HELP; told boss im pregnant and now im faced with possible redundancy/reduced hrs can they do this?

[JAB23]

Hi all,ive never been in this situation so any help would be great.
i recently told my boss that i was pregnant which she didnt seem too happy about the news (i work as a nanny) within a matter of weeks of telling her she presented me with an 'at risk warning' on the grounds that she had been plannning on making financial cut backs.all of this has come as a big shock as their was no warning signs that this was to come! (and their still isnt....dramatic spending,the cleaner is still employed etc) i was presented with some options 1.being that i accept redundancy and 2.reducing my hrs down to 2 days a week. im being advised by people in other lines of work not to accept redundancy or reduce my days from 5 to 2 as they think that these huge changes coincide with me announcing that im pregnant.im really confused as to what to do,would accepting the 2 days of work be the sensible option.i really want to avoid any conflict at work and even court.all this changes will need to take place by the end of the month and i have to tell her my decision tomorrow help!

I asked you some questions in response to your previous thread about this which you didn't answer. If you are able to answer them I may be able to advise you.

i accidently hid my previous thread and now cant find it! sorry.Any advise would be great though,what do youu need to know.

Their own spending pattern and wealth is irrelevent. If they want to cut down the number of hours they need childcare for they can. Likewise if they want to place their children in a nursery instead, they can cut down your hours. If they decide to have an au pair instead because they prefer someone who will babysit in the evenings and work weekends, and this is a totally different pattern of working to the one you do, then they can.

The only thing they can't do is to drop your hours and replace you with another nanny doing the same shifts you used to do. That would then be clear discrimination.

TBH, your PG probably did bring things to a head. They may have been mulling over changing their childcare arrangemenhts for many months but not doing anything through inertia - status quo with kids is a very comfortable position. Likewise they may indeed be deliberately be getting rid of you to save them the hassle of having to hire temporary maternity cover or to avoid the risk of you taking lots of time off or whatever. Not that they would admit this of course. BUT the proberl for you remians that as long as they actually make substantial changes to their childcare arrangements so that they do not replace you with another nanny doing the same work then there is nothing you can do.

What squiffy said. If they've decided they only need 2 days a week of nanny care and are planning to either have no childcare at all at other times, or use a nursery/childminder instead, then that's fine, and you will have to choose between redundancy and the new hours.

If they get someone else in for the remaining hours, or to do your current hours if you are made redundant, that's when it's unfair.

What are their plans with regard to childcare?

my contract was to look after the youngest until he turns 3 yrs,he's now 18 months old.they plan to place the youngest in a nursery 3 days a wk.my partner raised concerns about taking redundancy/signing new contract.his worry is if i agree 2 new terms im giving them the go ahead to employ a new nanny in say a months time and if they did i wouldnt stand a chance if it went to a small claims court.i spoke to ACAS today and they confirmed what my partner thought.ACAS advised me not to accept either the reduced days or redunancy and let them make the decision for me which would mean they wouldnt be allowed to employ another nanny at a later date. Also if i sign a new contract id be on 3 months probabtionary again which would mean they could make me leave anyway.im so confused, was always planning on accepting the reduced days but now im not so sure.what i suppose im asking is what should i do
A. accept redundancy
B. accept reduced days
C. not accept either and let them make the decision for me.

You wouldn't be giving them the go ahead to do anything. If they are placing their child in a nursery then it's not really up for debate - your options are redundancy or reduced hours.

Small claims court is irrelevant. If your job is redundant and they recruit a replacement within 3 months you would go to an employment tribunal, not the small claims court.

If your employers are giving you two options to choose from I've no idea why ACAS are advising you to refuse to choose. How would that help you exactly?

I'm also concerned if ACAS are agreeing with your partner that you 'wouldn't stand a chance' if your bosses replaced you very quickly. As long as you bring a claim within three months there's no reason you wouldn't stand a chance if you were made redundant and they replaced you. You'd have a very good case.

I've also no idea why ACAS are telling you that just because your hours of work change your bosses can make you leave? If you've been there longer than a year they can't make you leave regardless of any changes made to your contract.

Sounds like you need to stop ringing ACAS tbh. Their advice is patchy at best anyway and it certainly sounds as though you got a dodgy adviser.

Which would you prefer, redundancy or reduced days? If they are stating they will be placing their child in a nursery there's not a question of arguing the decision, unless and until they go back on it. Until then you have to accept that's their decision to make.

Sounds like it's over for you with this family anyway, whichever way you look at it. Why don't you accept whichever is the most lucrative outcome for you with good grace in exchange for a good reference? For you it's really not a fight worth fighting.

"sent me an e mail thanking me for all the support I had given her."

Then you have written proof that there is something not quite right about her allegation of bullying.

FWIW bullying in the workplace is incredibly hard to prove, and even less likely to result in disciplinary action. Though if your boss is looking for a reason to sack you that might not be the case here.

You won't go back on probationary even if you signed a new contract. You had a really dodgy ACAS advisor (it happens).

It seems as if they are offering you either redundancy now or reduced hours? You really have no case at the moment (though you will have a case if they then withdraw him form nursery and employ a new nanny within a short space of time). One thing to bear in mind is that if you reduce your hours now then if you are made redundant at a later stage your redundancy pay will be based on the reduced hours.

You really are on a sticky wicket in terms of doing anything about this from a legal point of view, so you need to think of your options going forward. Think long term and work back from there - ie what do you plan to do in terms of childcare? If you want to get a job where you can bring your baby with you then it may be better to try to find another job now so that your family decide nearer the time that they cannot do without you and might therefore be minded to let you bring baby with you. If you plan on not bringing baby to work then it might be easier to find a job with a family as a temp nanny (perhaps even as a maternity replacement for someone else) to get you by until you have the baby and then start looking again after the baby is born. If you plan to give up work then you may find it easier to just let the current job reduce to 2 days and run down (perhaps doing some temp or emergency nanny work to fill the gaps).

It might be not what you want to hear, but you really don't have a case regarding your current position. If you still think that the ACAS advisor might be right then I would thoroughly recommend that you see if you can get a free initial consultation with an employment lawyer to discuss this - it is quite clear cut and a lawyer should be able to advise you appropriately.

sorry ment to say employment tribunal.my friend spoke to someone who works in H.R and has helped to make my thoughts more clearer with some points to be put in the amended contract.my partner doesnt deal with these situations and is as clued up as me about these things,i guess he just wants to make sure that im being treated fairly.i have heard some bad reviews about ACAS in the past but failed to get through to Citizens Advice so thought id seek help from them.i was always quite willing to take the reduced days option as these unexpected changes can happen at anytime and i want to make these changes as easy as they can be for evryone.thank you for all your help,im going to have a meeting with my boss tomorrow and talk things through with her.what will be will be.