To Complain on Behalf of All Parents At Work

[RiteousIndignation]

Around ten years ago, I discovered that, due to an accounting error in the systems used, the company I work for wasn't paying people on maternity/parental leave the correct pension contributions. I fought tooth and nail to get this rectified and it took years of back and forth. I'm not on the board and I'm not a shareholder which made things difficult but I thought I'd had the problem fixed. I spoke to a colleague on maternity leave yesterday and found out that it's still happening.

I escalated my previous thread and have been told that it's none of my business because I haven't been affected this time and essentially to wind my neck in. I have female members of staff that are likely to be affected if they have children, so I disagree. And I was the person that reported it last time and so feel invested.

I really don't think I ABU but I feel hugely anxious about being told to stand down and not letting this go.

YANBU - in a management position, you have a moral obligation to wield what power you do have to make sure others aren't disadvantaged.

YABU - you've done your moral duty by reporting it and it'll do no one any favours by you continuing to push this/escalating it further.

I escalated my previous thread

come again? To whole?

Thank you for pursuing this for your colleagues ❤

There's no need to come in so hard @Clickjaw unless you're an HR professional with an axe to grind about being corrected.

Pregnancy is a protected characteristic, though!

The irony of your typo...

Have you tried ACAS?

Because I recall the OP’s other threads

this is an unusual OP

not one single colleague has ever progressed this themselves. The OP is literally the only one who thinks there is an error

I’m not picking up the OP’s writing skills

the Op has written that she “escalated” her last thread

reasonable question - to whom?

Well thanks for your input Clickjaw. I'm not wrong. Another poster has mentioned it isn't an uncommon mistake. And I don't know whether anyone else has complained - I'm not party to the Accounts or HR email inboxes. What I do know is that a lot of people haven't checked their pension accounts. Not one of the colleagues I've spoken to about this even knew how to long into theirs.

I assure you you don't - I name changed for this thread with a fresh username. Not saying I'm not unusual, but I'm not sure what you're getting WRT MN threads!

I haven't, thank you, I'll think about that

You are quite identifiable OP, put it like that

So the colleague who supposedly told you that it’s still happening… you didn’t ask whether they were pursuing the matter?

in a decade you don’t know whether a single colleague aside from you has pursued the error despite them being the victims?

Join a Union anyway. Your employers have no right to know - it's protected personal information:
"Trade Union membership is one of several Special Categories of data under GDPR – previously classified as "sensitive personal data" under the DPA".

A union will protect you if you are ever treated unfairly at work due to raising the maternity/pensions issue. They will help will legal advice and legal costs.

Thank you - I think it's about time I looked into it really

This is very good advice

and well done to you

Afaik this likely wouldn't come under whistleblowing and the protection that offers as I'm not sure it would meet the "public interest" condition unless you're funded by public money. I've not had any dealings with actual whistleblowing but have with employees who think their grievance is covered by it.

Either way though you're not wrong for pursuing this as all employees have a duty of fidelity to their employer.

Good luck!!

This is the Sky News piece that a PP referred to: https://news.sky.com/story/common-error-could-leave-thousands-of-women-out-of-pocket-in-pensions-without-realising-13323370

Consider contacting the Pregnant Then Screwed hotline, as this is definitely maternity discrimination so they can probably advise on the most appropriate legal channels - it might be that the women affected must themselves take proper action, but it seems like an external/legal challenge is needed if they're going to keep foregoing their legal obligations.

Of course it is. I was obviously having a duh moment!

This is good advice, and a similar approach worked for me in a large corporate environment. I uncovered a similar systemic financial error related to calculation of part time pay. This was disproportionately impacting women as they represented the majority of part time workers. After initial push back from HR I used the grievance process which resulted in a financial settlement in my favour - allowing me to position this as an issue that could result in a costly number of future claims as I had created a precedent, and an issue that particularly impacted women. I also asked the sponsor of the internal women's group to accompany me as support in the grievance process and as an insurance policy against retaliation, so she could see my intentions were positive (fair, reliable pay calculation for all). I was discrete about the entire process (no crusade) and focussed on influencing a small group of senior people.

YANBU - I discovered this where I worked and brought it to the board who made restorative payments to all affected employees and rectified the issue moving forwards.

I wouldn’t work somewhere like that.

Join a Union. Even if you don't want them to be directly involved they will advise you. They will have had others in your position.

If you are successful let other colleagues know and maybe they'll join the Union too and hopefully get Union recognition. Then you can all be on the road to getting better working conditions and pay - unionised workers get better pay then non unionised.

She’s obviously talking about a work email thread, not a Mumsnet one.

This is absolutely incorrect. It is highly likely to be a protected disclosure.