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Original poster

On maternity leave and received notice of redundancy

33 replies

Oysterbabe · 28/06/2018 12:17

I've been employed by my company for over 5 years and am currently on maternity leave. A few months ago I received an email from my company confirming that I'm at risk of redundancy. Today I have received a notice of redundancy. This is the only communication that I have received. The other information that I know about the situation has come from friends at the firm.

They had originally intended to close the branch entirely but have now decided to keep the branch open but massively downsize it, from around 100 people to around 20. All staff members have had an individual consultation except me. There have been various other communications to the staff since the announcement was made, such as they are offering a bonus if certain criteria are met.

I feel that I should have been offered a consultation and I should have been sent all the communication sent to the other staff about the office closure and the bonus, I understand there were numerous emails. Finally I feel that I should have been offered one of the roles in the new smaller office. I am certainly qualified for them and there are several people who have been offered roles that do the exact same job that I do.

Do you think that I have grounds to take this further? I just feel completely forgotten.

OP posts:

LemonBreeland · 28/06/2018 12:22

You absolutely have grounds to take it further. You have protected rights while on maternity leave. I don't know all the details but do Google. I think you have an automatic right to one of the jobs as you are off.

Your employer has really fucked up, especially not even following the whole process with you.

LemonBreeland · 28/06/2018 12:23

Your employer has really fucked up, especially not even following the whole process with you.

Chedfords · 28/06/2018 12:27

Absolutely they should have consulted you. They haven’t followed process at all. Take a look at pregnantthenscrewed.com/ and give the helpline a ring as they will be able to help you.

Ilovecamping · 28/06/2018 12:34

Contact ACAS first before contacting your employer, they will be able to give you clear advice as to how to handle the situation.

neighneigh · 28/06/2018 12:42

You might find Maternity Action helpful - www.maternityaction.org.uk (sorry don't know how to do links!)

Original poster

Oysterbabe · 28/06/2018 13:19

Thanks all, some very useful info. I'll give ACAS a call first and take it from there.

OP posts:

SK166 · 28/06/2018 13:27

Good luck, OP!

Just because you’re on MAT leave, doesn’t mean their responsibilities to you re: redundancy are any different from if you weren’t on leave. They haven’t followed the correct protocol with you, therefore you’ve likely got a case against them if they don’t get their act together.

prh47bridge · 28/06/2018 14:08

Because you are on maternity leave you have additional protections. They should have consulted you. Their failure to do so is likely to be unlawful discrimination. Also, if there were any suitable alternative vacancies they were required to offer it to you first (unless there were more people on maternity leave than vacancies). Even if there was someone else who would have been better suited to the role, they must still offer it to you first. However, that doesn't mean they had to select someone else for redundancy. They can make you redundant provided you aren't being selected because you are on maternity leave.

To give an example, if they had 20 bottle washers and decided they only needed 5, they must not select you as one of the bottle washers being made redundant just because you are on maternity leave. However, provided they use fair selection criteria, they could select you as one of the 15 bottle washers being made redundant. If you were selected for redundancy but they had a vacancy for a dish washer on similar terms and conditions, they must offer that job to you even if all the other bottle washers being made redundant would be better suited to the role.

I would write to them saying that, as you have not been consulted prior to being made redundant, you were denied a possibl bonus, the grounds on which you were selected for redundancy are not clear and suitable alternative jobs have not been offered, you believe they may have unlawfully discriminated against you and invite them to put matters right. If they do not respond appropriately I would suggest consulting a solicitor who specialises in employment law. Your house insurance may cover the costs if it includes legal cover.

SK166 · 28/06/2018 15:36

Good luck, OP!

prh47bridge · 28/06/2018 22:07

Just because you’re on MAT leave, doesn’t mean their responsibilities to you re: redundancy are any different from if you weren’t on leave

Actually their responsibilities are different. As the OP is on maternity leave her employer has significantly greater responsibility towards her than they do to employees who are not on maternity leave.

Di11y · 28/06/2018 22:13

You have extra rights as mentioned. At our work a role went from 2 members of staff to 1. The 1 in mat leave automatically got it and her male colleague ended up covering her leave til she came back!

Namechange128 · 28/06/2018 22:14

All that @prh47bridge says. See if you have cover for legal cases, otherwise do look at the websites linked here. You have additional rights here and they have not respected them. So sorry to hear this is happening to you, and that you are able to get the help you need.

