Nobody can do my work while on ML and they called me in to sort it out

[Colliecollie]

I'm a bit annoyed. Could anyone please advise how much I should do?

I manage a complex database which I have adapted to the needs of the organisation. Therefore not that simple for someone to just come in and pick up. Went on ml in December, handed over in person to the person nominated to cover with full set of written instructions before I left, giving also permission to contact me for follow up help for a few weeks, as by past experience the baby wouldn't be along for a few weeks.

But I received no contact. I have learnt that instead of getting stuck in and trying to understand the role he went to his/our manager saying that he doesn't have the skills. Of course manager did nothing about this and he was expected to get on with it. I think he wasn't properly briefed beforehand about the job and he could have done with spending a lot more time with me before I left.

The quarterly reports have been cobbled together but I'm pretty sure they would be incorrect from what I've heard. Various people were drafted in to try and get something out of the database without much success. And no monthly reports have been done at all.

My organisation has about 6000 employees however not a single one can cope with my work and so now my line manager has rang me to come in and sort it out, run reports etc. He said he was embarrassed to ring me but was put up to by more senior manager.

They gave me a lot of autonomy in my role but that was clearly a risk.

My baby is now 4 months old and I am having a full year off plus agreed annual leave so won't be back til January 2012. They are in a pickle and need help but how much should I do? I am BFing and did not wish to pump and bottle feed this time round, never mind not actually having a single person who can look after her. DH is a teacher so they have just missed the lengthy easter hols and bank hols when he could have had her for an hour or 2 between feeds.

Another very annoying thing is that they are restructuring the organisation and are down banding my salary!! Yet they can't do without me apparently

I am emailing instructions but suspect it will not be enough. Should I go in next half term? How much should I do?

Sorry it's long.

Can't help on the legalities of it all but I'd be inclined to say "Downgrading my pay are you? Bugger off then, see you in January"

Other options:- Can you do it from home?

Could you agree to go in for one day and show someone how to do it, BUT insist that you have to take the baby with you and find a quiet place to breastfeed when necessary (or take some pre-pumped bottles).

Its in your best interests to help. JUst enough so they "survive" this. If you don't help they may decide that they have a risk area and skill a lot of people in that area. Gives you less bargaining power in the long run.

I would use it as a fantastic opportunity to renegotiate my contract. Absolutely sell yourself as the saviour of the company, and go back one day a week.

You could use it to not just ask for more money, but to wangle that you work from home x days a week (whilst you are on 'ML') which will then form part of your contract.

You are absolutely in a prime position to get some cracking T&Cs out of this, if you negotiate skillfully, I would look at it as a really positive thing to happen, tbh, as opposed to seeing it as a negative.

I don't think they can change your Terms and conditions while you are on maternity leave - you have to come back to a job that is the same in terms of salary and other benefits. My organisation has been reorganised (and about half the staff laid off) while I have been off and I have been slotted into a new role at the exact same grade and salary without any quibbles even though it is a major hassle for them to not have the role I have been slotted into covered in the meantime.

In terms of 'helping out' you definitely don't have to - as grevling said it might be in your best interests to be helpful. I would use the opportunity to negotiate though - get extra pay for going in now and argue for an upgrade on your return!

My terms ans conditions changed while I was away but I had to be involved in a consultation period to give my opinion and for them to communicate. I did feel a bit fed up about it but needed to be involved and it's in my contract that reasonable contact is allowed during mat leave.

We had 10 in touch days prior to returning to work which is paid time to help you get back to work slowly. You can take these when you like. Do you have anything like that which can be used as this time.

I can't help thinking that something went wrong with your hand over. Bearing this in mind I feel there is no choice but to step in but make sure you don't just go in and do it. You much enable someone else to do it.

Oh and I think you should stipulate a cut off date that you agree you will not be contacted there after.

you casn class it as a KIT day and get a DAYS SALARY WITHOUT AFFECTING YOUR MAT PAY BTW.

oops sorry for shouting....

You have 10 KIT days which you can use for this, and AFAIK you need to be paid for them, and paid for a whole day, regardless of how much work you actually do.

Can you use 1 day a month to sort this out, and then use it as a good bargaining chip re WFH/re-negotiating salary once you are back at work?

Sympathies - it must be the last thing you need, and tempting to tell them to stick it and you'll be back in Jan 2012, but in the long run, that would probably work against you.

Work out your bottom line, and stick to it. They've managed for this many months already, so they can cope if you can't do anything next week. Could you say that you can come in for 3 hours (paid of course) once or twice during half term, which is only a few weeks away? Then as your DD gets bigger, and starts eating solids, it will be much easier to leave her with DH, say for another couple of days (again, of course, paid) during the summer hols.

AlmightyCitrus, that was my first thought! But my boss got in there first and said he would understand that with the downgrading I wouldn't want to help. But that annoyed me even more, so I told him that if I can't help it will be due to my circumstances and not because I'm vindictive. I suppose I could go in with the baby, there is a place to feed the baby if I bring her but she needs entertaining, changing etc, I couldn't concentrate. I sold my double electric pump after my last baby. Can't do it from home, I would need to show him, again, how to do it.

Grevling I agree it's better to help than not, who knows, they may get rid of me at the next restructuring.

GatAwf sadly I'm no good at negotiation. Apparently when I come back they will be getting me to transfer it all into a bought in projects management database, so the days of my skills being so unique are numbered anyway.

Liberty apparently they can, I have posted before and got advice from flowery. There are no other similar grade jobs. They are pay protecting me for a while, so strictly speaking I will return on same pay, but not quite same job description. My old jd is admittedly a bit out of synch with what I actually do.

Also I can't negotiate my salary because there are industry rules about the skills, knowledge, responsibility etc contained in the job description, which goes into a scoring system (public sector).

I'm going to end up going in aren't I. It's just annoying that management know so little about what I actually do, they didn't care as long as I was producing the output.

Thanks for all the posts.

Supergreen something did go wrong with the handover, linked I feel to the point about management not being concerned enough with what I do. If they did know anything, they would have realised that the man taking over would not cope without a lot of training, which i would have been happy to provide before i left. I was given very little notice about who would be covering and didnt know him, or what skills he has, at all.

I will have look into kit days and maybe go in at half term.

Thanks for the sympathies.

What a pita for you! I would not go in unpaid or compromise my maternity pay so you're limited to 10 days max until you've been off for 39 weeks and stop getting paid - which is not that far away if you went off in Dec.

I would be negotiating to come in and sort it out. I would want them to pay for a day nanny to come in with me to look after the baby, have my travel expenses covered and because KIT days do not have to be paid at a particular rate (or indeed paid at all which is contrary to the advice posted above) you could in theory ask for a hefty day rate. I would also probably want something in writing that the whole sorry mess was not my responsibility or fault but that by agreeing to step i am doing them a huge favour (which I would expect to be reflected in my appraisal).

That is what I would do if renegotiating my whole contract were not an option.

Make the most of this opportunity!