Suitable aleternative role

[RiceButt]

I'm currently on maternity leave and going through the redundancy process.

All roles at my current band have been made redundant and only 7 new roles at a higher banding have been created, leaving 3 people redundant. The role is very much the same as the redundant one, I would argue there are no extra roles and responsibilities and they are just formalising roles and responsibilities that we already as a team carry out.

My question is would this be classed as a promotion? As I'm on maternity leave they would have to offer me a suitable alternative which I think the role is, however HR are statingg the job offer is a promotion.

Any clarity would be greatly appreciated.

Check your redundancy policy and ACAS, I think its something along the lines of....if your current job description is a 90% match to the new job it should be a job match as a suitable alternative.

However you say there are less new roles that people in the same job so they have to go through a selection process to decide who gets the 4 new roles. That can be performance based or the more popular interview/assessment activity route.

I don't believe that you get preference due to being on maternity leave although they do have to take reasonable steps to make any selection process accessible to you, so maybe a phone interview rather than face to face.

Thank you. I'll speak to ACAS to get further clarification.

At the risk of 'mansplaining' the advice you have received 'I think its something along the lines ...if your current job description is a 90% match to the new job it should be a job match as a suitable alternative" is completely and absolutely wrong. There is no such rule whatsoever - not even anything like it. "What is suitable" is a common sense test for the Employment Tribunal and they have common sense. They will look at what you did, what you can do, what your skills and experience are and what the requirements of the new job is.

You need to look at the De Belin v Eversheds case first. That is a about the situation where there were no new roles - just a reduction in the number of existing jobs. In such a case the lady on ML does not jump the queue to a new job. However, if there are new jobs - and in your case there are, then if they are suitable you have a right to be offered one. Suitable is NOT defined in the law and as I said there are no rules of thumb or simple tests. Look up the Bentley v Body Shop case - not authoritative but useful. Look up the old case of Philip Hodges & Co v Kell [1994] IRLR 568 as it is on the relevant right. Look up Simpson v Endsleigh Insurance Services Ltd and others UKEA T/0544/09.

The other commentator said "I don't believe that you get preference due to being on maternity leave although they do have to take reasonable steps to make any selection process accessible to you, so maybe a phone interview rather than face to face". that is also absolutely wrong. You do get preference for being on maternity leave. Look at Regulation 10 of the Maternity and Parental Leave etc Regulations 1999. Regulation 10 is your 'nuclear weapon' : it gives you the right to jump the queue and be offered a suitable alternative job that is available EVEN over and above more qualified other candidates and even if administratively inconvenient to the company. Also look up the Sefton v Wainwright case. It is an important 2014 case on the timing of regulation 10 regarding suitable alternative vacancy rights. Not 'be offered' is just that but don't think that you can rely on that entirely - you have to co-operate with them and express interest if asked but if it is suitable you don't have to be interviewed. HR will claim that you have to be interviewed so as to assess whether the job is suitable but perhaps consider not giving them this ammunition and definately insist on a full personal specifcation and job spec first. Better get both of those documents before you express an interest in fact - this is because I have lots of experience of companies re-writing the job spec. to exclude the woman on ML '(oh dear it suddenly requires a degree and you don't have one' etc.)

finally re 'My question is would this be classed as a promotion?' Do not trust HR - in my experience many of them don't even engage or know about regulation 10 and certainly if they are told about it they don't want to follow it. Put bluntly they will BS about the role being a promotion. What you should do is quietly and without tipping them off first that you are aggrieved get them to commit in writing about pay, band, status, reporting lines, etc. of the new job and then compare it yourself to your existing job and secondly against the question - is this suitable for me. A question to ask is whether having presented all the facts to an interested intelligent knowledgeable employment judge he or she would agree with you the that new role was suitable for you. In that test what HR say means very very little.

Good luck and remember the three month time limit for contacting ACAS after a dismissal.