Have I been discriminated against?

[Paintclam]

I’m not sure whether or not I’ve been discriminated against work...

My appraisal period refunds from April to January, with performance related bonus paid in April salary. Generally, if you are meeting expectations, you are paid a bonus of at least 10% of your salary and a pay rise. Higher gradings (for going above and beyond) result in greater bonuses, but underperforming means no bonus.

I returned from maternity leave in August. I was pregnant and started my next maternity leave in February.

During my first period of maternity leave, there was a lot of change in the office, and further changes were made about 4 weeks after I returned. Essentially, everything had changed (the computer systems, the way we work and make decisions, the way we record decisions (cover your arse), what type of things are prioritised and what is considered unimportant, as well as the structure of the department and teams, new manager etc). There was a lot to learn, it was basically like starting a new job.

As a team, we were told that our Quality Audit scores were not important whilst we all got to grips with the changes. To start with, my work was fine but I started to struggle with antenatal depression and my work suffered as a result. There were two months where I made (minor) mistakes that were picked up in the QA. I was told not to worry about this, and was not given any support to help me improve my performance. Other people on my team were also struggling to meet the expectations of the QA.

During my pregnancy I had about four weeks off in total, due to antenatal depression and other pregnancy illness.

During monthly 121s with my manager, I wasn’t made aware of any issues or areas to work on.

However, when I was told the outcome of my final appraisal, I was told that I’m meeting expectations but that I am not getting a bonus or pay rise. My manager said that it was to do with “inconsistent performance” and specifically referenced QA. I’ve had nothing in writing to this effect.

I don’t know whether other team members that had problems with their QA received any bonus or pay rises.

I’m very upset about this and haven’t been able to forget about it. I’m wondering if I’ve been discriminated against based on my two periods of Maternity Leave in quick succession and my time off sick. If my work was affected by antenatal depression and I was told not to worry and given no support, could this be a form of maternity discrimination?

To clarify, I was not expecting a lot from my appraisal (definitely didn’t expect a pay rise!), but I thought I would at least get a small pro-rata’d amount for the few months that I was at work and not aware that they were unhappy with my performance. Having said that - I was graded as “meeting expectations” so not sure how they can say I don’t qualify for a bonus!

Sorry this is so long, I’m trying to avoid drip feeding. Any thoughts on this?

Problem with bonus and psyrise is that they are rarely a due, so it's can difficult to justify descrimination when not paid. From what you've writen it would be even harder to evidence that it was due to your pregnancies when you did make some mistakes. They didn't legally have to tell you this was likely to end in no payment of bonus nor did they have to make adaptations to yur work if it didn't relate to health and safety and you didn't raise any requests for any adaptations.

Thank you, I agree it would be difficult to prove anything. But if other people on my team who were “meeting expectations” but also made mistakes which were reflected in the QAs received a bonus, that would suggest that I have been treated differently?

However I don’t have access to other people’s performance reviews or bonus information! Their QA scores are visible to the other team members, but as I’m on maternity leave, I don’t have access to the system.

You yourself say that your "work suffered" so it may be that they've actually been generous in giving you a "meets expectations" grading when in reality you were falling below expectations but they took your personal situation into account.

That’s possible HundredMilesAnHour, but surely if they usually pay a bonus for meeting expectations, it would have been easier (and less of a chance of being accused of discrimination!) for them to just say I was underperforming? If they’d have said that, I would have been a bit upset but able to shrug it off and move on.

surely if they usually pay a bonus for meeting expectations, it would have been easier (and less of a chance of being accused of discrimination!) for them to just say I was underperforming?

Maybe (like some places I've worked), anyone who has been absent from work for more than 6 months during the review period is given a default grade of 'meets expectations' as it's considered that there isn't sufficient evidence of work to fairly evaluate them. It does sound like they think you've been underperforming (and you admit you have yourself).

When I was on mat leave ours was pro-Rated for the time I was there and that was consistent across the board because how can they rate you if not there. I also got a nominal pay rise. Does the company state this in maternity policy?

Do they have any policy? I also think they may have been somewhat generous to you. Possibly with so much on your plate PND and maternity leave they've cut you some slack?

Lushmetender I’m not worried about being paid anything for the time I was off work, but I had a good six months back at work that I was working and the appraisal covered that period.

Maybe they have been generous in their grading and I wasn’t really meeting expectations... but to me that doesn’t make sense, as telling me that I’m meeting expectations creates the expectation of a bonus and pay rise. Going by previous years, and the general expectations amongst colleagues, a meeting expectations grade does result in a generous bonus. To not pay the bonus to me makes me think they’ve probably treated me differently to others who were graded the same.

Like previous posters has said it sounds like they may be cutting you some slack given the PND and maternity leave. Surely having 'meeting expectations' on your record but without a bonus is preferable to having them record that you've been underperforming? Either way you'd have no bonus...

Surely having 'meeting expectations' on your record but without a bonus is preferable to having them record that you've been underperforming?

You’re right thank you everyone!