Redundancy - 1.5 Years after Maternity Leave - Have I been set up to fail

[Windyearl123]

I am about to be made redundant and I’m pretty sure it’s unfair. From the redundancy pool to the selection process, it all stinks. I came back from maternity leave in 2016 to be given a “New” role, 2 months into the role there was no work to do, so reached out to other departments to see if I could assist, I found other work in 2 other departments to keep me sane, data entry and export checks, it had nothing to do with my New role, however at least I was doing something.
Other teams within our dept were also quiet last year, people left to go either into other areas or left to seek alternative employment – yet the company still took on “New” people (my guess was to keep their head count) – I could have been given extra responsibility in this time as I had no work, maybe it was in anticipation of me having work that they did not offer me more work?
To date the “New” role has not worked out, I have had gradual work to do throughout 2016, however come Jan this year, it was deemed that the processes and procedures were not working, Sales had upset a lot of customers, not getting E.T.A’s correct, so after returning in Nov 16, Jan 17 the Role was put on suspension until processes had been re-aligned, I feel I have been victimized here, and due to the Role not working I am now being made redundant, I had a perfectly good job when I left for Maternity, I came back to this new role, I’ve had no training (very little anyway), no support (again very little) and now I am without a job. My thoughts are that if I hadn’t gone on Maternity leave, if I hadn’t been given this “New” role…I would not have been made redundant – I feel I have been made to set up to fail, How could I have proved myself in a Role that wasn’t working – is this fair for me to be judged on that?
The Criteria for redundancy had to be made fair for people that had only been here for 8 months, a year to people like me that had been with the company 18 years – OK ……HR designed the criteria, not our manager / director
Here’s the criteria and how we were marked –
Skills and Experience – Maximum score (65)
• Product Knowledge (20)
• Vendor Programme & Pricing Knowledge (20)
• Systems & Process Knowledge (20)
• Potential to Progress (5)
Performance – Maximum score (45)
• Recent Performance Review (10)
• Accuracy & Attention to Detail (35)
• Current Disciplinary/Capability Warnings in Place (-20)
• Adaptability (30)
As soon as I saw the criteria – I know I would be leaving, I feel it may go a bit deeper than this? But how do I prove it, I can’t?

My question is- Has anyone else ever experienced this and has anyone ever claimed unfair dismissal in this situation and how hard was it? Is it actually doable without a solicitor or is there no point bothering?

Hi Windyearl123.

I only just joined mumsnet. I can see that you posted this a while ago.

I haven’t had the exact same experience as you, but I just happened to be the only person in my team that was selected for redundancy. My then boss was a bit silly, and it was pretty obvious that this was in response to me becoming pregnant with DD2.

With the help of a lawyer, I went through a grievance process and eventually settled. Along the way, I came across lots of people in the same situation as yourself, as well as others that had been discriminated against because they were pregnant/on mat leave/ new mothers.

Are you still at the company? What do you want to happen here? If you want to leave but with a reasonable payout to tide you over while you find a new job, I would recommend getting hold of a really good employment lawyer, raising a grievance and starting to negotiate your exit while you are there if possible. If I remember correctly, the amount that you can claim for unfair dismissal is capped / significantly less than what you can get for discrimination.

You can do this without a lawyer, but it isn’t easy. I think that a lot of companies are confident that the process is so emotionally and financially draining for new mums (that already have a lot on their plates) that they just drag the process out, outright lie, etc. Basically anything to avoid doing the right thing.

What’s more important than hiring a lawyer is hiring the right lawyer. My lawyer’s help was invaluable. He had won a number of cases for people that worked where I did, so he knew the organisation, my options, how my case stacked up against others, what was realistic, etc.

If a lawyer isn’t an option, I found a website that is both depressing and helpful: pregnantthenscrewed.com

I hope that your situation works out. It’s pretty rubbish that this happens so often.

I just saw that someone on a similar thread suggested posting it in employment issues - more traffic and helpful employment lawyers responding to posts, apparently!