Pregnant and made redundant - should I go on mat leave early?

[hazelnutlatte]

I found out yesterday that I am being made redundant. This is completely out of the blue and no one else I work with is affected. I'm 29 weeks pregnant. I have been told that I will still get stat maternity pay and I can get the company enhanced maternity pay until the date my employment ends, which will be 1st September. Enhanced maternity pay is 6 months full pay. I had originally intended to go on mat leave at 38 weeks.
I have to see HR tomorrow to discuss details and I'm thinking of telling them that I want to go on maternity leave with immediate affect as then I would receive the enhanced pay for longer, plus I then wouldn't have commuting costs.
I am feeling hurt and betrayed by my employer but don't want to fight this - my stress levels are too high and I was considering not going back to work after this maternity leave anyway.
If I do go on mat leave straight away then I would be really letting my team down - I have lots of loose ends to tie up before I finish, plus the two other people who do my role are having annual leave before I go which I should be covering. Me being made redundant isn't their fault so I would feel guilty about this, but another part of me doesn't want to face them as I'm feeling resentful that I am being made redundant and they are not.
I'm also worried about getting a good reference if I do this. My boss has promised to use his contacts to help me with job hunting after mat leave and give me an excellent reference - if I piss him off by leaving everyone in the lurch then I doubt he will want to help me.
Anyone want to advise me on what I should do? I think my judgement is clouded because I'm so pissed off about the way I've been treated.

It's only you that is being made redundant? Smells fishy to me. What's their justification?

It's very fishy but I really can't cope with the stress of fighting it.
The justification is that I am on a fixed term contract. However I have been there for 3 years (contract for 1 year renewed twice) and a quick google suggests that I have pretty much the same rights as permanent staff.

I'm not at all sure that they are allowed to say your enhanced mat leave of 6 months @ full pay will now cease on the date you cease your employment. That sounds wrong to me.

You could contact acas and they might well be able to tell you if what they propose is legal or not. If it's not, it's not a case of "fighting them" or a dispute or anything, but simply saying "your proposal is not legal" and then they will have to say oh shit sorry here's what you should get after all (something like this happened to me and that was what i did and what happened).

actually it looks like they might there is a booklet here

I'd still ring acas if I were you they were very helpful to me.

Have a look at maternity action or give them a call. I thought (but might be wrong) that you still got your full maternity pay in a redundancy situation.
As for leaving them in there lurch - they've left you in the lurch, just go and don't feel bad if it's what you wasn't to do. You can start your mat leave at 29 weeks I think.

Awful typos sorry! I second what Whirlpool says as ACAS are also good.

Completely get not wanting to fight it but it wouldn't take much to explain in nice slightly threatening language that they'd need to come up with a settlement that exceeds the value of your maternity leave.

I'm sure employment experts will come along with proper advice.

When I was at threat of redundancy, my employer pitted groups of us against one another, ie there had to be a head count reduction in each department.

We then had to defend ourselves and say how invaluable we were, against pre-defined criteria.

There was not an official done-deal at the start of the process.

Thank you for your replies - I have a friend who is an employment lawyer who really thinks I should be talking to them about getting a better settlement - I will have a think about this.
Because I'm on a fixed term contract there hasn't been any consultancy or anything like that - I've just been told my contract is not being renewed as my services are no longer required. The organisation I work for has a policy for this - the policy says that this should be treated as redundancy and I should be redeployed where possible. No one has mentioned redeployment to me yet and tbh I would rather leave than be moved to another department in the middle of maternity leave.

www.maternityaction.org.uk/wp/advice-2/mums-dads-scenarios/pregnant/redundancy-during-pregnancy-and-maternity-leave/
Does this help OP? Sometimes I've found with employers that if you show you're familiar with the law, they back down pretty quickly. I know you don't want a fight but you could phrase it as "are you sure about that as I've read this" and link to the website

It's good that you know an employment lawyer, keep talking to them!

The rules on redundancy are in your favour. You have a strong case for unfair dismissal if you are pregnant - this is discrimination and classed as 'automatic unfair dismissal'. Also if you have been at the company for more than 2 years, there are other grounds for unfair dismissal. See the CAB advice on dismissal for more info.

I suggest you contact ACAS or the CAB for advice before doing anything. Don't resign or go on maternity leave any earlier than planned. They have to follow a legal process before they dismiss you or make you redundant, and during that process you have time to get the information and advice you need to make a decision and negotiate.

Are you a member of a trade union? If so they could also advise, and you have the right to ask a trade union rep to go to the meetings with you. If not you can take a colleague.

I've recently been told I am being made redundant and I understand how shit it feels. I feel both upset and angry. In my case I can't challenge it (not pregnant and been there less than 2 years) but in your case I'd say channel that anger and get as much out of them as you can!

Thanks for the links - a lot of them don't seem to quite fit my situation but I'm trying to make sense of it all.
I don't think I can actually disappear off on mat leave straight away - from reading the links I need to give 28 days notice that I am going so I won't be going anywhere just yet.
From looking at the links and the policies on my organisations website they do seem to be just about within the law depending on how you interpret it. The only thing they definitely haven't done is talk to me about redeployment to another role - but as I'm not seeing HR until next week they may still do this

AnotherEmma sorry to hear you are going through this too.
I'm actually surprised at just how hurt and upset I feel - it's only a job after all and financially we will be ok whatever happens. But I love my job and I've never been unemployed in my life before. Plus I'm pregnant and hormonal which really doesn't help!

The entitlement to enhanced maternity pay will depend on the rules of the enhanced payments. Some companies require you to return for x months after maternity leave to be eligible, which obviously you won't be doing.

However, the much bigger issue is that this smells mighty fishy from a discrimination point of view. Keep talking to your lawyer friend. I suspect paying you your maternity package might be a good deal for the given how much shit it sounds like they could be in!

Sorry you are going through this OP.

I was in your exact position but with less employment rights as worked there for less than 2 years. My case was fishy, very fishy, but it appeared they just about stayed on the right side of the law but I still think there was a case there. I tried to get them to settle with me but they were having none of it. Unfortunately, as I was being made redundant and about to go on mat leave, I couldn't afford the high tribunal fees (if you have legal protection on your home insurance they make take your case. Unlucky for me, I just changed insurers during that period so ended up not being able to use either). When I looked at what I could be awarded assuming I won, it wasn't worth paying the legal fees.

What I'm saying is, it's one shitty situation to be in. Collect as much proof as you can, in case you'll change your mind and decide to take action later in the future.

I have now arranged a meeting with hr and am going to voice my concerns and ask for a settlement agreement - my lawyer friend says she will speak to them on my behalf if they fob me off so hopefully that will help!
I am a bit worried that they will offer to redeploy me somewhere if I make a fuss though - the last thing I want is to be shoved in to a new department where I immediately cause hassle by being off on mat leave!

Sounds good, well done OP!
I wouldn't worry about them moving you to another department. You're about to go on mat leave, so it won't affect you, and if it causes disruption for the department, it will be your employer's fault for transferring you, not yours!
No employer should make you feel bad for being pregnant and going on mat leave. Thank goodness for anti-discrimination legislation!