MNHQ here. Sign in for FREE legal advice about pregnancy, maternity or parental issues at work from Maternity Action and the Employment Lawyers Association

[RowanMumsnet]

Hello

Mumsnet, Maternity Action and the Employment Lawyers Association are teaming up to provide a free online legal clinic all week this week, offering advice from specialist employment solicitors and barristers on pregnancy, maternity and parental rights at work.

Maternity Action reports huge demand for its advice line, especially topics such as redundancy during maternity leave, return to work, maternity pay and rights during pregnancy. On Mumsnet, the topic of employment rights is a hardy perennial.

So we thought we’d try this out to see if we can help make good, free advice available to all.

The clinic will take place on this thread. If you’re dealing with a work situation and you want to be sure of your pregnancy, maternity and/or parental rights, post an outline of your dilemma here. You don’t need to include identifying details: a specialist solicitor or barrister will follow up with you via PM if they need to know more.

You will also be asked by one of the volunteers, via PM, to disclose your name and the name of your employer so that possible conflicts of interest can be ruled out. Because PMs are critical to how this works, please don’t change your username within this thread, as it will make it difficult for the volunteers to be sure they’re exchanging personal messages with the right person. (Of course, if you want to change your username before posting your problem, that’s fine.)

Personal information collected via personal message for the clinic will be held by Maternity Action and will be deleted after 18 months. Private messages are stored on Mumsnet until the user deletes them.

Answers and advice from the specialists will be posted up on this thread. The clinic will run for a week; we will do our best to provide all answers during the week but, at the latest, by the end of the following week. You can find information on where to go for more help once the clinic has ended here.

Finally (!) - for anyone who takes part - we’d love it if you could fill in Maternity Action’s feedback survey once the clinic has finished, so that we can find out how effective this has been for you.

Important: The advice provided to an individual poster is based only on the information provided by that poster. Advice on this thread is also particular to the individual who has asked for it and is likely to be specific to that person’s situation. A poster may have provided further relevant information by private message which will not appear on this thread. So please take care if you choose to apply that advice to your own situation - it is recommended that you first take legal advice from one of the sources we have recommended here.

The lawyers, all of whom are specialists in employment law, will be working as volunteers for Maternity Action in respect of the clinic. (You can read more about how this works, and the complaints procedure, here.)

Mumsnet, Maternity Action, Maternity Action's volunteers and the Employment Lawyers Association accept no liability for any loss suffered as a result of an individual choosing to follow advice provided to another poster's question on the thread. If you wish to make a complaint about the service you received, you can use Maternity Action’s complaints policy here.

So, please feel free to get posting with your dilemmas and questions for the lawyers. (Any non-legal questions about how this will work, please feel free to post those too.)

Thanks
MNHQ

Hello there
i am only 8 weeks pregnant.
Maternity will start in may 2019.
I am with my partner but we do not live together and this will remain as it works well for us.
I work part time and i recieve universal credit.
I have been with my employer since jan this year.

Will i be eligable for smp?
I dont understand online info as it all seens conflicting.
If i am entitled, what will be the duration please?

Thank you

Hi, thank you for doing this!

I'm 8 weeks pregnant, expected due date 14/06/18. I'm a teacher employed on a permanent full time basis with a council in Scotland, since April 2018. I'm currently aiming to apply for a part time teaching post within the same council, whenever one comes available.

Will I still be eligible for SMP? Do I have to declare my pregnancy in the job interview?

Thank you.

@Williams60

I have worked at the same company for over 10 years, progressing up through the organisation and have been in my current role officially since January last 2017, but have been on maternity leave for the last year. Whilst on maternity leave (for the second time) there have been massive changes within my company including an entire new board and my boss has left. No one contacted me during this period, I only knew what was going on as I saw my boss socially. I also saw my maternity cover socially and she asked if I was coming back to which I replied yes I fully intended to come back but I would be taking my full year plus holiday as that coincided with my ds starting school. I did not say this to anyone formally, partly because at the time I didn’t even have a line manager and I knew I didn’t have to until much nearer the time. She said she would look for a new job, which she did, and was offered one. We had a chat on the phone, discussing some of the changes that had happened, new people etc and said that the team was going to sit under a new board member who was v supportive of the work my team does. She was doing a handover with someone else in the wider team who would then handover back to me on my return. I didn’t think anything more about it until two weeks later I get a call from her telling me she was staying and her new job title was Head of my team. When I challenged her that that sounded like she was my boss, she was very quick to say no we were the same level. I was v pissed off, partly as I hadn’t been consulted at all and that it was maternity cover who told me they were staying. I wrote to my new boss saying I’d heard about the new situation and when I was coming in on one of my KIT days that I’d like to actually meet him and would be good if he could clarify the changes. He was v nice, didn’t say anything about seniority, just that it was good to have more resource and wanted us to work together well and thought we could achieve great things! He said in retrospect he probably shouldn’t have got my maternity cover to tell me about the change. Since then I went in for several kit days which were useful. My maternity cover presented me with a slide about who could do what, I said it looked like the variety within my role had changed (one of the things I liked most) which I wasn’t happy about but that we didn’t need to decide anything till I was back. I also attended a conference where she was the one giving presentations on what our team would be doing. Obviously I wasn’t back at work then, but it did lead to some interesting conversations with both new/old colleagues as to what my role was. Since then I have returned to work, have very little to do, as there has been no handover, and she can’t fit me in for a while (she’s v busy and important). Interestingly in one meeting with another colleague she was congratulated on her promotion which she thanked them for. All this leads me to believe that she is more senior than me but nobody dare actually say it as no one communicated anything to me about it whilst I was off, or if there was a promotional opportunity I wasn’t made aware of it. I can see that she sits on the new leadership team, which I don’t, and so far no one has mentioned that, despite me being on the old SMT. It also looks like I no longer have any line management responsibility, despite the junior person in our team who I used to manage is still there. And she has openly said she is managing the two new people being recruited. There have been a few other instances, including hr procedural things which I have submitted to my line manager and she has responded to. I am so annoyed and upset that I’ve worked so hard to establish myself in this company and feel like I’ve been demoted whilst not there to show my skills and experience. I know exactly what her skills were as I recruited her! I’d like some advise on how to handle the meeting with her next week. I think I just want to ask her outright whether she is more senior to me. If we can work together then this situation could be better for me, I need more flexibilty to work from home etc and I could get that from staying at this company rather than looking for that elsewhere. I want the situation clairified as I really don’t feel like anyone is being honest with me. The final factor is that she was recruited as my maternity cover for 5 days a week, whereas I only do 4. My boss at the time recognised that we needed more resource as the workload was increasing (although waited till I was going off to actually do anything about it). I don’t think I should be penalised for this, I came back from my last maternity and achieved pretty much what I did in 5 days previously in 4. I do wonder if this is going to come be a reason for them saying she is more senior than me, but again they made the decision to make her permanent whilst I was off, and didn’t know what hours I wanted to work on my return. This is a very long message but would appreciate some advice. From speaking to friends this has happened to a number of them, and they have all ended up going down the legal route for discrimination.

