I am going to ask for a pay rise despite going on maternity leave next April

[Enid]

Are my employers obliged to ignore the fact that I am going on maternity leave?

And if I write a letter do I put in all the fabbo things that I have done or just ask baldly?

And what if they say, we'll give it to you when you come back from mat leave - is that legal?

[Enid]

I feel mean, I really like my assistant. but i feel massively pissed off with her too.

[mazzystar]

do you have a board? is there anyone there you can speak to maybe?

its typical arts organisation style stuff, apparently all equal opps but in practice prepared to rely on people being more committed to the job than their own rights. it happened to me (long boring story)

oh, am furious

[Enid]

yes its a familiar bloody story

well I'll definitely be looking for another job while on mat leave now whatever happens

[mazzystar]

btw i don't suppose that your boss would be prepared to forego any his payrise on the basis that your assistant's getting one....so why should you?

[Enid]

well...trouble is we are a non-profit organisation and we dont make much - about £6,000 a year profit - which should get ploughed back into staff or projects. He is unpaid!! Voluntary board of management.

[bobbybob]

Tell big boss that people who threaten to leave unless they get more money virtually always leave within 6 months anyway.

Also "I know I shouldn't say this but..." is the most ridiculous way of thinking what you are about to say is now okay.

[mazzystar]

and presumably therefore also a well-paid accountant or marketing executive in real life?

if i were you i would definitely press for the rise anyway and make sure your boss and board really appreciate what they have in you.

i was in similar position but let it pass as had no intention of returning after mat leave. i regret it now.

[Enid]

yes

have meeting on friday to discuss

will call assistants bluff or give her small amount and me the rest - my plan. If my maternity leave is even mentioned I am going to start getting very heavy. Any quick links to 'my rights'?

[Enid]

you got it mazzystar (love your music btw )

[mazzystar]

www.maternityalliance.org.uk/parents_work.htm
www.acas.org.uk/rights/parents.html

mat alliance will also call you back if you leave a message.

good luck

[bundle]

acas

[DelGirl]

I got a payrise since i've been on Maternity leave so I think you should ask, definately.

[Enid]

Assistant rang me at home today to say she wouldnt be taking the other job and would stay whatever but still wanted a pay rise.

[hunkermunker]

Anything else happened, Enid?

[bobbybob]

Was there another job?

[Enid]

I have a meeting tomorrow with entire council of management plus dignitaries from town council where I'll have to fawn for my pay rise.

Have no idea whether there was another job or not. She didn't play it very well if not.

[mazzystar]

blimey

go in there and blow your own trumpet as hard as you can

the "other job" cannot have been too appealing....

[Enid]

dreading it

what shall I say when they all bleat on about me going on maternity leave?

[bundle]

quote sex discrimination act to them enid. tell them how fab you are and how lucky they are to have you.

[mazzystar]

something along the lines of it being:

• irrelevant to the discussion about a payrise
  
• but your maternity cover being something you'd like to discuss with them asap as you don't want all your progress in the last few months to be for nothing
  ?

[Enid]

nice

[sfg]

bet they don't bring it up at the big meeting, will all be too scared of pg woman and her rights

phone call on his own is one thing, but seeing the whites of the eyes is quite another

I say this as someone who has been called in to play role of evil bitch woman boss from time to time

good luck!

[philippat]

Enid - you are funded by a local authority, you really should be able to argue that you deserve a payment structure like other people in your profession directly employed by local authorities.

That would mean both you AND your assistant would progress gradually up the increments within the local authority scales (all on Unison site). If either of you felt your job responsibility had increased, you would argue to progress up to a higher scale.

Fancy moving to Stoke? our cultural development officer has just got new job in Liverpool....

[philippat]

personally actually would ignore the maternity leave issue, if you make a fuss, it suggests you consider it relevant (which it's not - if you were paid by local authority directly you'd still progress up scale while on leave). If they bring it up, pass swiftly on (after mentioning it's irrelevant).

[Enid]

well that could have gone better

the chairman ignored item 6
directors responsibilities (thats me and my pay rise folks)

then tried to close the meeting. I said can we talk about my pay rise. He said no I thought we'd discuss that in private without you there. I said well I'd like a chance to make my case. So I did a little spiel about how i deserved a pay rise. He mentioned to the committee 'do bear in mind that Enid will be going on maternity leave from May'. I said 'also do bear in mind that it is illegal to dismiss my pay rise on grounds of my pregnancy'. Then they all took 10 mins to decide whether they needed a closed meeting and decided they did. Then someone suggested gettting an outside appraiser in to assess my performance to decide whether I merited a pay rise. I said I would be unhappy with that and the quality of my work, well documented over the past 18 months in meeting minutes, and the fact that we are making larger profits than ever before, should speak for itself.

Then the chairman got angry with me and turned on me in apopletic fashion saying that if they wished to take outside advice they would.

So I picked up my stuff and left before I burst into tears

bastards.