Not being given work to do

[twirlywho]

Returned from mat leave in October took a lot longer than intended as my DS nearly died at birth and has several medical complexities. Ended up coming back three days.

Whilst I was on mat I declined to pursue a Voluntary Redundancy offer. It does feel the days of the dept are numbered and we may be made redundant next year is the big rumour.

Since I have been back been given small pieces of work to do, mainly assisting other people.

I have asked for more work continually and just got more small scraps.

Has anyone experienced similar on returning to work and any tips please.

My confidence is taking a bit of a hit and if I do need to get a new job next year I don't know how I'm going to talk up what I'm currently doing...

Any possibility you could request to receive some training? If the department's days are numbered, might be a good time to work on a life raft.

I got royally screwed by my boss on return from ML. As you say, given scraps of work, constantly going to say what's next, even just taking work off an overstressed colleague, and then got told at the end of the year I was underperforming,as I hadn't done any work worthy of my pay scale......
I got out. There was no way I could continue to work under those conditions (I'd also had my reduced hours rejected, so that made it easier)

I'd suggest sitting down and talking through your feelings before the whole relationship breaks down.

I know.

Was given some pretty dire work yesterday only to have it reassigned to another colleague who is leaving next month.

Its very grim.

Sad to see this seems to be a common theme.

I need to work on a lift raft so I can just feel better about the whole thing tbh.

Thanks

Doing as much online training as I can whilst I am waiting for work.

That is great (the online training).

I was made redundant (on request) in July,and I was super glad I had stocked up on the training prior to the rif. In job interviews, you can leverage it to show initiative in getting ahead in your chosen field. I found employment again in October - so there was a bit of a gap, but not enough to affect my getting employed again. Obviously.

I will say I agree with GreenSand - if you can get the gumption to talk with your boss ... discrimination against mums returning from maternity leave is ... well, it is ethically wrong, and your boss should know this. So, he/she shouldn't get away with it, and should be informed of your perception of the situation. Ask for a meeting, and be well prepared to state your case. Make notes about your prior work and qualifications and your enthusiasm and ability to do more. Refer to the notes in the meeting to stay on track. Plus, it looks good. You could even refer to the online training. If all else fails, ask the boss what he/she thinks you need to do to get ahead. Try not to be timid, but also not overbearing. The right professional mix.

If that backfires, well, the job was over one way or another, and you got some practice handling a sticky work situation.

Thanks MotiSen.

Some good advice there.

I've been there - it's terrible for your confidence if you've never experienced it. It was a genuine trauma for me as I'd always been a high-flyer. It wasn't personal - there was just no work to do. But then the relationship did break down because I was angry.
In a way, I'm still scarred. I left and ran what most people would consider a very successful business in competition with my former employer for 12 years but now the kids are older I can only expand that business by being in a team and I've got almost a phobia about the idea of ever again being salaried when work isn't coming in.

It isn't your fault but that it's hard for you to be the best you can be in this situation. Can you get work from other departments - even work for "free" for them? You're way ahead of me in that you are mentally moving on already... engage in that training wholeheartedly. We both know it will be harder to get a job part-time but I survived (and thrived) and so will you.