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Original poster

Maternity Discrimination

17 replies

cascade73 · 11/02/2011 15:36

Hi,

I am new to Mumsnet and wondered if anyone can help.

I have recently returned to work after having my second child. On my return i was informed that the lady that was coverying my maternity leave is now by boss.

The position had not been adverised and i was not made aware of the promotion opportunity. As a result i have raised a grievance in relation to being discriminated against whilst on maternity leave.

I am expecting the compasny to agree with me as it is very clear cut, but what would be the possible outcomes if this was the case.

Thnaks for your help

OP posts:
PrincessScrumpy · 11/02/2011 17:13

that's terrible - sorry I don't have any advice but wanted comment. I was lucky - my mat leave cover lady was rubbish, they were pleased to have me back - until they moved my dept an hour away and I decided to take redundancy after 5 months back.

Good luck with it.

prh47bridge · 11/02/2011 17:21

It is a possible sex discrimination case. However, what the possible outcomes will be depends on your employer. At one extreme they may say you were considered for the vacancy but it was felt you were unsuitable and leave it at that, especially if there was no interview process involved. On the other hand they may want to compensate you in some way to avoid a possible tribunal case.

flowery · 11/02/2011 19:24

What outcome do you think you would like cascade?

Grevling · 11/02/2011 19:24

I don't think your employer is going to agree with you...but that's just me.

As long as you've come back to the same or equivalent job (if over 6 months) they've not broken any laws. Are you saying they've been demoted due to the job. Bear in mind that introducing another layer of management as long as you have the same role isn't necessary a demotion.

Just as the cover was doing "your" job doesn't mean they have to advise you of the promotion opportunity. There isn't even any rules about having to advertise the job. Some public sector places have rules but they're down to individual policy and not law.

Grevling · 11/02/2011 19:25

Obviously I stand ready to be corrected....but above is always the way I've run it.

flowery · 11/02/2011 19:30

Sorry Grevling, that's not right.

There is no specific requirement to advertise jobs, no, you are right there. But a woman on maternity leave must not be denied promotion opportunities and must be considered for promotion in the same way as workers who are present in the office are.

By not informing a woman on maternity leave of promotion opportunities she is being denied opportunities to apply for promotion that she would have had had she been in the office, which is unlawful.

hairylights · 11/02/2011 19:31

I think you are about right except if the post was advertised and the person on ml was not made aware of the vacancy. If it's just a promotion without advert, an employer can promote who it wants.

hairylights · 11/02/2011 19:36

Cross posts with flowery ... And I defer to her expertise!

flowery · 11/02/2011 19:40

You are right in that an employer is perfectly allowed to dcpromote whoever it wants without advertising. But by promoting someone into a post just above a woman on maternity leave without advertising or notifying that woman and giving her the opportunity to apply, an employer is making itself extremely vulnerable legally.

So even if an employer is in the habit of just promoting people ordinarily, in this kind of situation that should be avoided like the plague!

Original poster
cascade73 · 11/02/2011 20:09

Hi,

I am putting the greivance in as i have not been given the opportunity to apply for the the promotion.

The only problem now is what the company can do as they have appointed the lady in to the position.

Where does this leave me and what options does the company have in dealing with me.

I feel very strongly about the way i have been treated and would like some advise as to what i could expect if I was to take the company to a tribunal.

Thanks for all your help

OP posts:
RibenaBerry · 11/02/2011 21:59

Well, whilst I agree with what Flowery said, it's not completely clear cut. They may have proof that they considered you and you didn't get the promotion for some reason (although, if they were that thorough, they'd probably have told you about the job).

Also, to have lost out financially, you would need to convince a tribunal that you would have got the job (or at least stood a good chance of getting the job) if you'd been properly considered for it. Do you think you would have? Provided your old job is still there and not demoted, you didn't actually lose anything from the discrimination otherwise.

Leaving that aside, tribunals can make awards for injury to feelings, but a whole tribunal is an awful lot of upset and stress to go through just for that.

Would you consider leaving your job and going somewhere else or do you want to stay? If your aim is to leave, you might be able to convince them to pay you off to leave. If you're thinking of starting a tribunal, an exit from the company really needs to be in your end game. It's almost impossible to stay with an employer you're in the middle of suing.

Hope that's a bit of help. What a horrid situation.

tomatoplantproject · 12/02/2011 14:27

Am just going to add another perspective. They may have "overrecruited" for your maternity leave - so found someone with more skills than you but who was happy to take on a more jr role during your maternity leave but then they realised that she was suitable for a more sr job IYSWIM. Without knowing more detail it's hard to say.

But yes, if she's got similar skills/experience than you, and you've been passed over for promotion then it sounds like you've been discriminated against.

I would be careful about taking this all the way because you may end up hating them and not wanting to work there any more. What's your end game? What are you trying to achieve?

ginmakesitallok · 12/02/2011 14:31

On a related issue - my employer only advertises jobs internally at the moment - via staff website only available from work computers (can get off site access in exceptional circumstances, but not given regularly to women on maty leave). Thus anyone on maty leave doesn't get to hear about them, particularly important as going through massive changes. Is this potentially discriminatory?

flowery · 12/02/2011 14:35

nice to see you Ribena :)

cascade you do need to work out what you would like to achieve. It could range from an apology for not letting you know and considering you, to a tribunal claim and probably as Ribena says, the end of your relationship with them.

ginmakesitallok yes your employer are leaving themselves very vulnerable by not forwarding vacancies to women on maternity leave.

Grevling · 12/02/2011 17:43

Ok so I'm part right then. Still the fact they didn't advertise probably covers them as they could have considers you "in their head" so to speak.

RibenaBerry · 13/02/2011 10:16

Thanks Flowery, been taking a bit of a break...

patsido · 10/05/2011 20:10

Do not allow to be pushed out..I think go all the way...to a tribunal

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