Can they reduce my salary during my maternity leave

[Cariad90]

My employer, a large university, is 'considering salary reductions' due to coronavirus but won't release any further information at this stage.

I've just had a baby and am currently on maternity leave until January 2021, on full salary for a few months and then half salary for a couple of months.

Can they reduce my salary whilst I'm on maternity leave? I've planned my maternity leave based on my existing salary, and unlike other employees I won't have the option to seek employment elsewhere if I don't agree with the salary reductions, as I won't be in a position to work until January.

My husband is self employed, hasn't had any work since March due to coronavirus as his company is in the tourism industry, and has had zero financial support for the government, so if they reduce my salary we'll be in a really difficult position.

Does anyone know where I stand legally?

There is no special protection for being on maternity leave. However, they need your consent to reduce your salary. If they are reducing the salary for more than 20 employees they must consult with a trade union or employee representative.

Are you in the Union, OP? Because it's likely to be a Union who is doing the negotiations with the University so they may be able to advise.

Yep, you’re still employed and everyone will be getting a salary reduction. You’re not exempt due to maternity

Argh that's annoying, thanks for the info though, at least I'm prepared. Yes I'm part of a union.

At the moment it's dependent on how much the pandemic influences the university's finances in the next academic year.

Would it be a case of accept the salary reduction or take redundancy instead?

No-one can answer that question for certain but one possible outcome is that they would terminate your employment by giving notice and then offer to re-employ you immediately at the lower salary. If they go down this route you could state that you are continuing your employment under protest due to financial constraints and reserving the right to bring a claim for constructive dismissal later. However, if you go down this route you would be required to mitigate your loss as far as possible by looking for another job. If you find one before you leave it is unlikely to be worth your while bringing a claim for unfair dismissal.

I don't think they will need to offer redundancy instead, the post isn't redundant

I don’t think, either, that you can say that you’re not in a position to be able to work until January - certainly you’d prefer not to, but if needs must you could, so I don’t think that’s a factor.

Sorry this is happening to you - huge stress at a difficult time.