Anyone in HR/employment law know where I stand?

[Yellowisnot]

I came back from mat leave in February. In august our pay process happened and I was given a tiny pay rise but the rest of my team was given a higher one. I am mid level senior but only one person is more junior than me in my team.

I raised this with my manager and they came back to me a couple of weeks later to say that my performance ‘wasn’t where it should be.’ This was news to me and I feel it should have been raised in the numerous 1:1 meetings I have had (as we all have!) on a monthly basis. I was also told that ‘you had another pay rise while on maternity leave don’t forget.’ What is that supposed to mean? Yep, I did have a minimal pay rise then as did my team and I am almost certain that you are not allowed to remove someone on mat leave from a pay review process but perhaps I am wrong and they were actually doing me a favour then?

Anyway… I have a had a few comments about ‘when I have my second’ since being back and I feel strongly that I haven’t been included in a proper pay review process by virtue of the fact I am now seen as a mother and someone who may be off again soon. I am actually not planning on more children as I am already 38.

What do I do about this if anything? I feel very stressed and upset that my work is now being criticised in small ways since having raised my rubbish pay rise and not ever been mentioned prior to this. Ironically I have also on a financial level performed better in the last six months than the year prior to me going off on mat leave which doesn’t make sense to me. I don’t know what to do or how to feel about this or whether I even have anything to argue here.

HR professional here.

Get this moved to the “work” or “legal matters” boards. You’re about to get a whole lot of incorrect advice from well meaning but uninformed people in here.

@ItTook9Years thanks how do I do that? And do you have any advice?

You report the thread and ask for it to be moved

Vote with your feet and get a new job.

I will have later, yes.

You’ve posted in AIBU. You’re going to get a whole load of replies from people saying what they think should happen, or how they think the law should work. None of it will be useful.
You need replies from people who know what they’re talking about. There is a legal matters board. Post in there. This isn’t an AIBU thread so don’t know why you’ve put it here.

Are you in a union? If not, join one and get some advice. ACAS can also advise.
You might not be overworking as much as you did before the baby. Not that you aren't doing your job and doing it well. You need decent advice from your union or ACAS if you think you're being discriminated against because of your maternity/family.

Hiya OP, we have moved this to legal matters for you as we think you'll get more suited support from other Mumsnetters here.

Definitely contact ACAS/union if you have one and also have a look at workingfamilies.org.uk as they have a section on discrimination as a parent/carer.

This depends on how your company’s annual salary review works. Most often everyone will receive a certain percentage increase and then those who have performed over and above, achieved their IKOs or any other business performance measure will the receive a higher percentage increase on top of the basic increase.

Did you have anything that needed to be achieved prior to the mat leave or have you been set new performance targets since you have returned? If not you should insist on measurable targets that can be tracked by your manager as a way of showing them you are capable and like you said you are performing better now than when you went on maternity.

Obviously if you feel you are being sidelined from being on maternity leave or that your manger is thinking ahead that you might have more children so might not be ‘worth’ investing in then you must go to your HR department or if you feel uncomfortable with them ACAS. Pregnancy and maternity are protected characteristics and if you feel this is being used against you by your manager you should seek advice. Whether a woman is going to go on to have more children should not be an indicator of what salary they should receive nor see it as an employee who will not be a long term investment.

I work in HR in a comp and ben team and it’s impossible to say what your salary increase should be in terms of being inline with your colleagues if we don’t know that ins and outs of your salary review policy. It varies from company to company so it would be beneficial to you to query it with your HR team.

It’s a feeling I have I guess. Why give the team more than me?

Yep, I did have a minimal pay rise then as did my team and I am almost certain that you are not allowed to remove someone on mat leave from a pay review process but perhaps I am wrong and they were actually doing me a favour then?

No, they weren't doing you a favour. You must receive the same pay rises on maternity leave as you would have received had you not taken maternity leave.

Anyway… I have a had a few comments about ‘when I have my second’ since being back and I feel strongly that I haven’t been included in a proper pay review process by virtue of the fact I am now seen as a mother and someone who may be off again soon

It sounds like they may be using your alleged poor performance to cover for the fact that the real reason for the small pay rise is that you took maternity leave. If that is the case, that is clear discrimination. If you want to pursue this, you should consult a lawyer who specialises in employment law. They will be able to tell you if you have enough evidence to make a case.