Am I letting them set me up?

[Buntystninians]

Would really appreciate thoughts as can't tell if this is paranoia!

Am about to return to work after 12 months mat leave. Had chat with boss last week and she asked if I'd be happy to cover an urgent project at first instead of resuming normal duties. Meanwhile the guy who covered my mat leave will continue to do so.

This is in context of major department restructure currently being scoped and due to go live in new year. Boss assures me there's plenty of work in my area and no risk of redundancy but also admits they're considering having me report to mat cover guy in new structure (although less experienced in this particular area he is more senior than I am). I told her I would not be happy with what is in effect a demotion - she sympathised but final decision on new structure being made at more senior level.

Am I a mug for not insisting on reverting immediately to my previous role? Having agreed to take on project (boss v grateful and I do like and respect her) I don't feel I can back out.

What would you do now??

AFAIK you only retain your right to return to your exact same post if you take ordinary maternity leave. If you take the additional leave and are off for a year, your employer has the right to offer you an equivalent post on equivalent money, as yours seems to be doing, as your dept is undergoing a restructure. I'm a little unclear about the issue of reporting to the guy who covered your ML, as it doesnt automatically mean this is a demotion for you.

If you were absolutely set on returning to your previous role, then tbh it would have been best to return after ordinary ML. Sounds as though you're happy with whats offered though ?

Thanks for replying. The issue is I'd no longer be on the management team, ie down a layer in the hierarchy, hence demotion. I'd lose the bits of the job I like and it would also look bad on cv if I look to move on. However given current issues with the company I am erring on the side of just being grateful to have a job to go back to at all.