Help not sure what to do (very long winded, sorry)

[ejayjay]

I posted on here a while back and recieved some great advice so was hoping someone could help me further.

I work for the NHS, during my pregnancy I was made aware that the post I was in was up for review. Management wanted one full time person where there were two.
I asked for a review prior to going on maternity leave but that was refused.

I went on leave having not recieved any of my paperwork regarding my maternity leave pay etc. I requested for it to be sent, it finally arrived weeks after my son was born.

I did not hear anything from work at all even though I had requested regular updates. I finally had to contact my manager 7 months into my maternity leave to discuss my return to work.

When I finally arranged a meeting in November I was told I could not go back into my previous job as it was a full time position, I was not offered anything else but told to go away and think about what I wanted to do.

I had obtained the new job description for my previous job and it clearly states full time or job share. I was told a job share was not possible as there was no one to job share with.

I heard nothing back from my manager so yet again over a month later I managed to secure another meeting.
Yet again nothing was confirmed but I was told about another role which was set hours and days but a less senior post/grade.

I was offered a post of the same grade but it was totally unsuitable shift work which they knew I could not do. I obviously turned it down.
As I have turned it down I am not entitled to any pay protection.

I have emailed my manager several times since, all initiated by myself.
I have been offered the less senior post and I accepted it.
I have had to push to confirm the days and hours.
I have lost two childminders because they could not agree on the days and hours for weeks!

Now with only 3 weeks before I am due to return back to work I have no confirmation of my salary (I have emailed HR to confirm but no reaponse)
I have been told the post is still up in the air, the days and hours are not set in stone.

I have emailed HR today but what do I do now?
I am very unhappy I feel highly anxious and stressed.
I have tried to set up a meeting with my manager to discuss the role before I return so I know what I am suppose to be doing, but no response.

I feel pushed out and isolated through lack of communication. I don't live near my workplace so I can't just pop in.
None of my friends seem to have had the same response and difficulties as I have had when returning from mat leave.

I feel like leaving but I need to work to pay the bills.

I have tried contacting my union rep but she is unavaliable/no response.
Contacted union directly and told to contact area union rep, but i'm running out of time please help what do I do.

i would imagine that you are part of a union? i would perhaps try banding around the term "constructive dismssal" and see if anyone shit themselves - worth asking you union if this applies in this case

Try these people working families

They have a free legal helpline and were much more helpful than my union, when I was having problems keeping the hours I wanted at work.

Good luck - I hope it all works out for you.

ejayjay this is complicated and involves lots of different points so forgive me for asking quite a lot of questions.

1. You mention you 'asked for a review' prior to your maternity leave. Was this a salary review you wanted or did you just want them to do the review of the job that they had mentioned while you were there? If they were planning to review the need for the post/job content/etc there is no compulsion on them to bring that forward if one of the affected individuals is going on maternity leave.

1. You mention not receiving your maternity paperwork or confirmation of your maternity pay, or any contact during your maternity leave. Have a look at this rather detailed link saying exactly what responsibilities your employer has with regard to confirming your maternity leave dates, keeping in contact etc. Of course they may also have broken their own maternity leave procedure.

1. You mention making contact to 'discuss' your return to work. Was this about your return date, or had you put in a flexible working request to reduce your hours or something?

1. With regard to the situation of reducing from 2 f/t posts to 1 f/t post, as a woman on maternity leave, if there is a suitable post available on the same terms and conditions in a redundancy situation like this, you must be offered it, in preference to any other candidate. Did this happen and did you refuse it?

1. Was the 'job share not possible because no one to job share with' the official business reason response to a flexible working request put in by you?

1. You 'heard nothing back'. Had you put in an appeal or something and were waiting to hear the result, or was this a response you were hoping for from an unofficial, verbal discussion about the prospect of a job share?

1. You mention not having had confirmation of your salary. Your salary should be exactly the same as when you went on maternity leave, unless you are expecting an increase, are you?