Dear Williams60

Thank you for your query.

It seems from your post that a number of things have happened whilst you were on maternity leave. There have been changes within the company (the new Board and the departure of your boss). Your maternity cover has been appointed to a permanent position and you suspect from various things which have been said that she is now in a more senior position than you. Finally, particular aspects of your job such as your line management responsibilities have been removed and given to your maternity cover as part of her new permanent role.

On the facts that you have presented, you seem to have a potential complaint of pregnancy discrimination. It is discriminatory to treat a woman unfavourably because of her pregnancy or because of a pregnancy related illness during the period from the beginning of her pregnancy to her return from maternity leave. It is also discriminatory to treat a woman unfavourably for taking maternity leave, even if the treatment that you complain of happens after your return from maternity leave.

It is arguable that:
You have not been consulted about the changes within your company because you were on maternity leave. (Please note that if there was no consultation of anyone – even if you think there should have been – there can be no claim of pregnancy discrimination).
You have not been notified of the job to which your maternity cover was appointed or given an opportunity to apply for it because you were on maternity leave. Assuming that you would not want the job because it was full time may itself be a discriminatory assumption to make about your intentions post return from maternity leave.
Your job responsibilities have been removed from you because you took maternity leave. Alternatively, they have been removed from you as a consequence of the decision to appoint your maternity cover into the permanent role to which you were not able to apply because you were on maternity leave
The difficult issue for you is what you now do as a result. You mention that you have a meeting with your maternity cover next week and that you want to ask her outright if she has been promoted above you. I suggest that you think carefully about what you think you might achieve as a result. From your post, it sounds as though she has already denied to you that she has been promoted above you. Do you think you will get a different answer if you ask again? If you do, what will you do with that information? If you do not, what will you do next? Do you think that asking her about this may have implications for your working relationship?

An alternative which might be more productive is to ask for a confidential meeting with your boss and/or HR to discuss your concerns as set out in your post and your view that there may have been unfavourable treatment of you because of your pregnancy. It would be a good idea to think in advance of that meeting of what outcomes you might want from raising those concerns e.g having your line management responsibilities restored, an apology for the handling of the situation. You are entitled in any event to make an application for flexible working but you may want to agree a commitment to this as part of your resolution.

If you are unable to resolve it by talking to your employer informally, you could set out your concerns in writing and finally, you would also be entitled to raise a formal written grievance, however, I would use this as a last resort as it tends to be treated as a complaint rather than a way to find constructive solutions. Finally, you can contact ACAS to register for early conciliation to see whether they can resolve the dispute and finally bring an ET claim if you cannot resolve matters. Please be aware that you have three months less a day from the date of what you are complaining about or the last in the series of things you are complaining about to contact ACAS if you want to go to the ET afterwards or think that you might want to do so. We have put together a guide on where to get more help if you're unable to resolve it: www.mumsnet.com/jobs/maternity-leave/online-legal-clinic

Good luck.

Hello everyone

Just a quick heads-up that we are going to close this thread to new posts at the end of the working day today (Friday).

The volunteers will come back next week to post answers to any queries they don't get around to answering today, but we won't be able to accept new questions after around 5pm today. So if you've been debating whether to ask your question - now's your chance!

Thanks
MNHQ

I have just returned to work after maternity leave. On my return, I found that I had been given a poor end of year review for 2017, in my absence. My line manager has now moved on but there had been no indication that this could potentially occur during middle of year review discussions. Company has had practice of assigning a satisfactory rating to those on maternity leave as it is not possible to assess a full years performance when not there for the full year. I feel that I have been treated unfairly when l was not there to discuss and address this situation. What do you advise I do?

Thank you for this thread, it is a great idea.

@Charliefarlie21

Firstly, thank you to all who are involved in this! What a great idea. I’ve been desperately trying to find some explanation to a work situation and it’s great to know that someone is willing to listen and give advice without extortionate fees, so thank you!

Secondly, I’d love some advice. As requested, here’s a little bit about my situation...

I’m a part time primary school teacher currently 23 weeks pregnant. I started the year as a class teacher working in Year One. I spent the summer decorating the classroom, creating resources and buying resources to engage my new class of 30. All was going well but then my job share partner resigned immediately. No attempt was made to recruit a job share partner for me and I wasn’t informed or aware of any recruitment going on for a replacement.

However, at the end of September, I received an email to my personal account, on a day I do not work, stating that as of Monday I would no longer be a class teacher. This email was sent on a Friday afternoon whilst I was in Disneyland Paris with my husband and daughter to celebrate her birthday.

The head accused me of being unprofessional for being upset about this and declared that it was because I was going on maternity leave that they decided to recruit someone full time in my place. I was also accused of being accusatory when I was asking questions about my new role. To this date I haven’t received a new job description and go day-to-day covering classes, a bit like a supply teacher would.

I hate it and I’m really miserable. It’s not wha ‘I signed up to do’ at the school and feel that I’m being discriminated against because of my pregnancy.

Is it just me or are they entitled to do this? Perhaps it just my pregnancy hormones running riot but I’d love to speak to someone about it.

Thank you x

Dear Charliefarlie

I am sorry to hear about what has happened. It sounds very unfair and is also likely to amount to unlawful discrimination. On the basis that your role change is unfavourable and the reason behind it is the fact that you will be taking maternity leave, you may have a claim for maternity discrimination.

The most difficult issue is trying to decide how to deal with it. You could ask for an informal meeting with the Headteacher to set out the impact it has had on you and your concern that this was done because you were going on maternity leave. If you are unable to resolve it by talking to your employer informally, you could set out your concerns in writing. If you are in a union, you could ask for their advice and support. If you want to take it further you could raise a formal written grievance, however, grievances tend to be treated as a complaint rather than a way to find constructive solutions. Finally, you can contact ACAS to register for early conciliation to see whether they can resolve your dispute and you can bring a discrimination claim in an employment tribunal (ET) if you want to pursue it. Please be aware that you have three months less a day from the date of what you are complaining about or the last in the series of things you are complaining about to contact ACAS if you want to go to the ET afterwards or think that you might want to do so. We have put together a guide on where to get further help here: www.mumsnet.com/jobs/maternity-leave/online-legal-clinic

@stealthbanana

Hi - great thread. I wondered if you could give me a view on what the position is for eligibility for employee options to be granted whilst on mat leave? I work for a private company where employees are given options that are granted over a 3 year period at monthly intervals (ie 1/36 of the entitlement per month). These are not discretionary - they are based on being employed, and the option documentation is silent on the impact of things like being off on sick leave, mat leave.

Would these be paid as normal whilst on mat leave? Or do I lose that entitlement? Many thanks in advance!

Dear stealthbanana,

The general position is that all benefits (other than remuneration, i.e. wages and salary) continue during maternity leave. Unfortunately, the position concerning share options is not clear cut. There are no reported cases confirming whether or not share options comprise "remuneration." This ambiguity is clearly not very helpful to you.

