Rights for promotion when going on maternity

[BumbleBeeI]

The situation is following. A role has opened up which would be a step up, however I’m due to start maternity leave 2 months after I would have to start the role, should I be the right candidate (I do have all the skills and experience required).

I understand I can’t be discriminated because of maternity but basically I’m preparing to be turned down. Of course it will depend on who might in the end get the job and if they are actually more experienced than me I understand that.

However, I have this niggly feeling that I will be turned down and the person that will get the job will not necessarily be more suitable.

What would be the best approach to play it should I get turned down to a candidate who doesn’t appear more experienced?

You can contact Pregnant then Screwed/ACAS/your union for details on how to legally challenge or raise a grievance - but how are you planning to prove that the candidate is 'unsuitable'? Experience on paper isn't everything.

Fair enough if your company does standardised interviews and your score was higher than theirs (AND everyone else's). But otherwise, their only legal obligation is to treat you exactly the same as other candidates. As long as they can explain why that specific person was hired and no rules were bent (e.g. hiring a non-qualified person in a regulated profession) you won't have a case I'm afraid.

I know it would be difficult for me to prove as I imagine the employer can always come up with something that I/a candidate don’t have and say it was vital or something along the lines…

I presume I have the right to ask (demand?) detailed feedback and what I was lacking if I don’t get the job?

I’m not thinking about legal action but also don’t intend to be quiet if I feel that the only reason why I didn’t get the job is the fact that I would be gone for extended period of time.

Many people asked me if I was applying and said that I should.

Your first step will be to raise a grievance (if the information is not forthcoming) and as part of the investigation the hiring information should be reviewed.
Again, someone with more experience/those charities I mentioned will be better able to advise but some cases of people who have won and how/what they have proven things

https://www.pureemploymentlaw.co.uk/lack-of-promotion-for-employee-in-her-50s-was-unfair-and-discriminatory/

https://www.peoplemanagement.co.uk/article/1744731/female-economist-denied-promotion-wins-sex-discrimination-case

https://www.hrmorning.com/news/passed-over-for-promotion-was-it-age-bias/

These are not for pregnancy OP but it's how they have proven that they were passed over in favour of unsuitable candidates

Also ignore the last link I pasted by accident!" That's US based and not a clear case so irrelevant

Thanks for that. I’ll have a read through.

If I’ve read this right, you’ve not even applied for this job yet.

Don’t you think you’re jumping the gun a bit? Talking about grievances and discrimination when they’ve not even turned your down yet.

You would not be the first woman to secure a promotion just before going on maternity leave. It does happen.

I have applied. I might be jumping the gun. Maybe I do get the job.

However, I don’t see the issue with being prepared and have a plan of action if I don’t and it would look like the other candidate wasn’t more suitable.

I said I don’t intend to take legal action, but should I feel the only reason I didn’t get the job is the fact I’m going on mat leave I don’t intend to be quiet about it either.

Not the first woman to secure a promotion, not the first woman to be passed over either. We just don’t know yet which one it will be.

I think it's highly unlikely you'd get the job if there are a number of other candidates to choose from.

Very few employers will want to fill a new role with someone who will be there for only a few weeks before an extended leave. It's all sorts of faff for them.

No, technically your impeding maternity leave shouldn't impact you. But it probably will. And if they recruit someone else and turn you down, your opinion that you were more suitable for the role will mean diddly.

They can justify the new hire in 100 ways. We felt they'd be a better fit with their new team. We felt their idea on xyz would be of huge benefit to bla bla bla. They really came across well in the interview and their examples were the most well structured. You did really well in the interview but they just pipped you. You'd never prove differently.

If you intend leaving anyway, kick up a stink, nothing to lose. If I wanted to maintain a good relationship and be considered for the next promotion though, it's not a hill I'd die on.

@SternJosie that’s what I’m thinking. If there are other candidates they won’t give it to me. Maybe I’m exposing my own bias on how I would act in the same situation if I was the one who needs to fill that position - food for thought.

I know some of the candidates that also applied and I can’t see how they would truly justify giving it to them other than ‘you are actually not going to be here to do the job’.

However, if there are other candidates much closer to my skill set and it becomes marginal I’m sure my mat leave will disadvantage me.

I will see how it all plays out. I don’t have major plan on whether I want to leave the company or wait for another promotion opportunity if this one doesn’t work out. Actually, I will form a better view after we go through this process and what happens. I’m unlikely to stick around in the hope there will be another opportunity if I end up feeling I was treated unfairly. How I judge if they were unfair is based on who will get the job, if it’s the former in my example above, unfair. If it’s the latter it depends on how they communicate with me after.

I’m not fully certain what the pay is but it’s very likely if I jumped ship now I would get around the same pay for doing the same job as I’m doing now as I would if I get the promotion - no additional faff and more money for me, but as they say it’s not always just the money.

Yep, pregnancy hormones - awake in the middle of the night 🤦‍♀️