To take boss to tribunal?

[Mumtoone18]

Without dragging this post on too long just to give some background info I’ve been at a company for 4 plus years working as senior admin and there is a large chain of offices all within close distance to each other.

I was working in one of these offices when I became pregnant in 2017 and started Mat leave Feb 2018 meaning I was due back Feb 19. I requested flexible working hours prior to coming back which got rejected my my area manager. I asked to reduce from 5 days a week to 2 days a week on the basis that the person covering my mat leave would job share with me and on the days I am in she would cover a nearby office that does not have an admin due to the previous one leaving before Xmas. This made sense in our eyes as neither offices are very busy anymore due to property market and brexit etc so to save them recruiting and paying a full time admin for that office she could do work from one office and go into the other two days a week to file all paper work needed. Funny enough the person covering me is my sister so that is even more helpful to jobshare with someone I have very close contact with.

This was rejected due to the area manager thinking this would have a ‘detrimental impact’ on the other office only having an admin based in the office 2 days a week so she then offered to work there every Saturday to make it 3 days which is all they need with the volume of work.

I appealed this and a manager from another area had given me the benefit of the doubt and said he doesn’t see why it won’t work and offered me a three month trial period so I can prove this won’t have a detrimental impact on the business.

This process took a long time and run into the time I was due back at work so they ended up having to pay me discretionary leave whilst I waited for a decision. The deadline for this kept getting extended by my area manager for various reasons and every time I tried to contact him regarding anything to do with coming back to work he would ignore me.

I got in touch with HR and explained I was already feeling anxious about leaving baby to come back to work without feeling pushed out by this area manager who was not employed until I was on maternity so I never got to build a work relationship with him. HR advised him I felt this way and asked him to meet with me which he didn’t. Our back to work meeting prior to this was very rushed on his behalf and it only took him a few days to write to me rejecting the decision and I didn’t feel his points were valid as no other options were explored such as job share etc.

Due to all of this stress (there is more too it but too much to type) I handed my notice in and exchanged a few emails with this manager in regards to my feelings as to which he pushed to aside again.

2 weeks after I resigned he approached my sister and practically begged her to start doing 2 days a week at this other office leaving the office she is in with 3 day week cover and offered her a pay rise to do so. So all along the offer I had been pleading for was rejected by him because it would have a ‘detrimental impact’ and the minute I leave he offers her to do this! I mean surely now it would have more of an impact as I won’t be there covering the 2 days she isn’t there!

I feel humiliated, disappointed and so very low I loved my job but I felt I was under to much stress and pressure at that moment in time to work under a man like him.

I want to file a formal complaint just for my own peace of mind as I’m feeling very frustrated and also want to go along the lines of discrimation as I am a new working mum whom is breastfeeding.

Just wondered if anyone has had to do this before or been in this position? I have confirmed with my HR that I have every right to do so and I will be calling ACAS tomorrow for further advice.

If anyone has any history on this or any advice I would be grateful if you could share with me!

I'm sorry I'm not seeing it op either. You were on full pay awaiting the decision, but resigned before you got the decision. You could have held off. They were willing to give a trial. I really think you're going to struggle to prove any form of discrimination here against them.

The test for discrimination depends on being able to prove that the claimant has been subjected to some unfavourable behaviour or denial of a benefit or employment right, based on a protected characteristic such as sex (being a woman).

In your case, discrimination would be evidenced if your manager gave preference for flexible working to a male member of your team and not to you (eg, because, in their view, "men are a better investment to incentivise because they can work longer hours and don't have babies and cost the company money" ).

It is hard to tell (based on information you've given here) on what basis you can claim discrimination, when you haven't been put at a disadvantage due to a protected characteristic. Agreed, your manager's handling of the situation re: you / your sister was clumsy and inconsistent, but that in itself does not make it discriminatory - more like a managerial cock-up, which they tried to resolve and you decided to bail out rather than see their solution to a conclusion.

Bear in mind, Tribunal timelines are very strict, so if this all happened >3 months ago, you are out of time to lodge a Tribunal claim. It isn't clear what actual outcome you're seeking, so that's a weak position to be in. There's too much extraneous information clouding the issues.

I don't think there was any discrimination here. You applied for reduced hours which was rejected (which they are legally well within their rights to do - there is no blanket entitlement to reduced hours), you appealed so they offered you a trial, but you resigned instead.

What do you now want? To go back on reduced hours? Which is what they were offering you on a trial basis anyway when you resigned?

Many companies do not allow part time hours when the original contract was full time. They would suggest that you wait for a PT position to come up and apply for that.

They would suggest that you wait for a PT position to come up and apply for that.

The OPs issue is that her sister was offered the PT hours, when she had already been refused. It was inconsistent treatment, but at Tribunal, the OP would have to prove why she believes she has been discriminated against.