If your employer suggests that you are not entitled to the grant of your share options whilst you're on maternity leave, we would recommend that you ask them to explain the reasons for this decision. We would also suggest that you inform them that the share options do not comprise wages and salary and therefore you continue to have the right to receive this benefit during your maternity leave. If your employer pushes back on this, we would suggest that you seek further legal advice on the next steps you may wish to take. Mumsnet have information on where to get more help with dealing with disputes here: www.mumsnet.com/jobs/maternity-leave/online-legal-clinic

@itsmeimkathy

Hello, my area went through a restructure whilst I was on mat leave. I managed a team but on return will find my team as peers, due to the restructure eliminating my level of management. It is also a role which is a transition support leading up to another restructure shortly after my return which will make the role no longer necessary. Any advice, please? Thank you

Dear itsmeimkathy

As a woman on maternity leave you occupy a specially protected position in relation to redundancies. If your previous role is redundant, you are entitled to be offered any suitable available vacancy with your employer in priority to other potentially redundant employees. The offer must be of a new contract taking effect immediately on the ending of your previous contract and be such that the work is suitable and appropriate for you to do. Also, the capacity, place of employment and other terms and conditions must not be substantially less favourable than under the previous contract.

Given that you know the new role is likely itself to disappear soon, you could argue that the terms are less favourable overall. Ultimately, if there are no suitable available roles your employer is not obliged to create one, however, you do enjoy a priority over other potentially redundant employees. Your employer is a large one and the search for alternatives includes looking at vacancies in the wider group of companies.

Your employer should be involving you in the consultation process so far as possible and keeping you informed of any suitable vacancies. I would suggest requesting a meeting with your manager to discuss the situation and why you consider the new role is unsuitable. It would be worth checking for yourself if there are vacancies across the group as well as raising this at a meeting.

@tempnamechange86

Hi, thank you for doing this!

I'm 8 weeks pregnant, expected due date 14/06/18. I'm a teacher employed on a permanent full time basis with a council in Scotland, since April 2018. I'm currently aiming to apply for a part time teaching post within the same council, whenever one comes available.

Will I still be eligible for SMP? Do I have to declare my pregnancy in the job interview?

Thank you.

Dear tempnamechange86

Congratulations on your pregnancy! You do not have to declare a pregnancy in a job interview and if you did tell an employer and they did not offer you a job because you are pregnant that would be pregnancy discrimination. It is up to you to decide when you wish to tell them about your pregnancy. You are only legally obliged to tell an employer in the 15th week before your baby is due (when it is likely to be obvious anyway) when you give notice to take your maternity leave.

In terms of eligibility for SMP, you will need 26 weeks of continuous service with the same employer by the 15th week before your baby is due so if you change jobs during your pregnancy this will usually mean that you cannot qualify for SMP from your employer but will need to apply for Maternity Allowance instead. If a new post within the same council is regarded as continuous employment you may still be eligible for SMP - you also need average earnings of at least £116pw in the two months prior to the 15th week before your baby is due - but this is something you would need to check carefully. Changing jobs during your pregnancy may also affect any contractual benefits such as occupational maternity pay provided by the employer which is often linked to a specified period of continuous employment with the same employer. If you are in a union they may be able to advise further on eligibility for contractual benefits if you are moving schools and it might be a good idea to check your current employer's maternity policy. I hope that helps.

@Tillymick01

Hello there i am only 8 weeks pregnant. Maternity will start in may 2019. I am with my partner but we do not live together and this will remain as it works well for us. I work part time and i recieve universal credit. I have been with my employer since jan this year.

Will i be eligable for smp?
I dont understand online info as it all seens conflicting.
If i am entitled, what will be the duration please?

Thank you

Dear Tillymick01

Congratulations on your pregnancy! You will be entitled to SMP from your employer if you are employed by them throughout your pregnancy and you are still employed by the same employer in the 15th week before your baby is due. You also need to have average earnings of at least £116pw in approximately weeks 18 to 26 of your pregnancy (this is the two months prior to the 15th week before your baby is due). SMP is paid for 39 weeks and is paid at 90% of your average earnings for the first 6 weeks and then a flat rate of £145.18 for 33 weeks (or 90% of your average earnings if they are lower than £145.18). You do not have to repay SMP if you decide not to return to work. There is information on SMP and an online calculator on gov.uk here: www.gov.uk/maternity-pay-leave

If you don't qualify for SMP, you can claim Maternity Allowance instead from the JobCentre Plus.

In terms of your Universal Credit claim, SMP is treated as earnings but some of your SMP will be disregarded under a Work Allowance. You will also be eligible to apply for the Sure Start Maternity Grant and Child Benefit. You can get more information on the Sure Start Maternity Grant here: www.gov.uk/sure-start-maternity-grant

Best of luck!

@Curlywurly93

I'm currently pregnant and due in early February. For three days a week I am left in the office on my own for 1.5-2hrs due to others working hours. It has only recently been this frequent.

I do feel quite vulnerable should I fall ill for any reason and nobody knows about it. I know this is highly unlikely and not sure if I am being over anxious.

Is there a legal implication regarding lone working? If I was to raise this with them will I loose out on my full pay should they reduce my hours?

Thank you

Dear Curlywurly93

Thank you for your question. There are no specific rules on lone working in the workplace or during pregnancy, however, your employer does have an obligation to protect your health and safety during your pregnancy. It might be worth speaking to your midwife or GP and hopefully this will reassure you. If they have any concerns about risks of you working alone it would be helpful if they could write a letter for your employer. You could also show your employer the Government website on health and safety during pregnancy which does list working alone as a possible risk that they should consider: www.hse.gov.uk/mothers/faqs.htm I would suggest asking to have an informal chat with your employer to talk through your concerns.

If your midwife or GP advises that working alone is a health and safety risk for you, you should notify your employer of your pregnancy in writing and ask them to make reasonable adjustments to your working conditions or hours of work or provide suitable alternative work. Any adjustments required to protect your health and safety should not result in loss of pay.

I hope that helps.

Hello

We're closing this thread to new queries now. We'll be back next week to post up the remaining answers from the volunteers.

Thank you so much to everyone who's posted questions. And a very big round of applause to the Maternity Action volunteers, who I think we will all agree were pretty magnificent.

Thanks
MNHQ

@ILoveHumanity

I was working in a short placement after I graduated. In a career that I really excel in. But before I started the job I had a miscarriage and was very emotional.

When I started my job , it was temporary contract, I worked very very hard but one of my supervisors were not taking me v seriously and leaving things till last minute despite me following them up about giving me tasks.

Anyway I performed really well for the first 2 months and then found out I was pregnant. I kept working hard but the symptoms hit me hard but I still worked very hard.

Then I miscarried one month after finding out. there was two weeks left for the placement. I was really emotionally messed, my supervisor told me to take time off but I didn’t want to as I still needed to finish the project.

The second supervisor gave me a change of plan for the project and completely derailed the whole project 2 weeks before the deadline. I was quite stressed and couldn’t perform my best, I went crazy with planning daily experiments in order to reach the deadline and fell short of being able to manage that along with proper admin.

