Help

[Jozebrapink]

Can anyone help me. I am currently on maternity leave and prior to leaving I was a team leader (grade d). After a meeting they have confirmed that I cannot return to the same job however are happy to offer me a grade c role part time. They have confirmed that my salary will remain the same however this will be frozen until such time a the C grade salary bands catch up!. I am quite annoyed at this as I have worked very hard for 10 years to obtain this salary and basically it will take at least 10 years for a grade C to catch up with my current salary. Can they do this? Dont get me wrong I am happy with the salary however this just seems really unfair as others will be catching up with me over the years but may not have worked as hard as me. I have given the company my all and have even worked 7 days a week to obtain a good yearly payrise. As the cost of living is on the rise my pay won't be. x

What reason have they given for you not being able to return to the same job? After maternity leave you are entitled to return to the same job on the same terms and conditions, unless this is not reasonably practicable, in which case if you've taken longer than 6 months off they can instead offer you something similar on the same terms and conditions.

Reducing your hours and possibly status, seniority, responsibility level, would not be a suitable alternative.

Has your role been made redundant? In which case did they follow a fair redundancy process?

Hi, they have given fair reasons why I cannot return to the same role. The role is a full time role which currently one of my team members is covering. I have challenged the salary and asked if I could have even just a cost of living payrise. They have replied by saying no as salaries need to be consistent across the company and as I have been downgraded and remaining on the same salary they feel this is fair. I am just annoyed as someone else who was also in the same position as me has returned to a lower grade and her payrise will be reviewed within 2 years. This is because she was on a lower salary than me due to her not being in the company as long. Basically I feel that because of my length of service I am being penalised however if I had been a team leader for a year and then downgraded my salary would increase slowly as oppposed to never. x

So would they be willing to allow you to come back full time to your previous role, however you want part time so all they can offer is the lower grade? If so I think you're doing pretty well out of it, all that they have to offer is your previous role (or similar with no lesser terms) still as a full time position. I know quite a few people who have had to take a demotion if they wanted to work part time and their salaries have always reflected the demotion.

If however they are telling you that you aren't able to return full time to your previous role then you need to challenge that with them.