Maternity rights

[ohsohopeful]

Hi,

I'm currently in an acting position at work. My contract states this but there is no fixed end date. Shortly after taking on the position I fell pregnant and my maternity leave begins next week. I have been off sick for 3 weeks (not pregnancy related), and last week the permanent version of my job was advertised. I have not been informed of this, or asked if I would like to apply. The interview date is my due date. I really enjoy my job (both my substantive and acting role) and have a good relationship with my employers. I feel really disappointed that no one told me that the role was going out, but I'm not sure if it's just pregnancy hormones making me a bit unreasonable, or if legally I should have been informed? I'm struggling to find the answer due to it being a temporary role. I'm fine with returning to my substantive role, I just don't feel like the process has been carried out properly.
Thanks.

There is no legal requirement for them to notify you that the permanent role is being advertised. Indeed, there is no legal requirement for it to be advertised internally at all. The fact they didn't notify you may be an oversight, or it may be that they don't think you are the right person for the job. Of course, if they are excluding you from the process because you are pregnant, that is illegal discrimination. If you want the role, you need to talk to them about it.

Unless the closing date has passed apply for the job. The fact the interview date is your due date is irrelevant at this stage.

What role did you have before, is it permanently filled?

I would definitely apply. If they don’t respond or reject you due to your pregnancy, then you’ll have legal rights. But right now, they haven’t done anything illegal. Good luck with baby!

Thanks everyone. No my previous role has not been filled as my acting role was additional to this (done alongside) so I'll essentially just lose the extra responsibility. I'm ok about this, it was a temporary contract (albeit with no set end date). It'll presumably mean I just revert to my old contract on return from mat leave? It just seemed a bit harsh that they can just take it away with no discussion or opportunity to apply for the job. I was under the impression that while on maternity leave you're not supposed to be disadvantaged from promotion. I know I can apply for the role, but currently I only know about it because I'm signed up for local job alerts. I've been there for a long time and we're quite a small team so I think I'm probably just taking it all a bit too personally. I appreciate your responses, thank you.

You aren't on maternity leave yet. Even if you were, the question is whether you are being disadvantaged compared to other employees. If they haven't advertised the role internally, they don't have to notify you. However, if other employees have been notified of this vacancy, they should have notified you as well. If you apply for this job, the fact you will be on maternity leave when they are interviewing should not prevent them from interviewing you, nor should it be part of their decision as to who gets the job.