Is this pregnancy discrimination?

[lovemored]

I'm going on maternity leave in a month from my (Senior) role. Planning on taking 6 months leave - love my job, I give it everything, and I'm looking forward to returning. My skillset is niche so it's been a bit of an arduous process to find cover while I'm off, but after 6 months of looking we've found someone capable and the business is about to offer.

However, it has come to my attention this individual is being offered a permanent contract at the level above me; I wouldn't say her skills and experience far exceed mine at all, but she has worked for a huge household name for the last 10 years which will make my employer look good to have on payroll so they're keen to pay a bit more to get her. She can't start til after I go off as she's on gardening leave, but should she accept she's effectively being brought into the role that would be my next promotion. She'll be carrying out my role on this elevated title and then would continue at this level when I return, and I assume would become my line manager (I don't have one at present and report straight into the CEO).

Is this an effective denial of promotion/discrimination due to pregnancy? I would expect, given my employer's promotion cycles, that I should have been be eligible to apply for this role a couple of months prior to my return, but I obviously won't be able to with this new hire sitting in it. All my performance reviews in the 1.5yrs I've been with the business have been stellar and I have (had!) every intention on making use of my KIT days to maintain my involvement in my work and my team.

How should I handle this?

hopeful bump!

You need to contact ACAS and Pregnant then screwed.

If a new role has been created between you and CEO in the organisational structure it should be advertised and you would then be eligible to apply. If what has happened is they advertised your role as maternity cover and then offered a permanent job in this newly created role then it does sound like potential discrimination.

What you need is a copy of the org structure now without this role and the advert to recruit your maternity cover.

It’s not no. Provided you are allowed to return to your role or equivalent you have no say in who else your employer hires.

Speak to Pregnant then screwed , they should be able to give you proper qualified legal advice.
However, if you return within 6 -12 months you do have to be given your old job back.
If the concern is that you missed out on promotion it could be argued that this person has had a role created for them as they impressed at interview so there was no promotion available. Until you return and are actually affected by this it’s hard to see how/whether it’s discrimination

Thank-you - this role hasn't been advertised at all, as far as I was aware we were interviewing this person for my role but it now looks like they'll be given the elevated title (+ salary bump of about £15k to suit), although they'll simply be carrying out my duties. I called acas after posting this who said it sounds like potential discrimination but I haven't been able to get through to PTS at all these last couple of days

I thought it might be the case that I'll have to flag my initial concerns now but wait til I get back to take any concrete action (which would suit me, difficult pregnancy so I don't want anything else on my plate right now!). Been trying to get through to PTS for 2 days, I'll keep trying.

Surely you should be given the chance to apply for the new role.

Keep trying PTS and collect as much evidence with a timeline. Also get hold of the grievance procedure.

The difficulty for you is that there will be a time limit to lodge a grievance. Which is not what you want to hear or think about.

I do think it is worth a quiet word with the HR Director/Senior Leader who made the decision to recruit and ask them where this role was advertised as you never saw it. Then wait for their response.

Once they have given a response say you would have liked to apply for this role had it been advertised and are very disappointed that you didn’t have the opportunity. Then ask can they please make sure that you receive details of any similar vacancies whilst you are on Mat leave.

Depending on how the conversation goes near the end you could drop in, I hope my pregnancy isn’t the reason I wasn't given the opportunity to apply for the vacancy.

There wasn't a vacancy for the senior position for them to advertise though. It sounds like they found someone who made certain demands and they agreed to them in order to secure them. It can be really difficult to recruit into contract positions in niche roles and it may have been the only viable option for them to offer a permanent role.

I was also going to say this.
There was no vacancy to apply for, the role was created for this person

I don't agree you have a case. But it's now or never. You have three months less a day to raise a claim from the date of the action. You will be out of time. The clock is already ticking. You don't have six months...

The flaw in your argument is that you were entitled to apply for a promotion. There is no legal right to apply for a promotion. There is no legal requirement to advertise a job. You've already given a cogent argument for why they would want to recruit someone with her skills and experience, which you don't have.

People assume the law says stuff it doesn't. Be careful. What you describe as your next promotion is so not your promotion.

@Quveas this is where it's tricky - this person doesn't in fact have skills/experience above my own: the only thing they do have is a long tenure at a big name which is attractive to my boss due to redundancies that have recently been made there. On the contrary, I have 3 years more working experience than this person (and 5 years more specialist industry experience).

@Quveas and @Doyoumind have made some good points, I’m public sector and this would be a big no no.

At this stage all that has happened is they recruited to cover your mat leave and have had to offer a package to secure this. I still think it is reasonable to have a conversation about how this will impact on your job when you return.

You have the right to return to your role after 6 months and it’s only at that stage the full implications of the new role/person on you/your job will become clear. If there is any change in your reporting lines or job because they recruited permanently rather than Mat cover then you may have a claim as you have not been given your job back.

Definitely keep trying PTS.

I don't like the sound of this.

What exactly do they expect will happen when you come back? because if this person is simply doing your job, realistically there is nothing for her to do when you return.

There is no logic in saying she will stay as your line manager. if there is a whole team to manage then I could understand, but why would they hire someone who does not have as much experience as you just to manage you long term.

I would be concerned if I were you because they might keep her in a role that bring together your responsibility and some line management for various people and make your role redundant.

So I don't think potential discrimination for not being given the opportunity to apply for a senior role is your main problem.

As other people have mentioned the role did not exist until they decided to create one specifically to secure that person and her skills.

But I would be concerned about this person being a threat to your job in general.