I'm a relatively new Dad (my daughter is 3 months old).
Last week I was issued with a 'risk of redundancy’ letter by my employer. I could be out of a job in as little as 6 weeks (2 weeks for consultation plus 4 weeks’ notice, with no compensation despite being contracted to the end of September 2016).
I am planning to take Shared Parental Leave from the end of May for 3 months – I handed in the relevant paperwork to HR before Christmas. As you may know Shared Parental Leave is subtracted from my wife’s Maternity Leave entitlement – the two are inextricably linked. During this time my employer will not have to pay my salary and I will receive Statutory Shared Parental Pay (ShPP) of about £140 per week. I am only eligible for this if my employment contract extends beyond the period I am taking Shared Parental Leave. There is also a qualifying condition that I must have had the same employer for about 12 months (I believe).
If my employer makes me redundant I will cease to be eligible for ShPP.
In my 'risk of redundancy' meeting with the organisation's CEO and HR Manager I asked whether the organisation would make a woman on maternity leave redundant. The HR Manager responded to say, “No – that would be illegal”. Yet I would argue that this is in effect what my employer is doing in my case.
What rights do I have? And how might I enforce them?