Redundancy on maternity leave

[Waggamamma]

Due to a funding shortfall my work will be making redundancies very soon. Approximately 25% of staff expected to be made redundant. The staff team have been told 'no job is safe' but I have also been told my job is secure due to the fact I am on maternity leave until July this year. Am I being naive to think I will avoid redundancy simply because I'm on mat leave?

I believe there will be a restructure and people reinterviewed for fewer posts. Can this still be applied to me?

It's a small charity if that makes a difference.

Thanks! I'm so worried, I can't afford to be out of work it would be devastating for our family.

I can't answer your question however I am in a similar position. Two posts out of three are being made redundant in the company I work for.however I have to apply for the one and only post like everyone else!!

I empathise totally as I also need my job when I return from mat leave.

Take a look here: www.gov.uk/employee-rights-when-on-leave

"Employees have the right to be offered any suitable alternative job if they’re selected for redundancy (even if other colleagues are more suitable for the role) while on maternity, adoption or paternity leave.

An employee can only be made redundant if the employer can clearly justify doing it - eg a part of the business closes and everyone in that section is made redundant. There are other rules for employers when making staff redundant."

Thanks marmot. It looks like I will have to have a role made available for me then as it's unlikely that any whole section of the business will close, more likely some people from each. Even if my colleagues are more suited to a job (which they are, I'm the least experienced in the team).

It's so worrying and such a long time to wait for the outcome.

I'm not sure you've entirely understood. They only have to offer you a suitable alternative role if there is a vacancy. They do not have to create a vacancy specifically for you. So if, say, you are a bottle washer and they are reducing the number of bottle washers they are entitled to select you for redundancy. They don't have to offer you one of the remaining bottle washer roles. And if there are no other vacancies within the business they don't have to offer you anything.

However, they are not allowed to use the fact you are on maternity leave to select you for redundancy. Many businesses will therefore try to avoid making women on maternity leave redundant to avoid any possibility of a sex discrimination case.

Ah ok I see, so they could say 'we are making waggamamma redundant because she's the least experienced of all the bottle washers'?

Yes they could. However, if they re-interview people as you suggested in your first post that will muddy the waters somewhat. You could then argue that the remaining roles must be new posts otherwise they wouldn't have needed to re-interview. From their point of view the safest bet would be to use objective selection criteria and select people without re-interviewing them.

They can make you redundant whilst on maternity leave. They tend to try to avoid picking on that person as it might look discriminatory but if lots of others are being made redundant and it's nothing to do with the fact you've had a baby it CAN be lawful to make someone redundant on maternity leave. It is a question of whether they genuinely do not have the work for all those people including the person on the leave.