Work issues - restructuring - do I have any protection?

[flymo79]

Hi - any help/advice anyone can give with regards to what happens when you tell your boss you're pregnant and the next week they tell you your dept is being restructured?? Could take months to organise the restructure (I am 14 weeks) and by the summer/august (due date) they hope to have an idea of what positions will look like/job descriptions etc. Although obviously I don't want to have to be re-applying/interviewing for my job at 8+ months, I appreciate that I am no 'different' to anyone else in my team who is facing the same....
thanks in advance for any advice

You have the right not to be treated less favourably than anyone else. You should get the same information, consultation, chances to apply, etc.

If you are actually on mat leave when there are redundancies, you do have some priority rights in terms of redeployment, but since you are only 14 weeks now I would cross that bridge when you come to it.

Sorry you've had such stressful news.

thanks Penguins, I am desperate to know how the whole process is going and sort of want them to hurry up, but then seeing what you say about mat. leave they would be in a difficult position if they didn't give me the same options/opportunities. I just can't help feeling that with preg. sickness (have had some days off) I feel less visible/useful at the moment.

My team was recently restructured and there were three people on mat leave who were all given posts from their ring-fence, over others who weren't preg or on mat leave.

The way it was described was effectively as 'positive discrimination', that is: it would be difficult to nigh on impossible to prove that they hadn't been discriminated against for being pregnant/on mat leave - so the accepted process in these circumstances is that they are offered available positions before others in the same ring-fence. I think they may have had to submit preference forms but didn't have to attend an interview.

I work for a local authority, so it's very proper in terms of policy and procedure. Our restructure dragged on and on and the best tip I can give is to try not to worry about it (I know, I know), unless it gets to a point where you can see you actually have something definitive to worry about! I spent months (actually it was more than two years) weighing up and looking at options and what-ifs - and even if I hadn't been successful in securing a post, the majority of the things I'd agonised about in that time were massively irrelevant.

Good luck

Thanks dats! this is hugely reassuring. I am at a university - they fancy themselves as being procedurally proper, although I know they expect staff to be compliant. I'm sure those restructuring us don't have it in for me but they probably want to cut some costs and slim down the dept. makes me very uneasy but I will bear your words in mind about how long it could take!