Before that my performance was great.

When I finished my contract I took time off to distress and because I was very emotional from the miscarriage and all.. I told myself I will submit the files properly after I relax.

One month after I fell pregnant again ( honestly not planned)..and I went through a serious case of prenatal anxiety, so I just submitted the handover with whatever I had and didn’t reflect my best performance.

This job had been in a very prestigious place, very demanding , and I needed it for a reference. I had a PhD offer from another place which I turned down due to pregnancy anxiety and decided to take a break as I was mentally exhausted.

I feel embarrassed that I submitted a folder with so much mess and feel upset that it didn’t reflect my real performance.

I’m quite unsure how to obtain a reference which is needed if I need to apply for a good job (the pregnancy succeeded!).

Please advise

Hi ILoveHumanity

The rights that you have will depend on your employment status. You refer to working in a 'placement'. If you were an employee of the institution or a contract worker you have the right under the Equality Act not to be discriminated against because of your pregnancy or any pregnancy related sickness. If your placement was not paid work but amounted to vocational training you might also have the same rights against the provider of the training.

If you believe you were treated differently by your supervisor because of your pregnancy or because you were ill because of your miscarriage, then this might amount to discrimination. I am not sure when the issues occurred in your placement, but you only have 3 months less one day to bring a claim to an employment tribunal. The first step is to contact ACAS and start a process called Early Conciliation. If you wanted to pursue this aspect further then I would recommend that you take legal advice as matter of urgency.

The institution also has a duty to protect the health and safety of pregnant workers. Employers should carry out risk assessments where there are workplace risks to new or expectant mothers or their babies and they should alter the employee's working conditions or hours of work to avoid any significant risks. If these risks can't be avoided, the employer should offer suitable alternative work or suspend the employee on full pay. I don't have enough information to assess whether the work you were doing may have put you at risk but you should bear this in mind in future. If you believe that there are likely to be health risks to you because of your pregnancy you should raise this with a new employer as soon as you know you are pregnant.

You have mentioned obtaining a reference. There is no obligation for an employer to provide a reference but if they do, they have a duty to you and to future employers to ensure that the reference is accurate. If they give you an unfair reference or if they refuse to give a reference and you believe that this because of your pregnancy and/or any sickness related to your miscarriage during your placement then you may be able to argue that this is discrimination. Again the strict 3 month less one day time limit applies here, so if you believe that there is an issue with the provision of a reference you need to take legal advice straight away. There is more information on how to contact ACAS under 'Where to go for more help: www.mumsnet.com/jobs/maternity-leave/online-legal-clinic

@Fred999

My company’s maternity policy says “If you have worked for the company for at least 26 consecutive weeks before your qualifying date then you are entitled to [company name] maternity pay. [Company name] maternity pay is 16 weeks full pay followed by 23 weeks statutory pay”

I have worked for the company for 6 years and I am taking voluntary redundancy which will happen after my qualifying date. Judging by the wording of the maternity policy I think I should be entitled to their enhanced maternity pay, however HR say I am only entitled to statutory maternity pay, which will be paid as a lump sum with my redundancy money.

Nothing in the maternity or redundancy policies covers this so I would be grateful for any advice.

Hi Fred999

It is difficult to advise fully on your query without sight of the full maternity policy. It would appear at first glance that you may entitled to be paid company maternity pay if you meet the qualifying criteria i.e. you have 26 weeks service before your qualifying date. The extract of the policy says nothing about you having to remain in employment after that in order to receive the enhanced pay. However, it is unlikely that this was the intention of the policy. If the policy also provides that you have to pay back any part of the enhancement if you do not return to work after maternity leave then there is a strong argument that the policy does not intend to create an entitlement to enhanced maternity pay when you are no longer employed.

The reason you are entitled to SMP even though you will no longer be employed is because this is provided for by law and you are entitled to continue to receive SMP for the full 39 weeks even if your employment has ended. This legal provision does not apply to contractual enhanced maternity pay and you need to fall back on the wording of the policy. I would suggest that the policy would need to be very clear that you were entitled to the contractual enhancement even if you are no longer employed for you to be able to claim this. However, I cannot advise fully without sight of the whole policy.

If you are putting yourself forward for voluntary redundancy you could try to negotiate the enhanced maternity pay as part of your redundancy package but, if it's not possible to argue that the contract gives you an entitlement to enhanced maternity pay after your employment has ended, this would be a matter for negotiation.

@Darkshine

Hi, I am currently on maternity leave. A few weeks after the birth of my baby, my employer has started a consultation to change working hours and put everyone on the team in a rota (I previously worked fixed days and hours that fit in with my childcare for my older child, and would still be suitable upon my return from this ML)

There have been several meetings, which I have been invited to but unable to attend because of childcare. I have requested the minutes to be sent to my personal email address as all communications have been to work emails that I don't have access to. I haven't recieved all communications, and was told that "due to my maternity leave, I had been removed from staffing list and not emailed (having asked for emails to my personal account three times previously). This was a few days after the consultation had closed and i had not had a further 1-1 meeting as promised. The changes have now been put into place, this will mean a change of contract as the hours that they propose do not fit into my current hours. They will also not suit me as they won't fit my childcare situation. I have not had chance to discuss how the changes would affect me or to clarify any details. The consultation was restarted due to clarity issues, and although I had an early 1-1 it was very vague as the details hadn't been finalised yet.

Initially I was asked to submit a flexible working request,which I did; it has now been 4 months and I have had a meeting but no outcome.

I have also noticed that my personal email address has been added to the top of an all staff email, so it has been shared with all members of staff in our department, not just our team. I am awaiting a grievance hearing, the last one was cancelled last minute due to sickness. Please can you advise me if this is the right thing to do?
Thanks

Dear Darkshine

Thanks for your question.

It is always very difficult to know whether or not raising a grievance is the best means of resolving an issue, particularly a complicated one such as this and the reality, unfortunately, is that raising a grievance won't always provide a satisfactory resolution. I would suggest though that if you feel your employer is not otherwise engaging with you, for example by being vague at 1 to 1 meetings and not responding to your flexible working request, that raising a grievance about all of the issues you have outlined, is your best option. Moreover, if you did choose to pursue a claim in the Employment Tribunal, a Tribunal would normally expect you to have made all efforts to resolve matters internally first, otherwise this could adversely affect your claim.

You have not mentioned what your grievance covers but, I would suggest it could potentially cover the following:

1. Failure to properly consult about changes to your contract;

1. Less favourable treatment due to maternity leave during the consultation period;

1. Imposition of contractual change in absence of agreement (if this is what has happened);

1. Indirect sex discrimination in imposing a rota system (you would need to argue that it cannot be objectively justified);

1. Failure to deal with flexible working request timeously; and

1. Sharing your personal email address with the department.

I would also suggest you chase for a response to your flexible working request and if it is unsuccessful, you appeal that decision (you should be offered the right to appeal).

