to act as appropriate depending on the value of the offer.

Non WP meeting/redundancy meeting = “you fuckers are discriminating against me and it’s unlawful and I don’t accept it”

Easy

As others have said, you don’t have to dance to their tune whatever they’re telling you. You have a right to seek legal counsel. They’re trying to bully you into agreeing to their terms or settling fast so that you don’t have time to get that counsel as it will be much cheaper for them in the long run. You cannot agree to anything or negotiate with them. This needs to be done by an employment lawyer and through a legal procedure.

Get a lawyer. I did and I am one (not practising in employment). They are used to jumping in and getting up to speed quickly. The company will pay a set amount of legal fees as standard to review a settlement agreement so you will only pay whatever is in excess of this.

This is excellent advice.

Go to the meeting, listen to what they have to say and don’t respond/negotiate/agree anything.

Finish the meeting with “thank you for your offer, I will come back to you once I have taken advice”.

You can absolutely get a lawyer at short notice. Didlaw are good and will pick up on the basis of an initial scoping call (I don't work for them and have no skin in the game but was helped by them in a similar case).

Unless you are in an absolute growth industry, hold out for more than you think. The impacts of discrimination in pregnancy are felt when you interview as a candidate with a baby.

Do not say a word in the WP meeting. Just ask for a copy of their offer at the end and tell them you need time for advice. Then find the best lawyer possible. Don’t worry about cost - companies usually end up paying this as part of your settlement. Look up Alison Downie solicitor. The law changed a while back (I think) banning companies from sacking wonen within a few months of returning from mat leave. They would get totally rinsed in a tribunal and discrimination under a protected characteristic is unlimited damages… When it comes to the negotiations they should think you’re not afraid of taking them to one. This looks slam dunk to me so they need to pay you out properly but only agree at the last minute. They are counting on you feeling vulnerable and too overwhelmed to fight. Get fired up for your family! Feel free to DM.

I would highly recommend a copy of "never split the difference" in terms of helpful suggestions for how to negotiate this. Including e.g. let the person you're negotiating with give the first information (i.e. make the first suggestion of a number), but also to remember to anchor really high. I.e. if what you want is a year's salary plus bonus plus notice period then ask for that plus another 50% on top so you have room to come down.

Edited to add: agreed on the various points re needing representation and WP Vs non-WP meetings as well, and not agreeing to anything at the time.

If you really can’t find a solicitor beforehand then do what @LittleMissCloud says!! I got a year’s salary (…almost 20 years ago)

Try Employees united. You PAYG (I know not ideal) and they do calls with you then attend in person any meeting you have

They're very good

Don’t allow them to rush you into anything. Either postpone the meeting or go on sick leave.

Legal advice needs to be your priority.

Also try unite the union. I don't know directly about them but probably similar - you don't have to have already signed up before the issue arose with employees united, and is mostly calls that you can arrange when time permits and give the date of the meeting for their presence