Promotion when on maternity

[NoNeedforALlama]

When I was on maternity I found out someone in my workplace got promoted to a temporary position I would have had an interest in applying for.

I got some advice from my union at the time and contacted the manager to ask why I wasn't given the opportunity to apply. He replied saying he hadn't realised I would be interested because it required a start 4 months before my maternity leave was due to end. He was pleased to hear I was interested in taking on more responsibility and would look at how to do that on my return. I went back for further advice but was told this was a satisfactory response. I was still annoyed but reasoned with myself that I wouldn't have been willing to return from maternity early and it was only a temporary position anyway.

It has now come to light that this is now to remain permanent and I'm pissed off again. This position would have given me valuable experience that I could use to climb the ladder as well as an increase in salary.

It's unlikely I would take any action because I wouldn't want to rock the boat but I'm just wondering if the whole situation was handled correctly and lawfully by my manager?

Ok, so if the position was permanent would you have came off maternity 4 months early?

What do you mean when you said you weren’t given a chance to apply for it?

Overlooking you in the promotion process because you were on maternity leave is likely to be unlawful discrimination. Your employer's response when you raised this suggests that you were a suitable candidate, which means you should, at the very least, have been given a chance to apply or, if there was no application process, they should have considered you. And you wouldn't have had to come off maternity leave 4 months early if you had won the promotion. They cannot insist you start work when you are on maternity leave. It may have been inconvenient for them that someone else would have had to cover until you returned from maternity leave, but that is their problem, not yours. If you want to know for sure, you need to consult a lawyer who specialises in employment matters. You may be able to get this through your home insurance if you have legal cover. Seeing a lawyer doesn't mean you have to take legal action. But, on the information posted, it sounds like this has not been handled correctly by your employer.

You’re kidding, right?
They weren’t physically there to apply for or do the job, the company needed someone to fulfil a role and they found someone.

Your ideas of what is ‘fair’ are unrealistic.

OP, I see why you’re annoyed but in reality it was handled correctly.

No, I am not kidding. This is not my idea of what is fair. It is the law's idea. And no, it was not handled correctly.

The OP cannot be penalised for being on maternity leave. Denial of promotion opportunities is a common form of discrimination. Refusing promotion because you are on maternity leave is maternity discrimination. It is unlawful.

@twinkletwinkle89 I'm not sure, it may have been that I could have negotiated to return earlier than I had planned but not quite as early as they needed me but who knows.

@Raspberry290 the promotion positions were only advertised internally, had to be applied and interviewed for. I'm not sure how this was done as I wasn't there, before there have been paper adverts posted in communal areas to advertise. When a different opportunity arose I was emailed to be told about it whereas I wasn't for these. I would have expected the correct thing to do would be to email me to tell me these positions were going to be available.

@prh47bridge thanks, to be honest I probably won't end up even getting legal advice, I've now been given a huge extra role in place of a different responsibility I had (with no more salary or "status" to it though 🙄 ) and wouldn't manage the promoted role with this as well so I guess it's a moot point now.

They should have made you aware of the role despite being on Mat leave. They should not have assumed you wouldn't apply and come off maternity leave. Not sure about the legalities around the role now being made permanent so I'd seek advice from your union.

It may have ended up being permanent but at the time the OP is thinking she was treated unfairly, it was a temporary position that started four months before OP returned from mat leave. I don't believe for a second that this would count as "unlawful discrimination".

I find the attitude above "It may have been inconvenient for them that someone else would have had to cover until you returned from maternity leave, but that is their problem, not yours" pretty obnoxious

It doesn't sound like a promotion though, it sounds like an internal vacancy that was a higher grade/more senior.

In every place I've ever worked a "promotion" means an increase in grade within your current role.

Organisations generally don't just "promote" people up into a more senior role unless there is a role available, ie a vacancy which has been created either through a restructure or someone leaving.

In this case, there was a vacancy that the organisation needed to fill sooner than the OP was due to return. The vacancy was advertised, OPs colleague applied (as too presumably did others?) and was successful.

It's not unusual for "new" posts to be advertised as temporary at first to give the organisation chance to assess whether that role is actually what is needed. Once they know it is, they are often made permanent.

The only issue I see is that the OPs employer did not make her aware of the vacancies and therefore she did not have an opportunity to apply.

However her manager has acknowledged this and offered an alternative to help her progress.

It sort of depends on how opportunities like this are advertised. Where I work they all go up on an internal HR platform which is accessible remotely. It's up to people on maternity to keep an eye out for internal vacancies while they're off. Anything advertised on there and available to be viewed by people who are on any kind of leave is legally compliant. Our maternity policy is very explicit about it being up to the woman on leave to check.

It doesn't sound like a promotion though, it sounds like an internal vacancy that was a higher grade/more senior.

That is the very definition of a promotion - moving to a job that is more senior or has a higher grade. OP describes it as a promotion and that is how the employment tribunal would view it.

@FrangipaniBlue Definitely what would be considered a promotion in my industry, it was a middle management position that became available due to the person who previously held it going on maternity leave themselves.

@Coraline353 nothing like that apart from the website that is used to advertise externally. As I say I have no idea how it was advertised as I wasn't emailed (and had been about a different opportunity) and obviously wasn't in the work place to see if there was a physical advert.

You didn't mention previously that this post arose due to someone going on maternity leave. If the promotion was to be maternity cover for someone, it is not a permanent promotion, and the employer has a lawful reason why the job needs to start at a particular time. If it was a permanent promotion, you have a case. However, if it was temporary maternity cover, your employer has probably acted correctly.

Ah ok, thank you, I didn't realise the nature of why it was temporary would have an impact. Glad to know it was dealt with properly, still incredible frustrated that I missed out

Apologies I wasn't being clear.

Yes I agree it's a promotion into a vacancy that became available.

But in every place I've worked there are two types of "promotion" - one being a move into another role having applied for a vacancy (a person could also move into a vacancy that was a sideways move ergo not a promotion!) and the second being where people could be "promoted within role" eg if it was deemed they were operating at a higher level within their current role.

There is usually a process by which their grading could be increased. It's often referred to as "progressional" promotion (and is not the same as a simple pay rise).

The issue is not that OP was "overlooked for promotion" but one of whether she was given the same opportunity to apply for a vacancy.

Where I work, employees can still access our vacancies board while on maternity and HR can send out emails with current vacancies to an email address that's been agreed with the employee prior to going on ML. Their line managers also do keep in touch days during which they are expected to keep the employee updated with any significant developments in the team and the company.

If the OPs employer has not been keeping her informed then absolutely they are in the wrong!

The OP said herself though that even if they had, she probably wouldn't have applied as the vacancy was advertised as temporary and needed to be filled sooner than her ML was due to end.

Her manager has offered an alternative to help her progress and OP was initially happy with that.

The issue now seems to be that the position has been made permanent. But I can't see how her employer has done anything wrong in making a temporary role permanent. As I said, they may not have known at the time of advertising that it needed to be permanent. This is perfectly normal.

Now if the OP was saying that her employer advertised the role as temporary in order to knowingly exclude her due to maternity, all the while knowing in the future it would be made permanent, then she'd have a point.

Not sure how you could prove that at a tribunal though.

Haha cross post with @prh47bridge yes that's what I was trying to say, you have explained it so much more succinctly that I did though 😂