You mention that the changes have been made but also that the consultation about the changes has been re-opened. Therefore it is not clear if the changes are being imposed without your agreement or not. If the changes have not been imposed but agreement cannot be reached on them, your employer may treat your position as potentially redundant. If this was to happen while you were still on maternity leave, you would be entitled to any suitable alternative vacancy at your employer or any associated employer in preference to anyone else who is potentially redundant and not on maternity leave.

It may be though that the above situation would not amount to a redundancy (it is not possible for me to say on the basis of the information available). Nevertheless, where agreement cannot be reached on contractual changes which an employer deems necessary to make for business reasons, an employer may choose to dismiss the employee on the grounds of "some other substantial reason" and offer to re-engage them on new terms. In such a situation you could raise an unfair dismissal claim and argue that there had been a failure to adequately consult with you on the changes and/or that there are not good business reasons for the change. Your employer would need to show that they had acted reasonably in all the circumstances.

Any unfair dismissal claim would have to be raised within three months' (less one day) of the effective date of your dismissal and you would have had to trigger early ACAS conciliation and received an early conciliation certificate before being able to raise a claim. I am unable to comment on your prospects of being successful in any such claim.

It is worth noting that if your employer dismissed you and offered to re-engage you on the new terms and you accepted the re-engagement, you could still raise an unfair dismissal claim in relation to the initial dismissal, albeit your compensation would be more limited as you would be earning under the new contract.

You also have the following legal rights which appear to be relevant to your situation:

· First of all you are protected under the Equality Act 2010 from being treated unfavourably because you are on maternity leave. The fact that you have not been sent the emails which others are receiving and in fact have been told that you have been removed from email lists as you are on maternity leave, arguably amounts to unfavourable treatment because you are on maternity leave. The failure to send you the information to your personal email account may also breach the mutual term of trust and confidence in the employment contract. Any claim in the employment tribunal for unfavourable treatment because of being on maternity leave must be raised within three months (less one day) of the date of the unfavourable treatment complained about and you must have triggered early ACAS conciliation and have an early conciliation certificate before being able to raise the claim.

· A failure to properly consult and agree material changes to an employee's contract and instead unilaterally imposing them on the employee, will likely amount to a material breach of the employment contract giving rise to a potential constructive unfair dismissal claim (see below). Also if the change is material enough, this can actually amount to a dismissal (despite the fact the employer has not said this expressly) giving rise to the right to raise an unfair dismissal claim. As I have mentioned, it is unclear whether or not the changes have been imposed on you, and it is not possible for me to say that if they have imposed the changes that it would amount to a material breach of your contract, without more detailed information about what information you have received and what has been discussed during the 1 to 1 meetings you have had.

· Imposing the rota system is arguably discriminatory on the grounds of sex given there is an argument that it puts women as a group at a particular disadvantage and puts you personally at a disadvantage. This is called indirect discrimination. However, it is important to note that if your employer can show that imposing the rota system was objectively justified on business grounds, you would be unsuccessful in any indirect sex discrimination claim. An indirect sex discrimination claim would need to be raised within three months (less one day) of the date of the act you are complaining about (the decision to impose the rota system) and you would need to have triggered early ACAS conciliation and received an early conciliation certificate before being able to raise a claim. Please note that the date on which they decide to proceed with the rota system may not be the same as the date on which any changes are actually made to your contract (if changes are made at all) but time to raise a claim would have started to run.

· Under the Employment Rights Act 1996 an employer should inform an employee of the decision regarding their flexible working request within three months of the date the request is received or within such longer period as is agreed between the parties. Therefore, unless you have agreed a longer period, it appears this requirement has not been met. You could raise a claim in the Employment Tribunal in respect of this failure for compensation (which would not exceed 8 weeks' pay, subject to the statutory limit on a week's pay which is currently £508) but you cannot raise a claim until you receive a decision on your request. You will then have three months' (less one day) to lodge a claim and will have had to trigger early ACAS conciliation and received an early conciliation certificate before being able to raise a claim. If successful in the Tribunal, it can also decide to order your employer to reconsider your request (assuming it was unsuccessful).

· Lastly, sharing your personal email address with all employees in the department without your consent may well amount to a breach of the Data Protection Act 2018. Individuals can complain to the Information Commissioner's Office if they believe their rights under data protection legislation may have been breached.

The last point to note is that where an employer materially breaches an employee's contract of employment, this can entitle the employee to resign. Provided the employee resigns without unreasonable delay and in response to the breach, they may have a claim for constructive unfair dismissal. Any breach of the implied term of mutual trust and confidence is a material breach of the employment contract and in most circumstances, a breach of the Equality Act by an employer would also amount to a material breach of the employment contract. Any claim for constructive unfair dismissal would require to be raised within three months' (less one day) of the effective date of the termination of your employment and you would have had to trigger early ACAS conciliation and received an early conciliation certificate before being able to raise a claim. I am unable to comment on your prospects of being successful in any such claim. It is also, for obvious reasons, a serious step to choose to resign from your employment and I would strongly suggest that you take legal advice first from one of the sources we have suggested if you are considering doing this with a view to raising a constructive unfair dismissal claim. I am not, for the avoidance of doubt, suggesting that you do resign.

I hope that helps and you can find further sources of advice if you are unable to resolve it here under 'Where to go for more help': www.mumsnet.com/jobs/maternity-leave/online-legal-clinic

@ProjectMac

I am 15 weeks pregnant and have been a full time permanent employee since 2012. I took maternity leave for my first child and returned to work in Nov 2017. Due to personal circumstances, I began working remotely for the UK company while still remaining as an employee. It was originally a short term arrangement but was extended for my personal reasons to end of 2018. And due to the UK company deciding there were taxation issues (not disclosed / shared with me) they asked that I sign a fixed term contract beginning 1 Sept 2019 and ending 31 Dec 2018 with Company X which is registered in the country I am currently working in. Company X is not legally part of the same corporate group as the U.K. organisation that I still remotely do all my work for. I did not receive any notice or sign anything to end my UK contract and I was only recently told (informally in email) that this was a "secondment" (my contract with Company X is called a fixed term employment contract, and there is no reference to secondment). I should add at no time have I received any communication to say if I am being placed under unpaid leave, sabbatical or other category in relation to my UK contract.

I have been told though that if I do not return to the UK 1 January 2019 that I will not have a role in my team since my boss expects my job to be normally done in country. I take this to mean that my permanent contract with the Uk company ends.

I want to understand what maternity leave rights I might have in the U.K. against my company given the lack of clarity with my situation? My due date is 29/4/2019, and the 15th week before due date for SMP purposes is 13/1/2019. Is there any other employment law issue I might need to be aware of outside of maternity rights?

Thank you for your help in answering my questions.

Dear ProjectMac

In order to qualify for maternity leave, which is the right to take up to 52 weeks leave and return to the same job, you will need to be an employee under a permanent or fixed term contract. If the contract comes to an end during your maternity leave, or has already ended, you will no longer have the right to take leave and return to the same job.

