No pay rise on maternity leave

[PayRiseQ2022]

Hi.

I have worked for a very small (<20 people) professional services firm for more than 10 years. Every March, all the staff who are not in training contracts get a pay rise. (Staff who are training get pay rises as they pass exams.) This is not usually a set % across the board, but an extra amount of £’000. I qualified 10 years ago and have had a rise every year since, except for one year (2020) when no one got one. Last year I’m not sure if everyone else got one due to the ongoing pandemic, but I had already negotiated my March rise early. Normally rises are not linked to a performance review, we just get a letter at the end of April to our home address stating the pay rise and thanking us for our work in the year. The pay rise is then effective from the April pay.

I went on mat leave late last year. Last week, so the end of April, I saw some colleagues for lunch and it was mentioned that they were currently having performance reviews and all of the people who were there confirmed their pay rise had been discussed. The end of the month came and went and I got no letter, nor have I been contacted about a performance review, despite being in work for the majority of the year to March.

Where do I stand?

Other potentially relevant info:

• Pay rises are not contractual, it’s just been something that’s always happened.


• I am not currently being paid anything other than SMP.

(To be honest, I’m also hurt that I’ve been “forgotten” and not thanked… I’m the most senior member of staff and it’s easy to feel out of the loop when you’ve been away for a while!)

Thank you 🙂

If everyone but you got a pay rise surely that would be discrimination? Can anyone in HR clarify?

Hello,

Thanks again to everyone who commented originally on this thread. Just a small update.

I rang the Pregnant then Screwed helpline and left a message for a callback but unfortunately missed the callback. Since then whenever I ring it says they are closed, I guess they rely on volunteers so can't be helped.

I organised to meet with my 2 bosses this morning to discuss my return to work, as I find it easier to do these things in person. We chatted for about 45 mins about work and life related things and then I said I wanted to ask about my pay review as it seemed like I hadn't had one.
Boss 1 said "Well, you haven't been here" 🙄then went on to say that he thought we would sit down when I am back and talk about it.
I pointed out that my contract says I'm entitled to a review every 1st April and he said "Does it?" then said that they are going to be reviewing contracts soon (not sure of the relevance of this unless he was implying that new contracts would not have that in! Haha)
I said I would rather have the review now (to which he seemed surprised/annoyed) and we organised that I will come back in in 2 weeks for that.
I then pointed out that any pay rise awarded while I'm on maternity leave needs to be backdated to the start of SMP, and boss 2 said "Oh, no it's based on what you earn in week 13 of pregnancy"
So I said "I didn't know this either, but it does need to be backdated".
Maybe I should have waited to mention that until the next meeting, as I left feeling thoroughly deflated and it's kind of ruined my day (and is still hanging over me).

I think they are clueless rather than doing anything deliberately wrong but I think they've failed on 3 counts:

1. Not offering me a performance review when everyone else had one
2. Not reviewing my pay in accordance with my contract
3. Not knowing that my pay would need to be backdated.

Thanks to anyone that makes it through this - I just needed to write it down as I'm feeling very frustrated. It's not about the money as 90% of any rise for 6 weeks will be quite a small amount, but it's the principle of it.

Does anyone have any advice on things to say or how to word things at my next meeting?

You need to ask. If everyone else was given one and you weren't it could be seen as discrimination.

Also, check the alibastar ruling

Thank you @shoehornartth , have you seen my update?

Yes I did OP (after posting whoops). But the reference about your maternity pay being increased is the alibastar ruling - so your SMP calc should be recalculated based on the new price rise.

If you are the only one who isn't being given it / they do not back date then they will be in breach and you would need to go via the ACAS/Tribunal route

I don’t think your firm or you are clued up regarding performance review (you really cannot just suddenly have one without preparation!) or maternity leave or pay reviews. You seemed to think (in earlier posts) that performance review (“a red herring”) and pay were not related. You also didn’t mention 1st April being a date in your contract regarding a pay review. Also “review” is not an automatic uplift.

So I would prepare for your performance review with what evidence you need to prove you have performed well and perhaps a suggested get back to work programme so you are aware of the challenges and opportunities at work (which previously you thought wasn’t necessary).

Now they are talking about reviewing contracts. As I said earlier in the conversation, you do need to be careful about your contractual arrangements in the future. Your employers might not be as benign as you think they are.

Thanks Tizerorfizz.

I don’t think your firm or you are clued up regarding performance review (you really cannot just suddenly have one without preparation!) or maternity leave or pay reviews. I admit I’m not clued up! I have never had a proper performance review in my career before. It’s always been a casual chat about how they are happy and whether I am too.

You seemed to think (in earlier posts) that performance review (“a red herring”) and pay were not related. They never have been for me before. I always got a pay rise every 1st April without any discussion.

You also didn’t mention 1st April being a date in your contract regarding a pay review. I hadn’t looked at my contract when I wrote my OP. I mentioned this in one of my later posts.

Also “review” is not an automatic uplift. I know of course, but they haven’t done a review at all. If they aren’t going to give me anything, I want to know why, because as far as I’m concerned that would seem like it was due to my being on leave.

So I would prepare for your performance review with what evidence you need to prove you have performed well and perhaps a suggested get back to work programme so you are aware of the challenges and opportunities at work (which previously you thought wasn’t necessary). My firm is really way too relaxed for this. They know I performed well while I was there, and expect me to pick up where I left off when I go back.

What do you mean about them not being benign? I just want them to abide by the law and my contract.

I don’t mean to pick apart your post, just trying to provide some extra context.

@PayRiseQ2022
They have now mentioned offering you a new contract. You don’t know what they will offer. The fact they have even mentioned this would ring alarm bells for me.

When I posted much earlier you didn’t seem to think performance review mattered but colleagues had one and got pay rises. They have now said that as you were not at work, you didn’t have any performance to review, so no pay rise. That’s patently wrong and I really would approach the meeting with evidence of your successes and what you need to improve further. You asked how to approach your next meeting and this is my advice.

You say your company is relaxed but they are not playing by the rules and now want to amend your contract. You are deflated and probably upset. I don’t think they seem relaxed and “not harmful” ie “benign”. If that’s just my opinion.

Thanks @TizerorFizz I appreciate your thoughts. I will be comparing any new contract to my old one very carefully!

I’ll come back to update after my next meeting in case it might help anyone in the future.

I’m not sure why you think any pay rise should be backdated to the start of your SMP, unless I’ve misunderstood the dates.

You said you went on maternity leave late last year, so the 6 weeks at 90% of pay will have run out by February and you will now be on the flat rate SMP. You’re now asking about a pay rise effective from 1 April - so why do you think this will need to be backdated to cover the 6 weeks of 90% SMP?

I agree with everyone else you should be entitled to a pay rise from 1 April if everyone else has had one, but in practice this won’t kick in until you return to work as you’re getting flat rate SMP. You should still get them to put the pay rise through from 1 April though as it could affect other benefits that continue during maternity e.g. employer pension contributions.

@ChessieFL because that's what she is legally entitled to. Any pay rise that applies while during mat leave triggers a recalculation of SMP for the whole of the mat leave, even if the effective date of the pay rise is part way through the leave.

Thanks @Asiama i didn’t realise that!

@TizerorFizz is right. This is direct discrimination and ‘she was on maternity leave so didn’t get a pay rise’ will be the quickest tribunal verdict in your favour ever. If you were not there for performance review you should be given the same rating as previously given, not just no rating. To even give you a lower rating they need evidence for this like a performance improvement plan, or documented performance issues.