Sex discrimination whilst on mat leave?

[firsttimemum11]

Hi
My male mat cover got a promotion to be my boss but wasnt told about the role until 2 months after he got the job which was a month into covering my mat leave and 1 month after my colleagues. It wasnt advertised internally externally like it normally is. I would have gone for the job if I wasn't on mat leave as my review said I was next in line, past performance and comments all said the same - can they do this? I'm really upset as a promotion would help with high childcare costs.
Also I appliedfor part time hours(the same hrs as my other colleague who has returned from mat leave) but they offered me 5 days condensed into 4 which I did not want but their word is final I guess on that.
I mentioned to them I wanted to take the 9 months now and hr said If I do that and extend then they would have to review the part time hrs they have offered me. So basically if I go bk in 6 months I get part time, if I go bk 9 months then they aren't sure- can they do this?
Also I got verbally assaulted by a fellow male manager when I was 6 months pregnant (charming place I know) where he chased me up the stairs, waited outside the toilet for me and screamed at me whilst walking down the stairs (all on cctv) so he was given a disciplinary so I am not feeling on a rush to go bk :(
Any advice would be most grateful.

In terms of promoting someone else without giving you the opportunity to apply, the short answer is no they are not allowed to do that. You must be given access to promotion opportunities while you are on mat leave.

In terms of your flexible working request, if they can justify their refusal of whatever you asked for yes they are allowed to do that, and offering a compromise is acceptable.

In terms of not committing to a flexible working request if you change the date on which you want the new hours to begin, hmm, iffy, will so much really have changed in 3 months making the request more difficult to grant? They have to make a decision when you put in a request; you need to know the answer so you can sort out childcare etc.

What do you want to do?