In order to qualify for Statutory Maternity Pay under your UK contract or under the fixed term contract, you need to be continuously employed by the employer for at least 26 weeks by the 15th week before your expected week of childbirth and still be employed in the 15th week before your expected week of childbirth. You also need to earn at least £116pw on average in the two months prior to the 15th week. You can only be paid SMP by your employer if your earnings are subject to UK Class 1 National Insurance contributions. There is more information on qualifying for SMP if you work abroad here: www.gov.uk/claim-benefits-abroad/maternity-and-childcare-benefits

As the 15th week before your expected week of childbirth is the week beginning 13/1/19, your entitlement to SMP will depend on whether you have sufficient continuity of employment with the same employer and you are still employed in that week. If you meet the qualifying conditions for SMP but your employment subsequently comes to an end, you are still entitled to continue to receive the rest of your SMP for up to 39 weeks.

If your UK contract ends on 1/1/19, you will not be able to qualify for SMP but you may be able to claim Maternity Allowance if you have been working in an EEA country or Switzerland for at least 26 weeks in the previous year or one of the countries with which the UK has a reciprocal agreement, as outlined in the link above. You can claim Maternity Allowance here: www.gov.uk/government/publications/maternity-allowance-claim-form

If you put in a claim for Maternity Allowance and do not meet the qualifying conditions because you do not have sufficient weeks of employment for a UK or EEA employer or as outlined above, the JobCentre Plus should automatically assess whether you can qualify for Employment Support Allowance (Maternity) based on your National Insurance contributions in 2016/17 and 2017/18. This is paid at the lower rate of £73.10pw for 8 weeks around the birth.

In addition, I would suggest, checking your contract/your employer's maternity policy to see if you have any contractual entitlement to enhanced maternity pay. However, you need to bear in mind that this is only likely to apply for as long as you remain employed by this employer.

There are obviously a number of other issues on which you are likely to need further legal advice and unfortunately I'm not able to advise without being able to see the full contracts and any correspondence between you and your employer, such as:
the status of your UK contract during the fixed term contract?
whether the contract with Company X was a fixed term contract or secondment?
whether termination of either your UK contract or the fixed term contract is an unfair dismissal, and
whether you can make a claim in the UK?
I hope the above is helpful in relation to your maternity rights. You may be able to find free advice on the other issues under 'Where to go for more help': www.mumsnet.com/jobs/maternity-leave/online-legal-clinic

@MySerenity

I am already on maternity leave, my first maternity pay will be the end of this month. I gave all my documentation in in July, but it was lost by HR and there were several delays, so my maternity leave wasn't confirmed until the day before I went on mat leave a week ago.

My employer hasn't confirmed my maternity pay eligibility yet for the occupational maternity pay package (I do meet the requirements, however, it's a fairly standard public sector OMP). They are saying that they will only be able to tell me the qualifying week and whether I am getting OMP, and that they cannot tell me my actual payment schedule. First they said this is due the GDPR, and when I questioned this they said this is because my maternity pay is "subject to change over the course of the maternity". I do not understand what this means. I really would prefer an actual payment schedule as I would find it difficult to interpret payslips otherwise. Where do I stand legally? Can they refuse to tell me my pay? I am worried about the "subject to change"!

Dear MySerenity

Sorry to hear you've had so much uncertainty and delays with confirming your maternity pay. If you have met the qualifying conditions for SMP and your employer's OMP (which tops up the SMP to the higher levels provided under your employer's maternity policy) your employer must pay your maternity pay at the normal time, in the normal way, through the monthly payroll.

If you didn't meet the eligibility requirements for SMP, your employer would be obliged to notify you and provide an SMP1 form so that you could claim Maternity Allowance, however, there is no other requirement to notify an employee that they have qualified for maternity pay, other than that it's good practice and avoids uncertainty for both you and your employer. However, as you appear to meet the eligibility requirements for their OMP under their maternity policy, if you are not paid the correct amount each month or you have any queries about the amount you have been paid you would be entitled to ring or write to your employer/payroll section to ask for clarification.

It's not clear what your employer means by 'subject to change over the course of the maternity'. It's possible that this relates to varying amounts of pay over the 39 week maternity pay period. Obviously I've not seen your employer's policy but it is fairly common for OMP to have varying amounts such as 3 months full pay, 3 months half pay and then 3 months at the SMP flat rate of £145.18 pw. If that is the case, the amounts you get will change over the course of your maternity leave but should be in accordance with your maternity policy. If you are not paid the correct amounts of SMP you can claim it from HMRC Statutory Payments Disputes Team. If your employer doesn't pay the full OMP, you should raise it with your employer and if you are unable to resolve it you would be entitled to claim it in an employment tribunal although hopefully it won't come to that. You must start a claim within three months (less one day) from the date of what you are complaining about or the last in the series of things you are complaining about and contact ACAS for early conciliation before the time limit expires. There is further information under Where to go for more help: www.mumsnet.com/jobs/maternity-leave/online-legal-clinic

I hope that helps.

@Jencottage

Hi there ! I just started a new full time position mid October. Unbeknownst to me at the time of interview end of August, I was 1 - 2 weeks pregnant. I am now in my 12th week. I really enjoy this job and do not want to loose it. I have a six month probation period. I understand I am not entitled to maternity pay and I plan no more than 3 months maternity leave as hubby will be taking the time off to care for baby. I don’t want to loose this job, can you advise me of my rights ? Thanks so much !

Dear Jencottage

The law protects you against unfavourable treatment because of your pregnancy. It is up to you to decide when you want to tell your employer about your pregnancy and legally you don't have to tell your employer until the 15th week before your baby is due (although it's likely to be obvious by then anyway). It's a good idea to keep a record during your probation period so that you have evidence of any changes of treatment after telling your employer about your pregnancy. After telling your manager/colleagues about your pregnancy, it might also be worth sending an email to your employer and HR department (if there is one) confirming the pregnancy so that you have a record of when your employer was made aware.

You are still entitled to take maternity leave from your current employer and have the right to return to the same job but, as you have said, you won't be able to qualify for Statutory Maternity Pay from your employer because you were already pregnant when you started the job. It might help to make your employer aware of that when you tell them about your pregnancy. You will be able to claim Maternity Allowance from the JobCentre Plus if you can show that you were employed for at least 26 weeks in the 66 weeks before your baby is due. You can include weeks from this job and any previous jobs. You will need to apply for Maternity Allowance once you are 25 weeks pregnant and it will start from the date your maternity leave starts. You can give notice to the JobCentre Plus to cut short your Maternity Allowance after 3 months (you need to give 8 weeks notice to end your Maternity Allowance early) and your husband may be entitled to take shared parental leave and pay if he meets the qualifying conditions.

Hopefully, you won't have any difficulties when telling your employer but if your employer dismisses you after your probation period, you are entitled to written reasons for the dismissal. You can bring a claim for pregnancy discrimination in an employment tribunal and you would need to show that the dismissal was because of your pregnancy. You would need to bring a claim within three months, less one day, from the date of dismissal or the act you are complaining about. You must contact ACAS within the time limit to start Early Conciliation. You can get further advice here if you need it: www.mumsnet.com/jobs/maternity-leave/online-legal-clinic

I hope that helps and good luck!

