At risk of redundancy while on maternity

[Sunflowerx]

I'm currently on maternity leave which is ending in august, with holidays taking me until October before I return to normal work.

I'm working KIT days at the moment and yesterday I recieved a call from our head of department and HR to tell me my role is now at risk.

I'm base level customer service, and while I've been off we have taken on a number of outsourced staff and the new team structure will be that entire team is replaced by outsource, and only the manager/supervisors will stay on as employed by the company.

Where do I stand with this? I'm aware from reading through ACAS that if my role is no longer available I should be offered another role at the same level, and have been told I receive priority if I choose to apply for 1 of the 3 manager/supervisory roles that will come up.

I'm not qualified for these roles, so where do I stand? I'm not being offered a similar role for when I come back from maternity, and I'm worried that if I raise a grievance they'll keep me in the job as normal but I'll be the only actual member of staff from the company and just be stuck in a really shitty position.

Im also 3 months off being employed for 2 years so im not sure if I am fully protected by employment law.

Does anyone have any advice for me or have I just rambled?

Head of department also made it clear on our call to notify me that it is a very generous redundancy package, but did not go into specifics and will confirm the exact information on Monday. I have a grievance letter ready to go but am I best waiting until we've spoke on Monday before taking action with it?

If there are other similar roles at not worse t&cs then you should be offered one.

If there are no roles then you Dan be made redundant.

With less than 2 years service you are not entitled to statutory redundancy pay. So it would just be paid notice.

Unless they have a more generous redundancy package than statutory.

As you are on maternity leave, your employer must offer you any suitable alternative even if other applicants are better suited to the role. They have said you receive priority for the manager/supervisor roles. You can't be forced to undertake one of these roles, but it sounds like your employer thinks they are a suitable alternative, in which case they must give you the role if you apply.

I doubt that raising a grievance will get you anywhere. If they are outsourcing your entire team, a grievance is unlikely to persuade them to keep you on and certainly won't persuade them to reverse their decision on outsourcing. They are offering you a generous redundancy package or the opportunity to take one of the manager/supervisor roles. I'm not clear what else you think they should do.

Just to point out, but it's not far off the end of July and your maternity ends in August. Annual leave is not maternity leave, obviously. And right now they seem to be consulting. The second your maternity leave terminates then all the protections related to maternity cease in law. That doesn't mean that the employer will shaft you. But they could. If in a union, you should be talking to them.

I do not understand what your grievance is, certainly do not see any grounds for one. Organisations do not have to put business decisions on hold or rule them out because they have a member of staff on maternity leave.

You have been told you will get priority if you apply for one of the remaining roles and have also been told of a generous redundancy package. Obviously the situation is unsettling and not one many people would like to be in, but in terms of the handling of it, then there really is nothing to complain about here.

If the cs roles are being outsourced could op be offered a role there under TUPE?

I think the OP is under the impression that they are entitled to another role, even if there isn't one, because they are on maternity leave. They are only entitled to an alternative role if there is one. It is harder to make someone redundant whilst on maternity leave (which they are currently on but not for much longer) - not impossible though.

They are only entitled to a comparable role, in my experience a supervisory role where the person perhaps lacks experience and / or capability isn't comparable