This certainly does sound like a horrendous situation but I would strongly advise you to keep chasing your union. You are paying them fees to help you in situations like this, so make them work for you, don't be fobbed off. This is a complicated situation and it's very difficult for anyone not involved to help you, you really need your union's support. You may have a case for sex discrimination, you may have a case for constructive dismissal, but it's difficult to say without more detail, and it sounds complicated. If you can answer my questions I may be able to help you a bit further but your union really really must be your next point of call.

Hi custardo, perpetual & flowery, thanks for replying sorry I have not got back to this until now but been trying to sort things.
In response to your q's flowery:

1. Yes it was a reviwew of the post I was after prior to my maternity leave.

1. In the maternity policy it quite clearly asks how you would like to be contacted during your maternity leave to keep udated on events. Not one person emailed me or telephoned (I obviously kept in contact with close friends who updated me)

All the official maternity paperwork was sent I think 8 weeks after my son's birth.

1. The meeting I arranged with my manager was to discuss what post I would be going back into and to discuss flexible working as I would be going back part time from full time.

1. Yes I was offered another post but it was completely different from the post I had previously been working in that it was different hours (shift work including nights) which was not at all flexible. I could not arrange childcare around the shifts and they knew this. Also it was in an are which I have not worked in for quite a while so my skills were out of date.

The other f/t person who was working alongside me now seems to have been given the post I was working in without any interview. I was told we would both be interviewed for the post.

1. No one to job share with was the only reason I was given to not being allowed to return to the post and the fact they had already seemingly promised the f/t post to the other person (who incidently seemed to know all about the other offers that had been made to me regarding other positions!)

1. The response I was waiting for from my manager was a verbal one to confirm hours and days for the lower grade post they offered me which naively I took because I panicked that there would be nothing else for me. I was told pretty much that there was not a hope in returning to the same post. All the meetings i've had have been pretty informal.

1. My salary i've been told cannot be protected because they have offered me a post of similar standing (Yes but totally unsuitable!) So HR have now agreed if I accept the lower grade post I can be placed at the top of the pay scale which is similar to what I was on but not the same.

I have managed to secure a meeting on Friday so hopefully things can be sorted. I am going to have to refuse the lower job offered as I cannot find suitable childcare for my son and ask if I can work 2 nights a week so that I can continue to care for him. It's not ideal but they have made it clear I will not be returning to the previous post p/t.
If all fails I have my resignation already typed out as quite frankly I don't want to work for people who can care so little about their staff. I have put in over 10 years in that place and they have shown me no loyalty at all!

Thanks for your help

ejayjay the main issue here is that there was a full time post available exactly the same as your job prior to going on maternity leave and you were not offered it. The law is very clear on this, if there is a post which is suitable on the same terms and conditions (and clearly a job which is the same as your pre-maternity leave job is the one), you must be offered it. You cannot be made to compete with any other employee, and most definitely the other employee must not be offered it.

There are also the issues about lack of contact, no paperwork etc, but I think all the other problems about job/salary etc basically stem from this. As long as I am understanding this correctly, they have broken the law which is sex discrimination.

I appreciate that you want to work part time but what should have happened is you should have been offered that post, it should have been secured as yours, and it would then be up to you to put in a flexible working request on that job, once it was yours. You could then have put in a request to do it as a job share, and there being no one actually available to share with is not an appropriate reason, there is no reason they could not recruit a job share person.

I'm going to find you a link about the offering the job in preference to anyone else as there is a possibility your HR team are not aware of this law - I wasn't myself until the first time I had to implement it myself.

This is quite an involved link, but it is the official stuff and there is a paragraph on this page about redundancy during maternity leave, which makes clear the fact that you must be offered a suitable post in preference to anyone else.

At your meeting on Friday draw your manager's attention to the fact that they have broken the law with regard to this, which is sex discrimination.