Made redundant 3 months into maternity

[raeraekathleen]

Hello,

Just wondering if anyone else has been in the same position and if anyone has any advice. I've worked at the same company since leaving school (so 15 years) and was entitled to 9 months 90% pay, but 3 months into maternity I've just been told I'm being made redundant, but others in similar roles are not.

The company was sold in 2018 and again last month whilst on maternity.

The truth is, I know I have been chosen because I'm not in the "clique" with the boss. And I am an easy target being out of the business currently.

Having looked on the internet there isn't much I can do, unless I can prove it's because I was on maternity. But I know that would be almost impossible to prove.

Anyone else ever been in a similar situation? Any advice? Just a bit rubbish that I won't get the worry free maternity I was hoping for. (With my first two children I went back to work too quickly and was really hoping to have a nice break with my little girl and enjoy every second without worrying about work or money).

Are they honouring the remainder of your maternity pay? How much different are these similar roles? Has anyone that does the exact same role has you been kept on?

I was made redundant 6 weeks into my maternity leave last year btw. Different scenario as the company was liquidated so everyone lost their jobs. I had to claim my SMP off HMRC and it was a fucking nightmare. I went 4 months from my last wage off my employer to getting anything from HMRC and that was only because I accused them of discrimination in the end.

I thought there was specific rules to protect people on maternity leave? On another thread, a disabled person was made redundant because only one person could be kept and legally the person on maternity leave had priority. Definitely contact union/acas/pregnantthenscrewed anyone you can to get your rights asserted.

Has anyone else in a similar role been made redundant at all? Did they go through a consultation process, and were you included? Have a read of this, as a starting point. Are you a union member?

https://maternityaction.org.uk/advice/redundancy-during-pregnancy-and-maternity-leave/

Was there a consultation process? How similar are the other roles, do you all have same / similar job titles, work in the same team, same grade? If so, we’re you all told you were at risk whilst they did a pool review process?

It is important to clarify these questions as being pregnant does not protect you from redundancy. It also doesn’t keep you out of that pool if there are numerous people in similar roles and they need to rank people, you should not be treated more favourably within that pool. However, you should be the first to be offered a suitable alternative role if there is one.

It's very early stages so I'm waiting to hear the offer but assuming they'll do the cheapest way and won't pay maternity.

I was the only Marketing Manager in our business. Marketing Managers in the sister business are staying and Sales and Marketing in our business is staying...?!

Thank you! That's useful to bear in mind to get the ball rolling ASAP.

Thank you! Will give them a try.

I really thought it was extremely protected too and now I fully understand why it should be. I thought I had this year to enjoy my baby and be worry-free (just all the normal mum worries!) but now it's suddenly gone and I don't know how I'll be earning money, and I'll have to job search and go for interviews (which I haven't done since I was 17, leaving school). So it's a really daunting prospect.

I've entered the consultation process now. I'm very sure it'll result in redundancy because of the type of boss I have (he was always a bully and will make no attempt to help save my role).

Others in similar roles haven't been put into consultation, I'm the only one in Marketing.

Thanks Aprilx- I've now entered the consultation process but confident it'll result in redundancy.

It's difficult, there were similar job roles in the sister business. There is also another in the same business that is "Sales and Marketing Manager" while I am "Marketing Manager." We are the same grade. I'm actually more qualified. The other is not in consultation (but she gets on extremely well with the boss, they go out drinking a lot etc.).

I was made redundant whilst on maternity. They had to pause the redundancy until the end of my maternity, so at the end of the 9 months statutory pay they had to pay my redundancy and holiday accrued.

may not be applicable to your exact situation so do speak to the people mentioned above.

I definitely think you need to get some advice. If there is a restructure going on, everyone affected by that should be included in the consultation. Eg if the marketing dept is going from 6 roles to 1, all of those 6 people should be included in the consultation and all should be at risk equally.

There is no specific exemption for people on mat leave, or shared parental leave, but if they do make you redundant you are entitled to all of your stat maternity pay, over and above your redundancy package.

Do read that link, and then consider talking to one of the groups mentioned for some advice. And have a think about what you want to do next, would you want to go back to work, having been through this? Or would you prefer to move on? Knowing what outcome you want from the situation might help you negotiate your final position.

This happened to me but they couldn't end my maternity pay early. They had to pay me all my mat pay and then any redundancy money too

Do you do “sales” as part of your role, regardless of job title?

If the two roles are fundamentally similar then you could have an argument that you should both be pooled, but IME that’s one of the hardest points to challenge in a redundancy process (as long as the employer properly considered the pools then they usually can’t be challenged)

You do have the right to be placed automatically into any suitable alternative vacancies though if you are made redundant. Are there any other roles?

Also read your contract/policy on contractual maternity pay - you may not need to pay it back (or lose it) if you’re made redundant, but it’s a contractual issue so it’s up to the employer to include (or not) such a provision.

you can still claim SMP but I know that’s not much consolation.

In the last few days I'm sure I've read a thread, possibly in this forum, from a woman working for the NHS who has been demoted during a major restructure. Meanwhile her less experienced colleague currently on maternity leave has retained her job.

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/work/4802505-is-my-employer-discriminating-against-me-in-restructure

There are some people on that thread who seem to understand the Equality Act and employment law and they are clear that the rights of the person on maternity leave and covered by the Maternity protected characteristic of the Equality Act will outweigh the rights of the longer-serving disabled worker. It would be worth reading.

Do contact the organisations you've been referred to here, but you may be in a stronger position than you imagine.

@raeraekathleen your employer has to pay all of your SMP.

You have extra protection in

Have a look at 'Pregnant then screwed' they should be able to help with some guidance

@raeraekathleen it's a hard time but you will find a company that treats you well and you'll flourish

Happened to me too, I’m fact 3 out of 4 of the people made redundant in our team were on maternity leave. I was working in HR so knew I could have challenged it but the Head of HR was toxic and I was glad to get out. It was tough as I only got 3 weeks’ notice and statutory maternity pay, paid in a lump sum. I ended up starting a new full time job when DC was 16 weeks old. Leaving was definitely the right decision but I’ll always regret having such little time with DC as a baby.
Where I’ve worked since we’ve always placed women on maternity leave into vacancies ahead of matching other staff to roles. I think it depends whether you want to fight it or just walk away.

I went through this whilst on maternity leave. My workplace was outsourcing an entire department to india. The used the TUPE process and on the day of the move anyone in England would be made redundant.
they kept 5 roles and we had to apply for them. I reminded HR about maternity protection and they tried to say it’s a different role- they had used my exact job description!
2 days later I had a letter confirming I was being kept on and a phone call from the head of HR to apologise as her team hadn’t followed correct procedure.

Make sure you claim KIT day pay for any consultation meetings. They have to pay a full day’s pay even if you’re there for an hour or 2.

Being on maternity doesn't mean you can't be made redundant

Your employer was wrong all round there. They should not have prioritised you within the pool when they were retaining five staff. They should have done a fair and objective scoring process that should not consider your maternity.

Your maternity protection comes in when say, you do not rank highly enough to secure one of the five roles, but a suitable alternative elsewhere becomes available. In that case, you are entitled to be automatically appointed into that suitable alternative and you should not even have to apply or interview for it.

So your employer was wrong in the first place, because if they were saying it is a different role, then you should have just been given it. And then they were wrong again because when they backtracked and said it was the same role and they were doing a pool, they should not have prioritised you, that would be construed as discrimination against the others in the pool.