Returning to work after maternity leave - no salary review or appraisal

[Leah4]

Hi, I returned to work at the end of December 2007 after almost a year's maternity leave. My contract with my employer has always been part time, and I went on maternity leave at the end of December 2006. My last appraisal and salary review was on 1st October 2006. My colleagues have had salary increases and performance appraisals in October 2007, whilst I was still on maternity leave.

I asked my manager on my return to work whether I would be having an appraisal, who is very difficult and has previously tried to give less of a salary increase than other staff members on the same level, and she advised that my appraisal would only be able to cover "less than two months" of my work. I said that I should be entitled to an appraisal regardless of this. She advised she would speak to her manager, and let me know. I have not had a response from her, as her manager is away until the end of January.

I believe that I should be entitled to any salary review, even if I had been on maternity leave for the most of it, and I should still be treated as working there. My other colleagues have advised they did have an appraisal in October, and also a non-performance related salary increase.

Do I have to wait a few more months before being entitled to a salary increase or appraisal, or should I raise this with my manager? It has proved quite difficult to do this previously. I may be changing jobs by May, so do you think it is worth asking, considering how difficult my manager can be? Also thinking about references. Yet I am annoyed that other staff have had a salary increase and my salary will stay the same until October 2008, two years after my last one!

I work for a small company with only 8 staff members, and with no HR department.
Sorry for the long message! Any advice would be helpful - thanks!

Leah I would agree with your manager that it is not possible to give you an accurate or fair appraisal immediately on your return from maternity leave. I would think 3 months would be a reasonable time period.

Your salary increase is different. If your colleagues have all had an increase which is not performance-related, a 'cost of living' or similar across-the-board raise, then you should have it too.

For any performance related increase, it is reasonable to delay it so that a reasonable period of time can elapse in order to appraise you fairly. I would then expect any increase to be backdated to the normal increase date.

Ask for a meeting with your manager. Say that you understand that appraising you so soon after your return would be difficult and you would like to put a time in the diary for 3 months after your return, to allow her time to judge how you are doing and to give you an opportunity to demonstrate how well you are doing in your job.

Then request that any non performance-related increases that have been applied to everyone else's salary are also applied to yours, and if she says no, ask her to give you an explanation. She is on very shaky ground if she attempts to deny you a salary increase because you were on maternity leave.

I received the company yearly increase the other week while on ML. I think it covers CPI/inflation rises, but it was more than that. (but work for quite a large int'l company). You'd need to check your contract to see if you're entitled to the inflation rise each year, or if it's at their discretion. then as flowery says, ask for perf. appr. in a few more months.

I was all ready for this fight as our pay award this year is part performance related, but didn't need to as got it paid anyway

However I came across this on the EOC site, which might help

This is the relevant bit - "If a woman is denied a right to an appraisal (contractual or non-contractual) while on maternity leave and the pay rise that would have been consequent on successful completion of the appraisal, this will be unlawful under EC because it is discrimination against her 'in her capacity as a worker'"

Hi Betsy! Long time, how's things?

Hi Flowery

Things are tiring with a 24month + 9wk old, but wouldn't change it for the world. My company HR are up to their usual standard (recent letter re pay award backdated to July being a prime example, but luckily the person working out my maternity pay seems to know what they are doing I'm just amazed they paid me the performance related element without a fight, seeing as my last performance appraisal was for the year ending April 04! - 05 & 06 not done before my first mat leave, despite my nagging, not there for the year of the 07 one)

How's things with you?

(apologies to Leah for the hijack...)

Good news about your pay Betsy, nice not to have to struggle for everything!

I'm good, DS is 8mo now, I've just started the hunt for a nanny so I can start getting out and doing some 'proper' work, which is all very exciting.

I can't imagine how anyone manages with two small ones, having been exhausted with just one, so hat off to you, I'm sure it's worth it all.

