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Original poster

Redundancy and maternity leave

15 replies

HuggleBuggleBear · 04/06/2014 16:37

Is anyone up on rights if you are facing redundancy whilst on maternity leave? I have heard from a colleague that there are rumours of redundancy and that a meeting was held where financial cuts were discussed and they are now going to consult with staff to see way forward. I'm abit miffed no manager has been in touch about this, should they have been as nothing yet has been formally agreed? Other thing if they reduce the work force which seems most likely as they are unlikely to close all together will I need to apply for one of the jobs. I read somewhere that I would automatically get one of the roles but then I read else where that as long as they follow criteria etc I can be made redundant. If there are still some posts remaining should I get one of them? Thank u in advance.

OP posts:

Ducky23 · 22/04/2015 15:45

I have recently gone through this.

This is how I understand it:

You have to be notified that your job is at threat of redundancy first, when you receive this notification a 30 day consultancy period starts where you can put forward any questions/suggestions/ideas. Once this ends they will inform you of the next steps (I.e redundancies).

As I was on mat leave I had to be 'safe guarded' as they put it, and was offered a full time job. I asked if I could go through normal redundancy with everyone else but apparently the law doesn't allow this. You have to be offered a job if there is one available.

I have requested voluntary redundancy as I had made up my mind not to return after ml anyway. That means I get all my mat leave, bank holidays, accrued annual leave and a redundancy payment

Hth (and makes sense!)

Bootsalex · 22/04/2015 21:22

Hi Ducky,
Can I ask how well your employer has kept in touch with you during the redundancy process?

I'm currently on maternity and there was a voluntary redundancy register. HR rang me to tell me that this option was available.

To find out what was going on, I've had to request meetings with managers and go into work several times to meet them or I would be making a very uninformed decision about whether to take VR.
After several emails, it was suggested I needed to come in/email/put pressure on HR about redeploying me into another role as I was 'at risk' (off the record, I knew I was being made redundant).
I was just wandering, how much of the chasing that I have had to do, I was meant to be doing! I'm on maternity and I know I'm 'protected' so why have I had to do so much to sort things out.
I'm still none the wiser whether I have a job when I go back to work!!

Any personal experiences would be much appreciated!

Lunastarfish · 22/04/2015 21:35

An employer is obliged to consult with employees during a redundnancy situation. At the moment it is just 'rumours' so the obligation to consult probably hasn't arisen. An employer still has to consult with employees on maternity or sick leave.

However, You only have the right to a 30 day consultation if 20-99 people are at risk of redundancy. If less people are at risk then there is no prescribed period.

If your role is selected for redundancy when you are on maternity leave (you must be on maternity leave) then if there are any suitable alternative roles, then it should be offered to you or anyone else on maternity leave. See regulation 10 of the Maternity and Parental Leave etc Regulations 1999.

Lunastarfish · 22/04/2015 21:45

Posted to soon!

If there are no suitable roles for you then providing the employer has a genuine reason for the redundancy, has placed you in a selection pool and applied an objective criteria (these two points are not essential though, for example if your role is unique and is being deleted then a pool may not be appropriate and a criteria pointless but this is very fact specific) and consults with you then you could still be selected for redundancy irrespective if you are on maternity leave.

Lunastarfish · 22/04/2015 21:52

Bootsalex your employer doesn't have to redeploy you. The obligation to offer a role to a redundant employee on maternity leave is only if an available role exists- if there is no role they don't have to find you one.

Employees on maternity leave aren't 'protected' as such - they can be fairly selected for redundancy. They just have the right to be offered a job if their role is redundant if another suitable role exists.

Ducky23 · 22/04/2015 21:58

They have been pretty rubbish with me! I have had to constantly e mail/call/ text to make sure I had the information, I also requested two meetings as I was not being informed what was going on!

Even still I'm not really being kept up to date, which is why I'm not that sure of the whole process! But that was just my experience

Lunastarfish · 22/04/2015 22:14

ducky there's no definition as such as to what consultation means. Depending on the circumstances one letter and a meeting could suffice as fair consultation.

I mean this in the nicest way but your expectations of consultation may be too high. You should get the same info as your non-maternity colleagues - what consultation/notifications did they get? If you requested two meetings and you were given them, then it seems as though some consultation has occurred.

Lunastarfish · 22/04/2015 22:17

ducky if your colleagues were bring sent emails/letters/invited to meetings and you were not (because you were on mat leave) then your employer is walking over dangerous grounds

Ducky23 · 22/04/2015 22:27

There was a LOT of e mails & letters sent to them that I didn't receive.
there were even positions opened (not suitable alternatives) for those at risk of redundancy, I was told about them monday morning, I contacted them as I had been told about a couple of e mails I hadn't received, the closing date was the same day (two hours after I was sent the e mail about it) so I couldn't of applied if I wanted

One of my friends has been informing me of all the communication going out that I haven't been told about, they seem to forget me every time something goes out

Bootsalex · 25/04/2015 21:04

Thanks for your advice. I don't know whether there are emails being sent to other colleagues. When I've been in and caught up with work friends, it seems a lot has been happening.
We've been through consultation and I have been told that it was going on.

I'm just a bit unsure about how much I should be chasing work all the time to find out what is going on! I'm only getting 'all staff' emails, which are very generic as there are hundreds of staff. I'm having nothing personal from my managers.

NormaLouise · 29/04/2015 10:24

I'm going through this at the moment. My maternity leave is coming to an end and my company has just announced redundancy risks. My job is at risk and I'm finding it really difficult being isolated from the day to day discussions. They have called me in for meetings and emailed etc so they are involving me as best they can.

The difficult thing for me is I'm due back in a few weeks and they can't confirm what I'm going back to - if I'm going back at all! It's a horrible feeling and is really ruining my last few weeks off with my son. I can't afford to lose my job so redundancy would be bad news. I hope I'm "protected" because of my maternity but I'm not sure this is the case. They certainly haven't suggested that and are treating me as if there is a good chance I will be a gonner!

What if the consultation period continues beyond my return, I go back and then weeks later they let me go? Will I not be protected by maternity because I'm back in the business? I've also asked to drop a day like a lot of mums returning to work (I put this request in before the redundancy announcement) and now they can't give me an answer either way due to the ongoing consultation.

I would love some advice as to where to go from here? Just wait it out and hope for the best?

Really feel for other posters in this position. It's not a nice place to be

Bootsalex · 30/04/2015 19:55

I think that they need to redeploy you if there is a position available. You would get priority over others for a post if that was the case.
I'm not very good on the advice as I'm the same as you :( I wanted to reduce my contract but I didn't speak to work about it before all the redundancy stuff was announced. It is so hard being out of the workplace when things like this are going on. Hopefully it will be sorted before you go back (positive thoughts coming your way) x

Kent1982 · 06/05/2015 19:12

Hi I'm in a similar situation where 6 of us are being reduced to 3, I've been reading acas and it implies that I should be offered one of the 3 roles but I'm really confused I think I need to call them for advice on this as HR are just saying I will be treated fairly. It's very confusing as to what to do I hope your situation improves but I think you should call acas too as your situation sounds very similar to mine

NormaLouise · 07/05/2015 07:24

Acas has some useful information and I will definitely be calling them a bit further into the process. So far I've had one meeting and that was over two weeks ago and I've not heard a peep since. I have a friend who works in HR and she says companies have to be so careful when it comes to pregnant/maternity staff and redundancy. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for all of us going through this x

Kent1982 · 07/05/2015 14:08

Me too, I, trying not to worry too don't let it ruin the time off you have left

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