My employer is not very nice to me since return work after maternity leave

[yls]

I am in such dilemma. My current employer is not very nice to me since I return work after having my first baby. I am a manager in a professional firm with 6 months notice.

I returned work after 6 months maternity leave. The first thing my boss said to me in my annual review is that he did not notice any difference when i was working and when I was off, the reason partly being that he was not in the office at the same time. Then I was told that my scope of work and my role and responsibilities will be changed because my firm did not get the clients base they were hoping for. my job title would remain unchanged however, I did not get any pay rise either.

I now have returned work for 6 months. My boss had a meeting with me last week voicing his concerns over my performance namely

1. attendance, I was asked to be at the office 10-15 minutes before my contract time of 8.30. I normally arrive office around 8.30. I told him that ''I however do not have coffee or tea in the morning, nor do I have any tea break during the day. I come in straight sit at my desk working. I was told that I should be here early anyway.

1. was criticised for not having initiative. The reason I was given was that I did not go to his office to ask if he has any work to be delegated to me. I do not think that he is being reasonable here as I expected a boss in his level to delegate rather than staff going to his office every morning to ask for work. I was however told that from now on I should at least ask him 2 or 3 times in a week for work.

1. was criticised over other little things as well such as once i was unable to work on the assignment due to other commitments. Even though this is the first time in my 6 years career with this firm that this has happened.

1. my boss rejected one hour leave which as taken out of my holiday to see a GP due to short notice ( I request the leave one day before the appointment). Another one day leave was also rejected which I gave 3 days notice due to short notice again.

There are also other things in general which are firms' policy i think it is unfair such as not allowed to use mobile phone at all at work, receive warning if more than 3 times late in a 6 months period, the length tea break is being monitored. I have not breached these policies before but It does affect me every now and then there is a email reiterating the companies policy sent by the boss or HR.

I am thinking of having a baby soon and I do not think i am being treated fairly at my current work place, it really affects me now. I do not know if I should stay and get pregnant then quit after maternity leave. Change jobs now, means waiting for 6 months notice and settle into the new place for at least 6 months before I could get pregnant again which seems like a really long time considering that I am now in my late 30s.

Any advice would be appreciated.
Thanks.

I actually like my job but its not what I want to do in the long run but I would do what you have said...

have another baby then leave after that.

its what I have done just so I can then put all my focus onto what I really want to do anyway.

I think they sound totally knobbish. our workplace has a similar policy re phones but parents can keep theirs on them on silent in meetings or allowed a quick check etc, othwrwise it is totally unworkable

There's quite a lot so I'm going to go through your points in the order you mention them.

The lack of pay rise- were you expecting one? How do you feel this is unfair, did everyone else get one? Did you have any concerns about the client changes affecting your role?

Attendance. This sounds petty but actually it's pretty usual to be at work at least slightly before working hours start, and for management especially. If you start at 8.30 but don't walk in til 8.30 it's inevitably going to be a few minutes before you're actually working. As you are a manager I expect this concern is partly about setting an example. If managers aren't seen to be committed then its difficult to expect more junior staff to be. Is there any reason you can't get there 10 minutes earlier? How do you feel this is unfair, is everyone else allowed to wander in bang on 8.30 without comment?

Initiative. I actually think there is no way managers should sit waiting for work to be handed to them, so I think his comments are fair enough. How do you feel this is unfair?

Can't really answer the comments about not being able to work on a particular assignment without knowing what the commitments were and whether refusing assignments is generally acceptable at your work.

You ought to be able to go and see the GP. It's not clear whether they didn't let you go at all, or didn't let you take it out of your holiday. If the latter, can't see a problem. Again, how is this unfair, do others take hours of holiday entitlement or just days, and can others take it at very short notice but not you?

Firms policies about mobiles and lateness, can't see a problem. You may not like the policies but they are not unfair unless they are not universally applied.

In generally it sounds as though you are not happy with the concerns that have been raised, but unless there's more to it, it all sounds pretty fair enough.

What's not clear is whether any of this is either genuinely unfair, or related to your maternity leave. If other people are treated differently and/or you have reason to believe that your maternity leave is the reason (for example) you are expected to seek work rather than it be handed to you, then that's more of an issue.

In terms of having another baby, as you are late 30s I would suggest doing that as soon as possible, then the time you will be there will be limited.