@Mumsy89

Hi All,

So I started a new job this week and the day after discovered I was pregnant with our first child! After 8 years of TTC we were told that we would not get pregnant without IVF therefore this happening naturally was a complete shock. I am approximately 5 weeks pregnant and currently under a 6 month probation ( my job is with the local council) and now at a time where I should be thrilled I'm simply filled with dread that they will give me the heave ho. Has anyone been in this situation and can offer advice ? I have no intention of telling them until the 12 weeks have passed but that will still keep me firmly within my probationary period. Many thanks in advance :)

Dear Mumsy89

Congratulations on your pregnancy! The law protects you against unfavourable treatment because of pregnancy. It is up to you to decide when you want to tell your employer and legally you don't have to tell your employer until the 15th week before your baby is due (although it's likely to be obvious by then anyway). It's a good idea to keep a record during your probation period so that you have evidence of any changes of treatment after telling your employer about your pregnancy. After telling your manager/colleagues, it might also be worth sending an email to your employer and HR department confirming the pregnancy so that you have a record of when your employer was made aware.

You are still entitled to take maternity leave from your current employer and you have the right to return to the same job but you won't be able to qualify for Statutory Maternity Pay from your employer because you were already pregnant when you started the job. It might help to make your employer aware of that when you tell them about your pregnancy. You will be able to claim Maternity Allowance from the JobCentre Plus if you can show that you were employed for at least 26 weeks in the 66 weeks before your baby is due. You can include weeks from this job and any previous jobs. You can apply for Maternity Allowance here: www.gov.uk/government/publications/maternity-allowance-claim-form

Hopefully, you won't have any difficulties when telling your employer but if your employer dismisses you after your probation period, you are entitled to written reasons for the dismissal. You can bring a claim for pregnancy discrimination in an employment tribunal and you would need to show that the dismissal was because of your pregnancy. You would need to bring a claim within three months, less one day, from the date of dismissal or the act you are complaining about. You must contact ACAS within the time limit to start Early Conciliation. You can get further advice here if you need it later on: www.mumsnet.com/jobs/maternity-leave/online-legal-clinic

I hope that helps and good luck!

@ValentineFizz

I have just returned to work after maternity leave. On my return, I found that I had been given a poor end of year review for 2017, in my absence. My line manager has now moved on but there had been no indication that this could potentially occur during middle of year review discussions. Company has had practice of assigning a satisfactory rating to those on maternity leave as it is not possible to assess a full years performance when not there for the full year. I feel that I have been treated unfairly when l was not there to discuss and address this situation. What do you advise I do?

Thank you for this thread, it is a great idea.

Dear ValentineFizz

I would suggest that you arrange a meeting with your current line manager to express your concerns about your performance rating. You should explain (a) the reasons why you consider the rating to be unfair; (b) that you have been treated differently to other staff who have been on maternity leave previously; and (c) that your maternity leave has precluded you from challenging the rating. Had you been in the office, you would have been able to raise these issues at the time. Additionally, I would recommend that you double check any performance rating/appraisal policy that your employer has in place. Whilst this policy is most likely to be non-contractual, meaning that an employer may depart from it in appropriate circumstances, it would be useful to highlight any breaches of this policy.

If, following this discussion, you still feel that the matter has not been sufficiently resolved, you might wish to consider lodging a formal written grievance, in line with your employer's grievance policy. Before doing this, you may wish to seek some legal advice from an employment solicitor, so that they can review the detail of your complaint, advise whether you might have any possible employment claims and provide you with a suggested strategy going forward. You can find other sources of advice if you are not able to resolve it under 'Where to go for more help' here: www.mumsnet.com/jobs/maternity-leave/online-legal-clinic

I hope that helps. Good luck!

@Blueskies2018

Hi please can you help. I am currently 6 months pregnant and have issues with my boss at work. I work for a recruitment company and am expected to hire a replacement for myself!! whilst i will be on maternity leave. I have in the past worked from home, and spoke to my boss when i first told him i was pregnant and we ageeed that i can work from home by December. Now he seems to be holding me ransom by not letting me work from home till i find a replacement. He comes in and plays games and watches movies all day and makes no effort in finding a replacement and is putting so much pressure on me at thr moment i cant bare it. My midwife has said that my blood pressure is very high and is putting me on meds. I was also off work for a week due to a chest infection and he has not paid me my ssp. When i approached him reg this he said he didnt kno, i find this really hard to believe as he has paid me it in the past and he is in recruitment after all. Since i told him i am pregnant, hes been really nasty to me and on my case all the time. He has also made me advertise the job as a permanant not maternity cover and i cant help but feel he is trying to get rid of me. Please help!!!

Dear Blueskies2018

I am sorry to hear you're having such a difficult time at work. Firstly, if your employer is not paying your SSP, you can claim it from HMRC Statutory Payments Disputes Team on 0300 0560 630 (you can also ring this number if you have any problems in relation to claiming Statutory Maternity Pay). As you are six months' pregnant now you need to give your employer notice of the date you want to start your maternity leave and pay and give them a copy of your MATB1 maternity certificate.

Your employer has a duty to protect your health and safety during your pregnancy and, if there are any risks, your employer must make reasonable adjustments to your hours of work or working conditions. I would suggest talking to your employer again about working from home for health reasons in the latter part of your pregnancy. If possible, it may help to get a letter from your midwife or GP making it clear that you are fit for work but need to work from home for health reasons.

You are entitled to return to the same job after your maternity leave (unless there is a redundancy situation) so if your employer is hiring a permanent maternity leave replacement and does not give you your job back you may be able to claim unfair dismissal (if you have been employed for two years), automatic unfair dismissal and/or maternity discrimination. If your employer doesn't let you return to your job you should contact ACAS on 0300 123 11 00 to start Early Conciliation within three months (less one day) from the date of dismissal or act that you are complaining about. Your employer should assume that you are taking the full year of maternity leave but if you want to return to work earlier you must give at least 8 weeks notice. I would also suggest talking to your employer about your plans to give them an indication of how long you are thinking of taking and making it clear that. at this stage, you intend to return to work. We have put together this information on where to get more help if you are unable to resolve things: www.mumsnet.com/jobs/maternity-leave/online-legal-clinic

I hope that helps and good luck!

@Luckystar76

Hi I returned to work 3rd of September and I have been negotiating my return to work conditions since April and still haven’t reached an agreement on flexible working conditions. It took since months to receive the request for flexible working paperwork. I work Monday - Friday. I am contracted to go out training 3 days a week and work from 2. I have asked that my working from home days be consistent for child care reasons. One has been granted and the other has been denied. I have appealed and pointed out that they have not followed protocol and now they have reset to process and called me to a meeting to discuss my request (22nd November).