Hi, this is a delayed thank you for all the comments regarding this. I have been away, and have not had internet access at home. I will take Flowery's line of approach regarding the salary increase issue. If I am entitled to an increase in March, after delaying my appraisal, will I be able to have it backdated to October 2007? I have yet to speak to my manager as she has also been away, but will do so this week.

I cannot prove taht other members of staff have had non-performance related salary incereases, but a colleague has said he was given the "standard increase", and mentioned it was not related to how well he's done recently in some external exams.

Thanks!

Leah4 if everyone else's increases were dated 1st October yours should be too. It is reasonable to postpone your performance review until you've been at work a few months, it's in both parties' interests as I mentioned before, but you can't be disadvantaged by being on maternity leave so you should get any increase (performance or otherwise) backdated to the same date as everyone else.

Even more than that, there is a ruling which states that if a woman gets a pay rise at any point during her maternity leave, her SMP must be recalculated on the basis of her new salary. It's called the Alabaster ruling, I'll try and find a link.

Here you go, it's a bit complicated but it's 'official' if you need something to point your employers to.

This is a bit better

Thanks for that Flowery. I spoke to my boss today and she advised that she did not want to an appraisal based on just two months. I said I would wait until March, and she agreed.

She also advised that I would probably not get any salary increase, performance or otherwise, as she believes my salary is "above the market rate", as my job role has decreased over the past two years. This was her excuse for not giving me any pay increase after being there a year. The second year I was given a tiny salary increase. My job role has decreased as she now does more of the management side of my job, and the IT is contracted out. I did say that I'm not paid so much more for the same job outside my company, and that other staff in my office have also higher salaries but still get annual increases.

It is very hard to prove that the increases are non-performance related, yet I know that other staff have had increases of the same amount.

Sorry for the long post. I do believe I am being discriminated with respect to my salary, and asked her if she will be freezing any increases in the future and for how long. She did not answer that question. She will speak to her director this week and let me know. If I do go down the tribunal route, would it adversely affect my future jobs?

March sounds like a good idea for your appraisal.

With regards to her statement that you are unlikely to get an increase due to your role decreasing. Is this a reasonable statement, has your role decreased? You say it has. If other staff in the office have higher salaries but still get increases are they doing the same job as you, has their role decreased but this not been reflected in their pay as it has been/will be in yours?

The non-performance related increase, is this a percentage increase across the board, say 3% for everyone, or whatever, with performance-related increases on top? WHat does your contract or handbook say about cost-of-living increases or any increases? What is the usual practice, is it usual to give cost of living increases to everyone or do you just suspect this is happening at the moment/this year?

Don't worry about necessarily answering these questions now - but just to give you an indication they are the first things that spring to my mind to ask if you are considering a discrimination claim, so you should think about the answers at least.

If you do end up in a tribunal, there is no reason a future employer needs to know necessarily. It may affect your relationship with your employer obviously, and may have an impact on a reference - although they can't say anything negative that can't be substantiated with evidence, that doesn't stop them from being less fulsome in their praise of you than they otherwise might have been iyswim? Volumes can sometimes be read from entirely neutral, non-committal references.

Have a think about all these things and let us know how it goes this week with your boss.

Hi Flowery,

Thank you for the further details. I had another meeting with my manager today. She advised that appraisals will now take place in April, and a final one in October.

She spoke to her boss, and I have been given a measly 2% pay rise ,considering inflation, which she states as being in line with office procedure and across the board. When I asked her if other staff received this, she was very vague. There is nothing in my handbook about cost of living increases. It is usual practice to give cost of living increases to everyone, but I do suspect I am getting less, and she did not wish to even give this. This will be backdated to December 07 when I returned to work.

When I asked why I would not be given the performance related part, even in April, which has never been a component of our appraisals in previous years, she confirmed that performance side started in 2007, and that a few members of staff received it. Probably all members in other words. She mentioned that salaries would probably be frozen this year, or perhaps just mine. I now have two appraisals a year rather than one. I asked her to confirm this in writing but she was reluctant to. I asked for her to clarify this and she did wonder if I would be using it for any external agency. I explained that I wanted it clarified in writing.

