On maternity & department has been closed

[Beaker1983]

Hi all,

I am 6weeks into my maternity leave and have just received a call from a co-worker to tell me that the department we work in has been closed and both of the women I work with have been made redundant as of 2weeks time (14th August)

I have been completely ignored by the management and have heard absolutely nothing from the as to my position in the company. I was told by my coworker that there was a meeting on Tuesday to announce the decision to close the department and the loss of all jobs, this was the first time any of is have heard mention of closure, there has been no consultation period.

As it stands the entire office knows what is happening including those outside of my department and if it were not for my concerned colleague I would have no idea about the job losses.

I have had a look online but can't find any useful information to guide me as to whether I'm being taken for a ride by them. I'm barely making ends meet as it is on maternity so I'm

Ah that's the last thing you need. Will you have to wait until Monday to give your manager a call?

I found this info here that looks useful maternity action
I'd suggest you need to speak to them to find out what's on the table before you get too stressed out.

It sounds really bad but there is a part of me that wants them to hang themselves lol. The difficult bit is I don't officially have a manager. There were some firings last December and my manager was one of those let go so since then my dept was basically running itself...

Considering I work for a national recruitment consultants you would have thought they knew the law and would tow the line!!!

Not bad at all, I'd be really pissed off. It's rude not to keep you informed and unprofessional that you hear it from a colleague. Whoever it was that conducted the meeting should have called you afterwards.

Sounds like they have known for while that they were shutting your dept down, hence not replacing management.

Were you planning on going back to work soon or taking a long mat leave? Hopefully you are due a payout, so see this as an opportunity. At least you should know a bit about getting a job!

Really gutted. I was planning in going back after about 6 months which would have been about December.

It looks like they are trying to cover their arses now as they have written to my two colleagues and extended their consultation period and have told the girls they are not allowed to talk to me regarding the redundancy as they are 'trying to contact me'.... its absolutely ridiculous and a blatant lie....

I have contacted ACAS and it looks like I have two options, I can contact them and admit I know what is happening and that I am unhappy with the way i have been treated and ask for an extra weeks wages as recompense. Or I can leave it and see what they do with the possibility of lodging a complaint with a tribunal...