In the process so far I have experienced discriminatory or bullying comments;
“I’ve been told by your line manager to max you out on training” (week 1)
‘Tara can’t know what her working from home days are because she will have Goldie (my daughter) at home’
‘She isnt Intitled to any considerations unless she is breastfeeding’
‘I ( my lone manager) say no and Paul (CEO) says no but I’ll take it to a mangers meeting if you want, without being a dick about it’
I have asked for support with weathering an aggressive sales team who keep wanting to change my WFH day, this has been denied.
When I offered to work and be paid less to accomdate; the one WFH day was threatened to be taken away by my line manager.

For these reasons I am sceptical that they can ‘reset’ as I don’t valued or that I can trust them.

This is beginning to impact on my health and yet I am determined to see this through as they actually see themselves as above the law. And I know that lots of woman haven’t weathered these attitudes and worse before me for me to give up!

Dear Luckystar76,

Thank you for your query.

It seems from your post that there are two things that need to be considered here:

1. Your outstanding request for flexible working. It is my understanding that you have made a flexible working request to fix your two days working from home - I assume that is because of childcare. You say that your employer has agreed to fix one of the days at home and therefore it would seem that the other day at home can vary from week to week. You are due to have a meeting to discuss your request on 22nd November.

2. Your concerns about the comments that have been made to you in the process to date and the lack of support with maintaining one fixed day at home.

You will obviously need to prepare for the hearing on 22nd November. I suggest that you look carefully at the reasons that you were originally given for only allowing you to work one fixed day from home and think about what you might be able to suggest to meet your employer’s concerns about not allowing you to work two fixed days from home. You will also need to be able to explain why it is that you need to fix both days working from home i.e what the effects will be on you if you cannot have both days at home fixed.

In relation to the comments and the lack of support issues, I suggest that you ask HR for a confidential chat before 22nd November to outline your concerns. It seems to me that there are two aspects to your concerns in this regard - first, that these things are happening at all but secondly that it may suggest that you are not being allowed to work from home on fixed days because discriminatory assumptions are being made about you (in particular the comment about you wanting to work at home on fixed days to have your daughter with you). Dependent on the outcome of that discussion, you may also want to raise those concerns as part of your meeting on 22nd November.

Ultimately, you have to remember that, unfortunately, your employer is not obliged to grant your flexible working request and they may say that they are going as far as they reasonably can by allowing you to fix one working day at home. That does not of itself give rise to a legal claim unless you can show either that they have refused the request because you are a woman (i.e that discriminatory assumptions have been made about you as set out above) or that not allowing that working pattern does or would place women at a particular disadvantage because of childcare responsibilities.

If you are unable to resolve this by talking to your employer informally, you could set out your concerns in writing and finally, you would also be entitled to raise a formal written grievance. I would however use this as a last resort as it tends to be treated as a complaint rather than a way to find constructive solutions.

Finally, you can contact ACAS to register for early conciliation to see whether they can resolve the dispute and finally bring an ET claim if you cannot resolve matters. Please be aware that you have three months less a day from the date of what you are complaining about or the last in the series of things you are complaining about to contact ACAS if you want to go to the ET afterwards or think that you might want to do so. We have put together a guide on where to get more help if you're unable to resolve it: www.mumsnet.com/jobs/maternity-leave/online-legal-clinic

Good luck.

@NHSManagerMouse

I am an NHS Manager and have been working at the same organisation for over 10 years. I have a substantive contract which I signed in 2012 but have not been working in the role since 2015 as I have undertaken a number of secondments and acting posts. My substantive role is now several bands below my current role (Band 7 vs Band 8C).

My most recent acting post started in March 2018 and has been extended until I am due to take my maternity leave at the beginning of February. I have been told by my employer that they are likely to advertise my current role substantively while I am on maternity leave.

My queries/concerns are:

1. I had understood that the organisation were required to extend my current contract by a period of 12 months to cover my maternity leave because the end of my current contract is less than 11 weeks before my EWC, however my line manager tells me that it is unnecessary to extend my acting contract because I have a substantive contract in the same organisation. Does it disadvantage me to be contracted at a Band 7 rather than at a Band 8C when I return from maternity leave?

2. I will be at a disadvantage going through an interview process while I am on maternity leave. Is it reasonable of me to ask them to wait until I have returned to advertise this job substantively? They will also be advertising for a 1 year fixed term maternity cover so the role will be covered in the meantime.

3. If I interview and am unsuccessful, what is the responsibility of the organisation in finding me an alternative and equivalent role? Are they required to find me something at my current banding, or at the banding of my substantive role? I am working on the assumption that maternity leave should not result in less favourable treatment for me as an employee – if I wasn’t going on maternity leave there would be no expectation that I would be dropping 4 bands for my next role.

Thank you in advance for any help or advice you can offer.

Dear NHSManagerMouse

Thank you for your query. If you are on a fixed term contract for your secondments or acting roles, there is no obligation to extend the contact to cover your maternity leave period. The contract will still end at the stated time and the end of a fixed term contract is treated as a dismissal so you would be entitled to written reasons for the dismissal. If you had expected the contract to be extended or to be offered a new one immediately after the end of your existing one but you weren't offered a new contract or extension because of your pregnancy or absence on maternity leave, this may be pregnancy/maternity discrimination.

As you have a substantive contract which appears to be continuing 'in the background' it would appear that you remain employed by the NHS after the end of the secondment/acting roles and your enquiry suggests that this was confirmed by your line manager. Therefore, you are entitled to maternity leave and to continue to receive your contractual benefits, such as enhanced maternity pay and accrued annual leave, even though the other roles have ended. In any event, you remain entitled to continue to receive the full 39 week Statutory Maternity Pay even if your contract ends during the SMP period.

The question of what job you have the right to return to at the end of your maternity leave is slightly more complex and it is difficult to advise fully without being able to see the full contract, fixed term contracts and any relevant correspondence with your employer. Usually you would have the right to return to the job that you were doing immediately before the start of your maternity leave. If a fixed term role has ended and you only have the substantive contract to return to I would suggest raising the question of your grading with your employer. If there is a prospect that you could be at risk of redundancy because there is no longer work for you to do your employer should consider whether there are any suitable alternative vacancies and arguably it would only be suitable if it was on a similar banding to the work you were doing up to the start of your maternity leave. However, if your fixed term role is being covered for a year during your absence on maternity leave it suggests that your fixed term contract should be renewed (whilst you continue on maternity leave) and that you would have the right to return to that role at the end of that leave. If your fixed term contract is not renewed because of your maternity leave, that may be maternity discrimination. The question of whether it would be reasonable in the circumstances for your employer to recruit to the post permanently depends partly on what was agreed when you originally took the role and your employer should ensure that you are not treated unfavourably as a result of your maternity leave.

I hope that helps, you may be able to get further free advice from some of these sources if needed later on: www.mumsnet.com/jobs/maternity-leave/online-legal-clinic

Hello

One more plea for everyone who took part to please fill in the feedback survey.

In order for Maternity Action to consider doing this again they need to assess whether people found it useful and effective this time around - and for that they need your feedback.

So by filling it in you could be helping a future Mumsnet user to get some free help and advice.

Many thanks to those of you who've already done it - that link again

Thanks
MNHQ