What do you think I should write in my email?

I had thought about the answers to these questions before you asked them! My job role has decreased over the past 2 years, and since my return in December, another main part has been taken away, but may be re-introduced in April, once she has sorted it out. Other members of staff are probably paid more than the market rate and continue to have increases. A colleague does a similar role, but her salary has now been brought probably just under mine, and she continues to receive increases.

I will email her tomorrow to ask for my job description which she has changed whilst I was away, and also ask her to confirm in writing what was discussed. She may not wish to, as she knows I am not happy with the outcome. I want this in writing in case I do pursue it, or if my salary is frozen after my appraisals this year. Other staff members do not disclose the outcome of their appraisals usually, but one did say that he just got the standard, last year.

I am looking at other jobs, and know that I will have to take quite a big pay cut. The job on the whole is fine, just the management, and I have the hours I want, which I can't find in other jobs, and has taken a long time to negotiate. I may also retrain and do something else, so I would still like to get a decent reference.

Sorry for the long post! Thanks again for your time and help .

Forgot to add that my SMP stopped in July!

Leah4 this all sounds complicated and I think for that reason alone you need to get it all in writing, just so you and anyone else relevant is sure what is going on.

It does sound from what you are saying that proving that you should have had more of an increase might be difficult. One thing that is clear is that if cost of living increases were applied to everyone's salary in October, yours should be as well. I appreciate that you were not actually receiving any money at that point, but according to the recent links I posted about the Alabaster thingy, any increase that takes place during maternity leave (not just when you are receiving SMP) means that your SMP should be recalculated on the basis of that salary.

I would be astonished if your boss knew that, so I think she is genuinely thinking backdating to December is the correct thing to do as that's when you returned from maternity leave and started earning more money. However it is your entitlement to have your SMP recalculated on the basis of your new salary and any adjustment paid to you.

Having said that, you may decide not to pursue that. As I say, your boss won't be aware of this requirement, (which actually gives a positive advantage to women on maternity leave.) So her failure to do this will almost certainly be through ignorance rather than any deliberate attempt to diddle you out of your entitlement.

The reason I say you may decide not to pursue that aspect is because SMP recalculated on the basis of a 2% increase won't be very much, and you may decide that if you want to stay there and maintain good relations, it might be politic not to make a fuss about that. Up to you, but sometimes it's worth considering not pursuing your legal entitlement if, on balance, the overall cost of it in non-monetary terms means you would have been better off not to.

I think one of the problems is the lack of formal structure about your salary system at work. Leaving aside your colleagues for a moment, it is not uncommon if someone is paid above the market rate for their job, for whatever reason, to freeze their salary for a certain period, which could easily include a freeze on 'cost of living' increases. So doing that as such isn't necessarily a problem. Where there may be a problem is if you feel that some of your colleagues are in the same position as you and are still receiving increases. But you can understand that a system whereby there is a clear salary structure, people are doing more or less the same job and the woman coming back from maternity leave doesn't receive the same increase as everyone else is a lot clearer cut that your situation.

She does sound a bit flaky and not quite sure what she wants to do about salaries generally. I do think for that reason you need to get the plan for the next year with your salary put in writing, for clarity. I think she needs to explain properly why, if performance related pay began in 2007, it does not apply to you, what's different about your job that means performance related pay is not possible or appropriate. As I say, if there is a definite decision that you are slightly overpaid for what your job now is, there's nothing wrong in freezing your salary for a time, but she is not clear about this.

I think she sounds as though you have put her on the defensive, so she is clutching at reasons why your salary has not been increased, not being clear about what her thinking is. It might be worth asking for a chat with her, and approaching her in a 'nice' way, saying that you understand her concerns about your salary being over the market rate, but you are feeling a bit confused about the situation, you would like to understand what her thinking is, you would like for everyone's benefit the situation for, say, the next year, to be clarified in writing.

I feel I have been waffling on a bit, so I hope some of that makes sense anyway!