Flexible working arrangements being rescinded

[Belleende]

I have a colleague on mat leave, 2nd child. when she went on mat leave, she was working 4 days a week. She has just been told she has to come back 5 days. She is coming back to the same job. Anyone know the legalities of this?

As background info. We are a large organization with large majority of female staff. There are many flex working arrangements in place, in my team 5 out of 13 people have various arrangements.
In the particular bit of the org my colleague sits in, there has been multiple examples of women not faring well, in particular women on mat leave.

I am about to go on my second mat leave and I too work 4 days. I am livid about what has happened to these incredibly competent women. I feel compelled to speak up, but as I too am about to go on mat leave, also very nervous. Any advice on how to tackle?

www.maternityaction.org.uk/advice-2/mums-dads-scenarios/pregnant/discrimination-during-maternity-leave-and-on-return-to-work/

Have a look at the link and in particular the sections on rights after OML and AML

Many thanks. As I suspected, the company is skating on thin ice. I dont know the place any more.

It is no easier to change terms and conditions that were originally agreed as a result of a flexible working request than it is to change anoyone else's terms and conditions. Unless they are specifically agreed as being temporary, flexible working changes are permanent changes to terms and conditions,

She should write to them saying having taken advice she understands her consent is required to change her terms and conditions. She does not wish to increase her hours so will not be giving her consent to this change and will be returning on her contractual 4 days a week.

If I wasn't up the duff and the main bread winner, I would be kicking up a massive stink. But as I said, it is like my work place has been taken over like something from invasion of the body snatchers. It looks the same superficially, but lift the lid a bit and there is all sorts of crazy shit happening, and no one is challenging it.

Any contractual change would need to be by mutual consent. Your employer is trying to steamroll the changes through, in the hope your colleague (and potentially you, if you get similar treatment) won't kick up a fuss.

'Call them' on it, otherwise not only will you suffer but so will future members of staff. They are setting a very negative precedent.

I know someone who had this happen - they tried to say it would be difficult to place her on projects if she didn't work full time - but lots of other people were part time, and her work was not different or unusual. If you have any HR people, they should know the rules - could this woman ask them to intervene perhaps (sometimes people (the bosses in yoir company) just don't get that there are rules, and they can't just make you do whatever they fancy!).

Join a union now - you can then use them to help negotiate your return if they pull this shit with you.

Of course she doesn't, you can't unilaterally decide to alter someone's contract and you can't rescind a flexible working application after its been made and accepted (which is what I suspect they are attempting to do).

They need to either take her back under her 4 day/week contract offer her a 5 day (which she can turn down) or offer a very generous settlement not to return....

Turns out its not contractually agreed, she arranged it verbally with her manager (who is also on mat leave).

We do have a HR department, but they have done nothing to challenge the repeated disenfranchisement of women on mat leave/returning to work. Unfortunately, they seem to protect the interests of the bosses rather than the employees.

It is sooooo depressing.

Verbally agreed doesn't mean it doesn't form part of her terms and conditions. If it was verbally agreed as a temporary thing, fine, but if she's been doing it consistently for a long period of time, it then becomes part of her contract.

Presumably it must have been official to a degree anyway, in order to process the adjustment to her pay/holiday entitlement etc?

She worked for days for over a year before her 2nd mat leave. It was processed through HR, but not memorialised in her written contract, but seems like there is a bit of a grey area with ts and cs versus contract.

Have pointed her in the direction of maternity action.

I would suggest she argues strongly that those are her established terms and conditions. There was no time limit put on the variation to her hours, it was all processed in the normal way, and just because someone didn't put it in a letter doesn't mean it isn't contractual.

If the intention was that it be temporary, it would have been sensible for them to confirm the change in writing and making it clear that it was a temporary arrangement and subject to review. They chose not to do that.

Thanks for your help. In the meantime, I need to make sure I am covered.

Have a look at the pregnantthenscrewed website, lots of advice (but also depressing how many people find themselves treated so badly).