Original poster

Oysterbabe · 29/06/2018 19:39

I sent the company an email outlining my concerns. They've sent me a letter back saying that they are planning to organise consultations with everyone on maternity leave to discuss our rights and have asked me to come in next week. I'm the only one on maternity leave and I think arranging this after serving the notice of redundancy is a bit late. They've sort of made it sound like this was the plan all along but the formal consultation period is over so I'm not sure what good it will do. The letter also says that if before I'm made redundant a suitable role comes up it will be offered to me. I'm not sure what to make of it really but I'll try and go to the meeting if I can arrange some childcare.

OP posts:

VerbenaGirl · 29/06/2018 19:52

They have mismanaged your process, which makes it invalid. You definitely have a case. Stay strong and good luck! I bet the HR people are feeling a bit nervous right now!

Kingsclerelass · 29/06/2018 19:57

Op, check your house insurance. I had exactly the same issue and found that I’d ticked the “family legal cover” box on my policy form.
If you have, it will cover you for legal costs. My £17 premium helped me win an entire year’s salary in compensation.

quackaday · 29/06/2018 19:58

Exactly what @prh47bridge has said. This happened to me on mat leave and I insisted they had to offer me the role before anyone else. At first they said "oh it doesn't quite work like that" but I'd spoken to ACAS and I knew my rights so I stuck to my guns and kept my job! This is presuming there is a suitable role available at your place of course. If there genuinely isn't a role that is the same seniority and skill set then normal redundancy rules apply

catsandtigers · 29/06/2018 20:07

Similar thing happened to me 15 years ago. I was a member of a union. I contacted them and they were useless. Then I remembered I had a friend who was an employment lawyer. She put me in touch with one of her colleagues who got a great deal for me, including negotiating that my employee paid her fee. Good luck!

WhollyFather · 29/06/2018 20:17

ACAS then Citizens Advice depending on what ACAS tell you.

Your employers seem to have cocked up bigtime.

Figgygal · 29/06/2018 20:24

Completely agree that you have grounds to complain and definitely engage with them snd attend that meeting but I have to wonder why didn't you make contact with management at any point and request updates/information? Maternity leave or not I'd have been straight on the phone

Singlenotsingle · 29/06/2018 20:40

Too late for them to start talking about consultation now! They've already made their decision.

Original poster

Oysterbabe · 29/06/2018 20:41

I guess it's because they initially announced they were closing the branch entirely and making everyone redundant so I sort of thought, that's that! I've only found out that isn't the case in the last week.

OP posts:

prh47bridge · 29/06/2018 20:48

They can put you at risk before holding consultations but, if they have actually issued a notice of redundancy, it is a bit late to be talking about consultation. And there is still the matter of the bonus which apparently was not offered to you. It sounds like they've messed up big time.

Original poster

Oysterbabe · 03/07/2018 10:53

I have my consultation meeting today, which is obviously a total farce. They mentioned that I can either be made redundant on the planned date at the end of September with most other people and receive my outstanding maternity pay as a lump sum, along with the redundancy payment and other bits and bobs, or delay my redundancy until the end of my maternity leave, which is in December. Given that they said that they will offer me a suitable job if one comes up before I'm made redundant it seems like delaying my redundancy would be the best bet. I'm not sure there's any advantage in opting to be made redundant earlier except obviously being paid earlier. The notice of redundancy they have issued though does give a date of the end of September.

OP posts:

OneForTheRoadThen · 07/07/2018 18:58

You mentioned that there were some jobs left after the downsizing that were similar to the job you do now. You should have been offered one of these first as a protected worker. Did you ask them about this?

I'm really sorry this is happening to you, I was put at risk of redundancy a couple of months ago when I was 31 weeks pregnant and it's very stressful. My union really helped me, are you a member of one?

From what I learned during the process your company seem to have properly cocked up and it might be worth your while getting some proper advice. Good luck.

prh47bridge · 07/07/2018 20:10

You should have been offered one of these first as a protected worker

I am not clear from the OP's posts whether these are similar jobs or a reduced number of existing jobs. If it is just a reduced number of existing roles the OP does not have any right to be offered one of them.

Oysterbabe

I would recommend talking to your union if you are in one. If not, get some advice from a lawyer who specialises in employment law. As previously commented, it sounds like you may have a case for unlawful discrimination. Don't let them get away with it.

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