Should ny employer contact me during maternity leave?

[Mumtoboy123]

I know its a bit of an odd one but there have been a number of changes at my work place since ive been on leave (6 weeks so far) and if i wasnt friends with colleagues id have no idea about them and they significantly impact my role. Theres kind of 2 issues here...
My boss is going on mat leave herself. A replacement has been found who will be in place when i return however i havent actually been told this. They advertised for my boss' role and from that have promoted 2 people into new roles (not already existing). They didnt advertise for these roles seperately, only in the maternity cover add, meaning anyone on maternity leave at the time (me) couldnt apply so 1. There was no way i would have known about the opertunity of promotion and 2. I wasnt given an equal oppertunity to apply for it. (Even more annoying that i trained the person that did get it and until i left i was doing what their job description is now but without the title). Also, the xmas party has been arranged and tickets issued on a first come first served basis but this wasnt communicated to me either.
I dont want to think about work while im off but i will need to go back afterwards and i just feel like a. My line manager has changed, surely i should be told and b. Is not being given the oppertunity for a new role some form of maternity descrimination?
Its tough times all round at the moment, i wonder if they would communicate the prospect of redundancy with me should it arise?!

i think yes with the jobs they should have sent you a letter with the job description. That’s what my work did when I was on mat leave. Not sure about the Christmas Party to be honest, it’s not a statutory thing so I don’t think it would be covered under law like the jobs would be. My HR did send me an email to my private email address inviting me to our Christmas party but DD was 3 weeks old at the time.

Personally I don’t think they do need to say anything- as actually if they had contacted you there are some people that would go mad at being contacted during maternity leave (I know you may not be one of those people , I’m not either ) however employers have to be so careful.
I hunk of you wanted to keep in the loop you should have said that before you left (about any potential job openings, work dos etc...) Do you have KIT days? Maybe use some of them to get back into it.
Xxx

@wowsers16 actually by law they do have to let the OP know about any potential jobs she could have applied for. Most companies do this by letter rather than phone or email as it’s less intrusive but still fulfilling their statutory duty. Just because the OP is on mat leave doesn’t mean she shouldn’t be given the same opportunity as her colleagues when applying for promotion.

@mynameisjune i also thought this was the case but wasnt too sure. Its so annoying because theyve already filled the roles and i had no idea until they were in place

I'm guessing here but surely if this line manager role starts before you return from maternity leave then they wouldn't have offered you the opportunity to apply as you were unable to take up the role when needed?

@adviceonthepox yes but from that recruitment process they appointed 2 perminant other roles which are promotions which i didnt have the oppertunity to go for because they chose them from the recruitment of the line manager maternity cover which i couldnt go for because i was on mat leave myself

I doubt they are obliged to tell you about the change of Line Manager whilst you are off unless you contacted them directly, as PP said you might not appreciate being 'bothered' by them whilst off.

The no invite to to Christmas party is a bit rude, although they may assume you wouldn't want to with having a new baby and all.

I would speak to Acas about the promotion opportunity if it really bothers you. It's a bit tricky as if you did apply but were still on Mat Leave then they would still have to get someone to cover that role until you returned to work. They are new posts created so it's a bit of a grey area. Would you have wanted to go for promotion?

Also is it a big company? Is your relationship with them normally good?

@champagneplanet the jobs theyve created are exactly what i was doing before but i wasnt getting paid or have the title for it so if i had gone for it i most likely wiuld have got it. Its quite a large company and the team has 15 members. My relationship with them is absolutely fine but that shouldnt effect anything anyway. The xmas party is just another example really...i wouldnt have gine but because of it being a big company its like a diner and dance thing that everyone gets invited to through a company wide email. Its quite excluding to not forward to those not in the office at the time.

That's why I asked what your relationship with them is like, if good then I would just bring it up and tell them how disappointed/surprised you are. They may have a plan for your return.

They're supposed to have let you know about any vacancies while you're on ML. Not for them to decide whether you'd have wanted to apply or not.

I'm quite shocked by some of these responses almost excusing being on mat leave as a reason for being excluded from opportunities. That is blatant maternity discrimination and the reason why women are so disadvantaged after having children. I can't believe people excuse it so readily. Of course you should have been informed, of course you should have had the chance to apply, of course they should have made reasonable adjustments to facilitate an interview and of course your statutory rights on mat leave should not have been affected or influenced whether they gave you the job or not. I'd recommend contacting Pregnant Then Screwed. I would also advise calling HR asap to find out what they think they are playing at in 2018.