Am I being told to replace myself at work as I'm pregnant?

[FromagePlease]

I wonder if someone can tell me if my pregnancy hormones are making me read too much into a situation?

I was recently promoted, following the departure of a colleague to head up a team for our medium sized business. I didn't get a pay rise, and was told to pick my own new title, and to get on with things (huge workload increase). I've done this and feedback has been positive. I was also tasked to recruit a mid-level staff member to report into me to help grow the team.

I then told them I was pregnant, I'm now 18 weeks. Today I'm told that the want me to hire someone "like you or perhaps more experienced" for a role that would be perm but also cover for me when I'm gone, and then potentially still the mid-level person. I can't get any more detail than this senior hire, despite asking. And when I queried if it was feasable to give someone my job when I'm away and then for me to take it back off them when I return I was told that "I can't see that as a problem"

I guess i'm feeling jumpy. Am I recuiting my replacement? Am I no longer leading the team? What is my role compared to thiers? I'm feeling very vulernable. The company is not very formal so I can't read into the way in which the message is conveyed. My manager isn't one to give direct answers and he's away for the next two weeks. It's hard to get a direct answer on anything here.

What should I do, if anything? Something is setting off alarm bells but I'm not sure if it's justified. The firm has a poor track record with maternity returners which makes me more concerned.

I don't know what you should do about it, but I don't think you are being completely paranoid, unfortunately. :(

Once you return what role will the new hire be given? Is there room in the team for both of you?

Thank you for your replies, makes me feel that it's not just in my head!

When I return I expect that we'll split the responsibilities in some fashion, but nothing has been confirmed. This was what happened previously, my colleague and I split responsibilities and then when she left they gave it all to me.

I thought I might have an informal talk to HR about it. State that I'm feeling as if my job could be being reduced since I announced my pregnancy. See if that yields some clarification on the topic. It's possible that my manager hasn't thought things through properly, rather than maliciously trying to cut me out of my job (that's what I'm hoping anyway)

Would this be a good way to take things forward?

Could you talk to your manager first before HR, maybe they are trying to cover all bases incase you don't want to return or would like flexible hours?

Can you write up a job description for the new hire - which clearly states that the first x months will be as maternity cover, and thereafter it will be doing y - and send it to your manager asking for clarification of y.

I think you can say you need to understand who will be doing what as clearly this will come up when you're interviewing candidates. It would be well worth making it clear up front to everyone that they will be maternity cover, and having that documented - just in case you need it in the future.

Good luck..