Let go during first pregnancy on a technicality

[SufiO]

My Mrs has recently been let go during her pregnancy on a technicality. It's really frustrating and I'm going to describe the details that led to this below.

My Mrs is a highly regarded primary school teacher in London, UK who was offered a role at a highly coveted local private school with a 10k pay-rise and perks to boot. As a result she asked out of her current role a school whom she's been with for the past 3/4 years since graduating. The school forced her to stay on as the new school term begins 2 and a half months after and her notice period was 3 months. Come September, she's back at her incumbent school and we're pregnant for the first time and that same notice that she requested in late spring/early summer is being used to force her out in December. Is there anything we can do about it, we'd have to lose out on maternity pay in particular.

Did school agree to retracting the notice?

They're not letting her go or firing her.

They are honouring HER request to leave.

She either never retracted her notice or she needs to find some proof that she did and go back to them.

simulpost.
So that means she did withdraw her notice. Did the school accept that in writing?
Is your wife in a union? do you have legal insurance?
tbh? if you don't have anything in writing i think you are on dodgy ground.

The school forced her to stay on

No-one can force you to stay in a job.

It's worth noting the school do not know about the pregnancy yet

I really don'y understand what this post is about?

Firstly sorry, I'll make sure I don't use this unfortunate language again. As for the rest I can only try to help in whatever ways are available but I am open to suggestions

The school forced her to stay on as the new school term begins 2 and a half months after and her notice period was 3 months

no, they abided by the contractural notice period that she agreed to when accepting the job.

she was not forced to do anything except abide by the terms of her contract.

the school have done nothing wrong

Why did she not discuss leave periods before she handed in her notice? It's now November so have these discussions not come up sooner?
Ultimately if she gave her notice and it was accepted then unless school agree she can't rescind it. School may have planned school budget based on her leaving.

But they aren't firing her, she resigned? And they don't need to allow someone to retract their notice, they may have recruited in behind her or decided the role is no longer required or repurposed the headcount

Unless you can prove that the only reason they won't let her stay is because of her pregnancy (ie they let others retract but not her because she is pregnant), I don't think she really has any case

The crux of the issue @SufiO is that she handed in her notice and it was accepted. Her last day was confirmed as being the end of term 8n December.

She then found out the new job wouldn't be able to wait.

At that point she TRIED to retract her notice but the school is under no obligation to agree to that and it looks like they have decided they are not going to.

They have not terminated her role, or fired her, they have accepted her notice.

I do not work in a school, I'm in a senior role for a private org and I have a 6 month notice period because it would take that long to hire a replacement and do handover. If I gave my notice then told them during that period that I wanted to stay, they would be entitled to say no, that they are holding me to my notice.

Unfortunately it would seem the state school has not let "the Mrs" rescind her notice and held her to her notice period.

And this is why you never hand your notice in until you have a signed contract of new employment with your next employer

Does she have anything in writing saying they accept she rescinds her notice?

Even if they did accept she could rescind her notice and she has now been selected for redundancy as they are unaware she is pregnant then they have not selected on the basis of pregnancy and its not therefore discrimination if that is what you are asking.

So she handed in her notice to finish at the end of the 2021/2022 school year but now they are expecting her to finish at the end of the current term?

When she gave in her notice did they say no because she wasn’t abiding by her contractual notice period and instead say she would finish in December? Did she accept that her notice couldn’t be rescinded (presumably in June time) and now wants to change her mind because she is pregnant? Or have these conversations been ongoing since June? If she accepted it in June then she can’t really change her mind now, the school will have already made preparations for the next term without her.

Please please please don’t call her your Mrs. This phrase is just awful.

She cannot unilaterally retract her notice. So was there an actual conversation and documentation to prove that the school agreed to accept the retraction? If so, then it is as if she never resigned and this would look like unfair dismissal. But if it was not agree, then she resigned but miscalculated her notice period and it was longer than expected.

As with most things, I'd say the employer likely has a better documented record of conversations unfortunately. There is no documented record from our side of the school agreeing to keep her on for the 22/23 year and as many have suggested above I don't think legal recourse is the way to go.

I agree wholeheartedly

if legal recourse isn't the way to go - what is it you actually want here?
Demanding to keep her job with menaces?

I think you need to decide what it is you want. TBH what the best course might be now is to officially advise the school that she is pregnant, and work to the end of the term. Take a maternity leave during which she looks for a new job, and learn from the experience.

She never rescinded her notice, and they've accepted it. Verbal discussions about her possibly staying are irrelevant. So yes - she tendered her notice (when is irrelevant) and they have accepted it - so it's "legal"

If Your "Mrs" is a teacher she must know that there are strict rules around when she can resign and depending on her role it has to be either a term or half a terms notice. If she resigned in June she has presumably missed being able to give sufficient notice - and to be honest, the new school will have known this but probably didn't care, left it up to the individual to work it out. Her school will therefore have said, nope you can't leave at the end of this term but from end of the next term in December. I'm still not clear if she immediately and formally tried to rescind her notice but even if so the school was under no obligation to accept it. State school budgets are under huge pressure so it may well be that even though her departure will be difficult, they may be trying to fill her role with a mix of other staff, peripatetic teachers, TAs etc in order to save money. There is nothing of the "technicality" about her departure.

No, your wife messed up

a) she didn't give the right notice to her current role - all teachers have to give a term's notice - it's in terms and conditions, anything shorter is by agreement with the school
b) she accepted a job on the basis she could start earlier than her notice allowed
c) she resigned before her new job agreed the correct start date

It's unfortunate but it's nothing to do with her pregnancy.

Relax.

She needs to get advice from her union

Yeah unless she’s written confirmation the notice was rescinded she’s handed her notice in and has to leave accordingly. It’s not a technicality.

If she is a teacher isn’t she in a union? She should speak to them. It’s a bit difficult to advise because your post isn’t all that easy to follow. What was her notice period? It doesn’t really sound like she’s being sacked to be honest. If she rescinded her notice (and that was accepted) or agreed with the school she would work a different notice period and they are now trying to shorten that then there may be a breach of contract claim but it’s not possible to say bases on the information given.