Desperate and anxious, when will this hell be over?

[Daydreamer94]

My employer has behaved terribly during my maternity leave:

• Made me redundant
• Failed to consult me
• Failed to offer a suitable role (despite advertising one)

The above are to name a few, after months of back and forth dispute and their time delaying tactics they have entered into a Without Prejudice settlement talks. Their offer, PILON + 1 months salary ex gratia. My solicitor thinks its a joke and is going back to them but I wanted to hear from others who perhaps have had similar experiences. What was the final outcome? Did you end up at ET or did they meet you somewhere reasonable. Given the current market it’s going to take me a good few months to find a role and not to mention the stress i’ve had to deal with this while on maternity leave just infuriates me.

Whereabouts are you in you mat leave, and how long is it?

If youre due to be off a year and are due to return then PILON and a month is a very different offer than potentially 11 months full paid Mat leave plus PILON and an extra month for example. Id say trying to find a new role right back from Mat leave is hugely stressful. So sorry you're going through that.

My employer 'made me redundant' first morning back after maternity leave. They'd given my role and my team to the sales director's wife. I was the only person made redundant, despite having hit every target for the previous 4 years.

Thankfully I had family legal insurance so they took over and we took them to tribunal. They decided to pay me a year's salary to shut up and go away, two days before the tribunal hearing but it took 10 months of bullying before we got there.

Listen to your solicitor, and hold your nerve. Some employers' behavior is appalling.

No advice, sorry, but wish you all the best.

My then employer did something similar to me and it was shit.

Hope you can get a resolution.

I was dismissed by an organization who did not follow their own procedures. I had a paper trail of their wrongdoing (disability discrimination). Fortunately I was a member of a union who got a solicitor. I came out with a years salary and had to sign an NDA. I used the money to set up my own business. Take the asvice of your lawyer.

ET will be even more stressful so if your solicitor can sort it now you should let them.

Hold your nerve, they will always offer more. Even if it’s close to a hearing date as the cost of Barrister’s is extortionate. They’ll tend to add up their costs if they proceed to tribunal and come back with a much higher offer which is still a saving for them and settle before the case is heard in court.
First offer is always low to see if you go away without a fuss.

There is no compensation cap at tribunal for gender discrimination but there is for unfair dismissal. Listen to your solicitor. They will know the strengths of your case and your chances of being successful, depending upon what your claim is for.
If they’ve breached the ACAS code of conduct, which it appears they have, they won’t have a strong case to defend their actions. I’d personally want to give the impression you’re going all the way to tribunal and see what the best settlement offer is to avoid the stress of it.
Best of luck, I know how awful this is.

I am due back end of this month! It’s been hell to get to this point with them. Taking weeks to reply to basic emails, offered me a demoted role which I refused, offered me less salary (?!) which I refused. All of it on email. This week they finally entered a settlement after my solicitor threatened with ET. But all they have offered is 1 months salary as compensation for the shitshow they have caused and essentially ruined my mat leave.

It’s awful isn’t it. Since this all started I have discovered just how bad discrimination is particularly for women! Shocking this is happening in 2025!

Is it worth looking at Pregnant and Screwed and perhaps reaching out for advice?

I am so sorry.

I would follow your solicitor’s advice, this is basically their opening offer. Your solicitor likely knows you’d have a good chance at tribunal and that they will want to avoid this. I believe it’s not unusual to get quite close to an actual tribunal, game of chicken style, before they’ll settle appropriately. Has your solicitor talked it through with you and explained how strong they feel your case is and why they think this strategy is the right one?

Thank you. And I did! They advised me to get a solicitor which I also did. They are just hell bent on making my life a misery right now, i’ve been fighting them since June.

OP, does your ex employer supply public sector organisations? Do they have to claim to be an equal opportunities employer in order to win public sector contracts.

If so, they will want to avoid tribunal at all costs. As pp said, they have made their first offer which is derisible. Your solicitor will know how to proceed.

Good luck.

@rache71 you need to start a thread in relationships you will get some help & answers there.

Probably best to start your own thread so that you get a wide range of advice. Most will tell you to dump him. They'll be right.

Yes I am going with their advice. They basically laughed at this offer and said there is no way they can or would advise me to sign. Yes they do know my strength of case but are equally shocked at my employers tactics. They are playing dirty atm. I just wanted to gauge similar stories and how it panned out for others

My DC settled for 50% of annual salary, 2/12's PILON, Hol pay, reimbursement of 60% of legal fees and an agreed excellent reference. In return DC signed an NDA and agreed to never darken their door again.
It was incredibly stressful and an ET would have taken 2 years but the mistakes made by this nationally known company were dreadful. A good employment solicitor is worth every penny.

That’s reasonable, totally get why you’d want to chat about it. I’m sorry you’re going through this and that they’re being so shitty and hope you get a resolution soon.

Seen a few of these. What is your notice period? Was your mat leave enhanced above stat?

your solicitor is right. It’s a very shoddy offer.

@Nocookiesforme has good advice tho I’d start higher:

1 year’s full salary inc e’ers pension contribution as compensation and any other benefits

PILON inc e’ers pension

all holiday accrued to date inc on mat leave

keep your laptop if you have one (for job hunting)

no claim on any mat leave enhancement

Good reference

no exclusions on who you can work with next

push for everything. There is no excuse for the company messing these things up. good luck!

I was made redundant by my last employer when DS was 8 months old. After a farcical consultation I received:

• A months PILON pay as per my contract
• 4 half days KIT payments to cover consultation meetings
• Outstanding holiday pay - taxed
• Outstanding Statutory Maternity Pay - taxed
• Outstanding company Maternity Pay - paid ex gratia so not taxed
• a Statutory tax free redundancy payment, but rounded up slightly as if I had completed 5 years full service, as I was just short of this.

I wasn’t happy with this and with a bit of help from my brother, who works in data protection, sent them a SAR (a subject access request). This scared them into thinking I was edging towards a tribunal and they offered me a 6 weeks pay. I pushed for 8 weeks which they agreed to if I signed an NDA. They also paid legal costs.

Your solicitor might well suggest you proceed with a subject access request.

I ended up with essentially 6 months of pay in the bank,
so took a further 6 months off with my little boy.

Good luck with it all!
It’s such a shitty, horrible thing to happen when you are on maternity leave. Sending un mumsnetty hugs.

Ridiculously low offer. How long have you been there?

The Manchester Growth Company did this to me at 35 weeks pregnant, at the time a tribunal was too expensive, so I just take every opportunity I can to advise others not to work for such an unethical organisation. It cost them in legal fees as I publicised what they’d done on social media and they tried to threaten me with no luck. Take it as far as you can!

That sounds promising! Glad they got a well deserved outcome. I didn’t even anticipate going down this road, let alone whilst on maternity leave but my DH pushed me to see the unfairness in it all.

Yes mat leave was enhanced. Notice is 2 months. I think we have gone in with a counter offer that resembles a full year, I am doubtful they will agree to that, since they started at 1 month?! Yes my solicitor has outlines all the below. I could probably get more at Tribunal but in all honesty would like to avoid that.

3.5years, shocking really.