Returning to work after ML leave - redundancy/consultation period/redeployment

[SabsFabulous]

Hi,

I wrote on here a few months ago asking for advice as I received a letter from my workplace saying that I was at risk from redundancy and would have to compete for a role I had been matched to, even though I was maternity leave. Following meetings with HR and my line manager, I then received communication saying that as I am on maternity leave I would not need to attend interviews and would be matched to a role on my return.

I have just returned from holiday this morning (a holiday I would not have gone on had I been at risk of redundancy!) which now says that as my maternity leave has ended and I am due back to work next week, and the consultation process is still going on until 1st Nov, I would need to go through the selection and interview process on my return and would probably have to have an interview next week!

Please can someone advice me as to whether they can do this? I have been out of work for nearly 14 months now and was dreading going back to work anyway but now the thought of having to have an interview immediately on my return is making me even more stressed

Sorry if I've rambled

TIA

You do get preferential treatment while you are on maternity leave in that if your role is redundant and there is a suitable alternative available, you shouldn't have to compete for it.

But if you are going to be back at work when decisions are made and the new structure and new roles won't take effect until November, then there's no reason to treat you any differently as far as I can tell. What job will you be going back to in the meantime, next week and until decisions are made in November and the new structure takes effect?

The company is obliged to make sure everyone who is at risk of redundancy is treated fairly which means you should be allowed the same chance as everyone else to apply for a new role. If you feel that you haven't been given the same chance you should make your employer aware of this, in writing if necessary. Most companies are scared of doing something unfair in a redundancy process and leaving themselves open to a claim for unfair dismissal so your concerns should be listened to.

Hi, thanks for responding.

I am going back to my old role when I return next week, but this role will not exist in the new structure. The role I have been matched to is a new position in the new structure.

As far as I am aware, all the interviews for the role I have been matched to (there are 6 posts and around 12 people competing for it)have taken place and the moderation is due to start next week. Everyone who have had interviews are due to be told the outcome in 2 weeks time and the redeployment pool will open after this

Thanks nocake

Can the facts that I have been out of work for 14 months, that the majority of interviews have already taken place and I was told in writing that I would not have to undergo any selection process on my return count as being treated unfairly? If I had known I would have to have interviews on my return I would have spent the last two months preparing and applying for other jobs

It'd be a hard sell to say you've been done unfairly.

They have matched you to a job on your return. Its perfectly legal to make your job redundant a week after you go back into it. The redundancies and your maternity are separate.

Just go for the interview and see what happens. If your dreading returning why not just hope they offer you redundancy and start looking for another role.

You are coming back into a job, the new structure doesn't take effect until after consultation finishes in November and the selection process is still ongoing. If you think you shouldn't have to go through the same process as everyone else you are effectively asking for preferential treatment and there's no reason for them to do that. If they just gave you a job with the result that someone else was redundant, they'd probably get an unfair dismissal claim from them.

When the structure was due to take effect while you were off, they were wrong to say 'we'll worry about you when you get back', as they should have been allocating you a role effective immediately.

But now it's not happening until you are back, there's no need for that preferential treatment I'm afraid. Yes you have been out of the workplace for a long time and might find the process a bit more challenging than others, I agree. But therefore they should do -what exactly? There are only two options really, either you go through the process with everyone else, or you get offered a job as if you were still on maternity leave.

See what I mean? They don't have to do that and wouldn't be able to justify it to anyone else. If you don't get a job and think it is because of your maternity leave, you might then have cause for complaint.

seeyouokay I'm dreading going back to work because I'll be leaving my PFB, not because of the job. I like working there and would like to stay there.

Thanks flowery for your advice.

If they had told me back in July that I would have to apply for roles and be interviewed, I would have spent the past 2 months preparing for it (and also not spent money going on holiday). But because they wrote to me to say I have a job to go back to on my return from ML and also a new role once the new structure was in place, I stopped thinking about work.

I have contacted ACAS and they have told me I need to speak to an employment lawyer to see if the letter they previously sent me offering me the role can be seen as legally binding.

It didn't sound from your OP as though they offered you a specific job though. It sounded as though the whole process was going to be completed while you were away, and instead of involving you in it they were basically going to worry about seeing whether there was a job available when you got back. Those are quite different things.

Now things have changed, the process is taking longer than anticipated, and because it will still be ongoing when you come back from maternity leave, they will rightly treat you the same as everyone else.