Job no longer exists while on mat leave

[Sarah8418]

Evening all,

Bear with me I have a very complicated situation that is really stressing me out.

I work in the NHS and have 15yrs service. I've worked for my current trust/employer for 17m in total. I'm currently on mat leave and due to return Feb/march 2023.

I was part of a small team that managed nutrition specific prescriptions mostly for GP's but also for other clinicians. Our main role was safeguarding the budget and so stopping inappropriate prescribing. There is another team that worked in close conjunction. Our team lead left and we couldn't recruit another. We had interim management in the form on X2 nursing matrons but the decision was made to fold out service into the bigger team who have many service leads. As a result of that and poor management all of my colleagues have since left.

We had a brief consultation meeting with a senior manager and a senior pharmacist who both assured us that the merge wouldn't affect the way we worked. We were agile, mostly wfh and all enjoyed our jobs and team.

Sadly once some of my colleagues joined them they were affectively constructively dismissed. A manager came to my home a few weeks after and upon hearing about my experience promised a lot of interesting opportunities as well as the main focus of my role remaining.

I had a kit meeting the other week and now the managers have changed their minds and they want me doing something completely different. They never understood our service and wanted it dissolved which is basically what has happened.

Throughout this I have had some notes from HR re the consultant which states my role and work won't change then nothing since.

My query is surely I should be receiving some sort of paperwork re all this. They said I don't need any but to me if I'm going to be doing an entirely different job I need a new contract. I've called acas and they said if they are treating me unfavourably I could raise a grievance. In a nutshell they want me to work from a different base, only one day from home and doing something I really don't want to do as I've done it before and it's not challenging work.

Does anyone know where I stand in terms of being asked to do a different job? I've asked management for a new job description/person spec and I'm being ignored. I've also asked hr for support, again I'm not being responded to. I'm being left in limbo. Any advice or support appreciated.

HR are not there to support you. They are there to support management. You need to speak to your union rep. It sounds like they are saying that your role has gone but that this other role is a suitable alternative. Whether it is or not is more in the purview of the union who will know all the in's and out's of both policy and law, as well as having a better understanding of the roles involved. But you obviously cannot force them to keep a job that they don't want, so at the most basic of levels your choices are to accept a suitable alterenative role or take redundancy if there is no suitable alternative available. Unfortunately, you not wanting a job or thinking it boring is not a relevant test of suitability. The workplace may be, but that depends on the actual details of the differences. In the final analysis the only test that matters is what a tribunal says if it were to get that far - and that is a risky route to take unless you are certain of your ground, because you could end up without a job and without redundancy pay. So your union is critical in giving you detailed advice.

1. get a copy of your current Job Description I.e. the one before you went on Mat leave and make sure it is up to date.
2. get a copy of the org structure prior to mat leave/the changes and one of the new/proposed structure I.e. showing your role has disappeared.
3. read the redundancy policy www.nhsemployers.org/articles/nhs-redundancy-arrangements If there are any other guidance read that to.
4. create a timeline of when and what you were told and make sure they have followed the redundancy procedure
5. look at all current vacancies at your grade and identify any that match your requirements e.g. location, hours etc.
6. contact your TU
7. Write to management cc in HR. Confirm that on x date told about merger assured ways of working wouldn’t change. On x told job no longer existed so redundancy situation. As per Employments rights Act 1996 and NHS Redundancy policy you are entitled to special provisions:

30. What are special provisions? An employee on maternity leave is entitled to priority over those not on maternity leave as far as suitable alternative employment is concerned. If a vacancy exists, she must be offered the alternative employment under a new contract immediately following the day on which her previous contract comes to an end. The new work must be suitable and appropriate for her to do and must not be substantially less favourable than that of her previous contract. Where a suitable vacancy exists and the employer fails to offer it, an employee’s dismissal will be deemed automatically unfair.

Then ask for JD of all current vacancies at your level, including the job they have offered and in particular (name jobs) jobs you are interested in.

@Quveas is right you are at risk of not getting redundancy if you don’t take the job offered. However, your managers must follow the lawful process in a redundancy situation and there may be a vacant job which more closely matches your previous role.

If they don’t provide the JD submit a SAR as they have to respond within a month.

I would send an email to your HR contact and line manager and ask them for full details on the proposed changes and what your role will be when you return from mat leave. It seems that they’re having a restructure which is common in organisations.
If you don’t agree to the changes then they can effectively make you redundant. When is your next KIT meeting?