Recruiting to my job description when Im on ML

[skipacrosstheroad]

Hello
I wondered if anyone could give me any advice, as I dont know if i have a legal case or am just hacked off....
Basically when I announced I was pregnant my boss started being unreasonable and I presume was hoping to get me to quit. Unreasonable workload, ignoring me, not inviting me to meetings I should attend etc.. I was off work during that time for 1 week when my doctor signed me off, but worked my bs off the rest of the time. Just as I was leaving I saw some papers that implied they would get rid of my post in my absence (org chart without me on it and new more senior JD with 'essentials' that I couldnt meet). However, instead they met with me just after I gave birth to say they were recruiting this more senior post in my department (i was at that point the Head). I was annoyed but surprised my job was still apparently going to be there. Now Ive had a chance to have a proper look and basically theyve recruited someone to my job description and are just paying them slightly more!!
My issue is if I go back I will be doing a more junior role, as there cant be two people running things. So whilst work may be 'easier', I want to work at the same level as when I left - Ive worked hard in my career and feel completely undermined and demoted. It'll look really bad on my CV I went from Head of department to being second in command and from doing strategic work to more processing type. I know I am lucky so far they are saying i still have a role but Im really angry they have been so unreasonable and crafty and basically given my job away, which I feel is forcing me to resign. But have I missed the boat.
Or do I need to get a new JD showing that the tasks are more junior to have a case?
Sorry i know I am lucky to potentially still have a job, but I feel they have written me off for having a child and it'll genuinely affect my CV and career which isnt fair!

How long have you been on ml for? As I understand it they must keep your original job open for 6 months and if you go back within 12 months, a job that is equivalent in terms.

It is hard to say as not specialist but have they changed what you do ( not sure if another person over you makes difference unless your job spec was as team head).

When you say you've had a chance to have a 'proper look', what do you mean?

What have you actually been told/given about your role and how it is affected? Have you been given details of the role you'll be returning to?

Also, yes how long have you/will you have been off?

Also, when they decided to recruit to this new post, were you given the opportunity to apply for it? If they met with you to tell you before they recruited, presumably you could have?

This exact thing happened to me long before I had children or was pregnant - it just happened around me with nobody speaking to me about it. The guy they brought in was 2 levels above me and they gave him my job title plus some high level accountancy work that I hadn't been trained on to 'justify' why they needed to bring him in. I was suddenly working for him doing lots of stuff that was below my level, nothing was explained to me or the rest of the business so it looked to everyone else like I had been demoted. I got constant questions from the team about what I was doing now and I couldn't even answer.

I was so pathetic I let myself get screwed but it was basically constructive dismissal and I was about to hand my notice in. As luck would have it I got a call offering me a job in another department and I bit their hand off but looking back I wish I'd fought my corner and not let them just get away with it. I still feel angry about it now and it was 7 years ago.

I had exactly the same reaction as you (worries about CV etc.)... I wonder if it's a common thing to happen. Anyway I wanted to let you know you're not alone.

Are you doing work that is now below your level? You must have a case regarding your career development path if you are not being given a chance to meet the criteria for the next level?

Hello OP?

Bad form to ask for advice then not bother checking the thread or responding to queries from people trying to help you.

I'm on a crusade at the moment because I'm fed up wasting my time. Apologies if you have a genuine reason for not being able to return to your thread.

Watching with interest as similar has just happened to a friend of mine.

flowery that's a bit harsh -OP is on maternity leave, maybe she's had to go and deal with the baby?!

It's not that harsh cake throw -I am on ml but still checked in. Fair enough you might not do it within the hour but if you are that bothered to post in first place you would check.
I don't blame you flowery- You give good advice then get no response.

FFS who are you? The internet police?

Oh for crying out loud.

If someone starts a thread asking for advice, I really don't think it's unreasonable to expect them to be able to check it within 24 hours. Plus I did say I apologise if there's a genuine reason she hasn't been able to check it.

I spend hours on here giving advice to people and then I'm the one getting flak for being fed up with people wasting my time, seriously?

I'll be saving my time for a couple of weeks I think.

Oops, I didn't realise a whole day had passed - thought it had been just one hour! flowery apologies!

Really sorry for non response, ended up having a bit of a domestic crisis with some minor flooding. One thing after another. But i do really appreciate everyone's input and I am sorry for not responding.
I will have been away for 12 months by the time I return and my JD title is specifically as Head of department. Cant believe this sort of thing sounds so common it makes me even more cross. I suspect their get out is they did meet to tell me and I didnt try to apply. However, I had had the baby not that long before so wasnt really in the mind place to apply. Also knew what they were thinking about trying to get rid of my post, so wasnt feeling like there was much point.

What they did at the time was pretty bad in HR terms. You can't just stop someone being 'head' of a department by inventing another layer of mgmt above - it is an effective demotion. It might have been ok as part of some restructuring if the job roles themselves also fundamentally changed. But if the role is the same then they can't generally do this. The fact that they did this whilst you were on ML hints at discrimination, too (and I imagine if you had applied for it you won't have got it....), so there would normally be a case to answer.

Problem is that you need to complain within 3 months of such an incident and this happened some time ago? You may well be time barred. Saying that, if they haven't yet removed your title then you may still be ok and could put in a claim from the date when you have that title formally removed (presumably when you return).

Their defence if this happens will be that you should have told them at the time that you weren't happy about the re-org and that they did it all openly discussed it with you and wanted you in the new role but you decided you didn't want it.

TBH that's a fairly plausible response but I don't know how the fact of your childbirth and the timing would be take into account in terms of whether they were reasonable or not.

So you might struggle on (a) time barring from date of what happened and (b) not raising issues when it happened and (c) not applying for the role itself.

To counter that, doing it all when you weren't there and even doing it at all come into play.

Tis is one where you do need a specialist employment lawyer with lots of experience of tribunals. TBH I don't think you can do anything now, but i amnot a lawyer(and hope I'm wrong).